Pagan Finance

Personal Health Investing

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:14:11 GMT

Hey you guys

I don't know if this has already come up (if so, I apologize) but I found a really nice site for helping to invest in your personal health (Yay reducing future medical costs!)

It's fitday.com. They used to have a pretty clunky free version of their program, but they recently updated everything. It's still free, but a LOT cleaner looking.

They expanded the content too; there's some neat, "soft" features like keeping track of your moods over the months, and I've mainly been using it to help me figure out if I'm getting enough vitamins of different sorts.

It doesn't have a lot of brand specific food listings but you can just add your brand as a "custom food" if you've got the time ^_^

'Just thought I'd pop this up in case anyone felt like taking a look. Sorry if it's a repeat!

Book Review: "Business Bodhisattva" and "A Million Bucks by 30"

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:47:18 GMT

I'm not sure what the rules for this community are for free books with unattributed authors, but this might be of interest to folks.

The Business Bodhisattva talks about the spirituality of business and money from a Buddhist point of view, and while it's lite on the practicalities, it does talk about money attitudes and finances as a meta-game and addresses the dichotomy between materialism and spirituality.

"A Million Bucks by 30: How to Overcome a Crap Job, Stingy Parents, and a Useless Degree to Become a Millionaire Before (or After) Turning Thirty" by Alan Corey does a step by step breakdown of how he did it, complete with bank balances and timelines, and a healthy helping of advice and links. Frugality is a virtue, but he seems to cultivate himself as an outsider because of his self-proclaimed (and pride in his) cheap-assness... He marketed himself as that for reality tv at one point. Your milage may vary. I like the creativity for how he attained some of his short term goals; some of the attitude didn't appeal to me.

If a bank were to fail...

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:59:19 GMT

A friend of mine asked me a question about recent news regarding banks that are having trouble. So I wrote some this up about impact a bank failure would have on consumers.

What happens to a loan I owe the bank?

From the bank's perspective a loan is an asset as it provides income (via interest) to them. If your bank were to fail, the federal government will take it over (by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation aka FDIC). (Typically the FDIC ties to step in before a bank fail completely and tries to turn it around.)

If it can't fix the bank, then the FDIC sells off the bank's assets (namely all the personal loans, car loans and home mortgages) to other lenders. So if the ABC bank were to fail, you'll get a notice in the mail that you now need to be sending your payments to XYZ bank from now on. Your interest rate, previous payments and etc will be the same and shouldn't be affected. I would suggest that you keep a few recent statements as documentation on the off chance that there is an error in processing. But you don’t have worry about refinancing the loan AND you still have to pay it back. If the bank goes bad, you'll just send payments some where else.

What about the savings that I have in the bank?

The amount of money that you have in savings account is a liability to the bank – it is money the bank has to cough up if you ask for it AND the bank also has to pay us interest on it.

The most important thing that the FDIC does is insure accounts. So any money that you have (up to $100,000) at your bank is insured and you will get it back (although it may not be prompt). According to an old prof, one common misunderstanding is that by putting 100k in checking and then 100k in savings that this money is safe. This is not correct as the FDIC can add certain accounts together (and not others). I could go into more detail on that, except that no one I know I has 100s of thousands of dollars in the bank, so it is largely an academic question!

According to the FDIC, the goal is to get money to you in 2 business days, but it could take longer. (That page also talkes about what happens to direct deposite payments).

So how does a bank make money anyway?

A bank makes money based on the difference between the amount of interest it receives from loans and the amount of interest it has to pay people who have deposited money in the bank. So a bank is in trouble when a lot of loans go bad. It loses assets and can't pay on its liabilities - namely our savings. And this is the heart of all the trouble that banks are having. All these mortgages are defaulting. With the fall in home prices, the banks can't even sell the house to make the money back. The banks that are troubled have been hit the hardest.

Book Review

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:52:58 GMT

Book Review: Your Money or Your Life

Out of all the financial books I've read so far, I believe this one is the one that speaks most to my values and beliefs about finances. Instead of preaching about how you can have it all, the authors discuss the value of frugality and recognizing when a person has enough. The authors have nine steps in their program and each step is designed to help you make your way to financial independence and intelligence by asking yourself what your really getting out of your spending habits, and also the way you live your life. The authors posit that it is entirely possible to retire earlier in your life provided you know how to live frugally, and I believe this is entirely the case. I've already been modifying how I spend money, thinking carefully about what the benefit is of buying a particular item, as well as what my overall goals are. I'm already noticing some effects and I'm willing to continue comitting to a program that ultimately could lead to satisfaction in terms of having enough time to really do everything that I want to do.

Wesabe

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:41:52 GMT

http://www.wesabe.com/

I'm on the computer a lot, but not often the SAME Computer. Because of that, I appreciate something that helps me track my finances from the web. I tried Mint.com, but found this to be MUCH more user friendly. Half an hour, I had 4 accounts up and running, and an idea of where I was spending my money.

Also, the groups look like they'll be quite valuable for new ideas about reaching your goals.

CreditKarma

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:38:42 GMT

Has anybody used CreditKarma?

It's an ad-supported free service that shows you a credit score (not a FICO score). I saw it linked on a blog I don't usually read, so I was curious if anybody had experience with the service.

I don't need credit monitoring or up-to-the-minute FICO scores. I do want to know if my credit score is trending up or down. CreditKarma looks worthwhile for that, but I also don't want to give out my SSN etc. to just anybody.

So ... thoughts?

A couple things that teriel suggested I crosspost

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:06:57 GMT

First off, my most recent Witchvox article details some of the reasoning behind why I've been having issues with the "good pagans don't charge money for services and spiritual products" attitude. It's not so much about money as it is about the perceived dichotomy between "physical/mundane" and "spiritual", and why this has flaws.

Also, I wrote a blog post (flocked on my LJ) about some of the changes I'm dealing with as the U.S. economy slides downhill, and the realities that the lifestyle I grew up with may not be the one that I face in the future.

I've been thinking lately about the cost of gas. While we're doing pretty well financially, especially now that we're getting decent hours from our telecommuting gigs, we've still got to tighten the belt. This means fewer trips by car. We got a bus pass to share for when one or the other of us needs to go somewhere alone, which means that some trips will take longer. And today I walked to Fred Meyer, which including the shopping took me about an hour, whereas it would have been not even half that if I drove. I still drive if I have to get something too heavy to carry for a half a mile, but I'm trying to walk more.

This got me thinking about how my life is changing in general, both to be more economical and to be more green. I'm so used to living a fast-paced life, where I try to cram as much stuff into one day as possible; as I've mentioned at various times, I am a recovering workaholic. Today, walking to the store, it made me think about my time, and how before we became so reliant on cars more time was invested in trips, and each trip meant a hell of a lot more. A place that takes us maybe a half an hour to drive to would be a day's walk for a lot of people, assuming they were mobile.

And I was thinking this about money, too, especially with the conversation in response to my Witchvox article. We're so spoiled by Hell-mart and mass production. We want things cheap, and we want lots of them (as a society). We also support some really awful social and business practices when we financially support the big corporations. I've been trying to shift my purchasing habits more to small businesses and so forth, especially now that I'm in a place that has easy access to many small businesses. However, this usually means that things cost more.

Same thing goes for trying to buy better quality/handmade/etc. It's really making me realize what a stuff-centered reality we live in. For example, I've been boycotting Amazon for my book purchases, taking my business either to Powell's or directly to the publishers. This means that even the used books are more expensive, so I get fewer books for my money. While it's not necessary for me to do this, it is a good way for me to get an idea of what things are worth.

I think I've been taking time and money for granted. No, scratch that--I know I have. I think it's good for me, though. Especially with the way the economy is going, as well as environmental changes, it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to get used to less stuff--or at least stuff at a slower pace. Hell, *life* at a slower pace.

Growing my own food has made me more patient. Washing my car by hand has done the same. Walking to the store, taking public transit, limiting my fun money to $100 a month instead of whatever I feel like spending--all these have contributed to a slow but significant shift in my perception.

It may not just be a good idea after a while--I may not have any other choice, depending on how things go. I'm not panicked about the way things are going, but I'm digging in my dewclaws, so to speak, and readying myself for some big changes.

Frugality: Pagan Value?

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:39:07 GMT

While I know that it is difficult to make generalizations about the Pagan community has a whole, it strikes that there a thread or current of Pagan folks that value being frugal. Sometimes it is expressed in terms of environmentalism and the reduction of waste. For others, being frugal is a rejection of consumerism. I would also lump folks who enjoy "doing it yourself" (DIY) as being frugal.

I was curious if anyone views frugality as a spiritual value or something that your tradition or path demands?

I think mine does, implicitly. I don't really hear anyone using the word frugal, but the people walking my path value being green, value people over things and value creativity & personal empowerment (which sometimes takes the form of DIY). I don't know if "frugal" be a word that would resonate with other folks on my path. It certainly isn't a flashy, cool or sexy word. But it seems like a good word to describe some of the behaviors that come out of other values we share.

For Young Workers

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:10:16 GMT

Here is a linkg to a This New York Times article that gives some a break down of employee benefits aimed at people in their 20s.

financial independence

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:09:29 GMT

I found some pretty good descriptions of various stages of "financial independence" over on the Simple Dollar.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/06/01/financial-independence-as-a-goal/

another milestone met

Fri, 16 May 2008 02:34:18 GMT

I now have 6 months of living expenses saved up. I have it in money markets and CD's at around 3.2%.

Visit Cheap Cookin'

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:10:25 GMT

cheap_cookin is now open for recipes and discussions about feeding people on a low budget. I've started it as a way to help people get through the recession and also to have fun swapping favorite recipes and kitchen tips. Please drop by and see what's cookin'...

The Debate Rages On

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:04:54 GMT

Hey all

I ran across this story while browsing about, and figured I'd share and see if you guys think it's an apt metaphore. I'm a heavy duty centrist, but as I understand it a there's quite a few left-er leaning pagans on board (maybe I'm mistaken?) Lol, anyway, here it is:

"A girl came home from college after taking a liberal sociology course, feeling worldly, and asked her successful father... 'Dad you have so much... why don't you want to give more to those who have less? Why can't you be more liberal?', the father replied 'How did you do in school this semester?', the daughter said 'I got a 4.0!!! I studied every night for hours, and spent my weekends doing extra credit', the father replied 'That's great, how about your roommate?' the daughter crinkled her nose and said 'She got a 1.0!!!, she partied every night, and never studied.' her father posed 'How would you like to give your roommate 1 and half of your grade points so you would both have a 2.5 GPA?' the daughter stunned replied 'That's not fair!!!.... I worked very hard for my grades and she did nothing but party all semester.' the father satisfied said, 'Honey, you just became a conservative.'

Sorry if this is a can of worms; I guess I'm just curious: are you guys okay with taxes/redistribution of wealth in general, or just for some stuff? There's aspects I love about paying taxes (public libraries and public transportation, for instance) and some stuff I'm not so sure about (we're still paying billions so people DON'T grow cotton?)

Article on investment mixes

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:48:03 GMT

The NYTimes has an article on a surprising find about investment allocation of retirment savings and the odds of making an investment goal over time. It's not terribly pagan, but I thought I would pass it on. I'm invested in on of those life cycle funds and I'm debating about moving out of it now.

A thought on wealth

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:01:32 GMT

I've lately been thinking about wealth from a different angle, or rather I've been thinking about how money is an exchange of one manifestation of wealth for another. That probably seems like a real obvious statement, but sometimes the way money is treated, as a grail of sorts, makes me wonder if people devalue what they exchange it for, if only on a subconscious level. If other people don't have that particular belief, I can safely say that this rather subtle belief has until recently existed in my mentality when it comes to money.

I didn't realize it existed until I started reading your Money or your Life and evaluated what I had exchanged my money for. When I started to recognize just how much value I got out of my clothes, games, etc, I began to realize that the real value was not how much I paid for something (though this can be important), but how much use and enjoyment I got out of it. As an example, if I buy a videogame and play it a lot, after several hours of playing it, I've already put in the amount of time it cost me to make the money to afford the game. At that point, the monetary value has been fulfilled. But the value of enjoying the game is just beginning.

But I can also apply that to food, which obviously doesn't last as long as a game does. Food still is a form of wealth. It brings a lot of enjoyment, while also providing nourishment. The enjoyment I take from food is partially derived from the taste, but also by continuing to keep my body functioning. I'm beginning to see money less as an object in and of itself, and more as a facilitator of relationships. It has a presence, a role, in wealth, but even though it's often treated as an ends, it is actually a means by which people use it to (ideally) manifest what they really value or need.

Seeing money as a facilitator of relationships is already changing my image of it. I've got an idea or two for how I want to work with it, that I'll be trying out on thursday for my wealth magic working of the week.

x-posted to my journal

Going Green to save green

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:28:27 GMT

I'm reading the Earth Path by Starhawk. Something I like about this book is that she recognizes the value of small, gradual changes when it comes to how you integrate a green, environmental focus into your life. For me, this probably is best exemplified by the little choices I've been making, such as unplugging electronics when not in use, as well as gradually buying the lightbulbs which are energy savers and installing them. Lupa and I've been gradually integrating more green ways of living into our lives.

I favor a gradual approach, because it does involve learning how to manage your budget for the initial extra expense that can occur, but I'll admit that I find that going green can save money as well. The energy saver light bublbs for instance allow a person to ideally buy lightbulbs perhaps once every seven or so years, plus cut down on the energy being used. That's really useful. Growing your own plants allows you to supplement the food you buy with food you grow.

I think as well, what I really agree is that we all live in a system. Change or remove parts of the system and it starts to get unstable. I was reading another book a while back, which pointed out that a lot of changes made decades ago or only now beginning to register, in terms of the effect on the environment. The very fact that global warming is still such a nebulous issue when it comes to whether or not it's caused by what people do also points to the fact that changes to an environment can't be measured in a short time, but that doesn't mean those changes aren't occurring.

Personally, I'm increasingly becoming more aware that I want to be mindful of the impact my choices have on the environment. I'm focusing on making more choices that are green, both in what I buy, but also lately, in what I'm doing otherwise. Some of it is admittedly based on a desire to save money. If items aren't plugged in, they aren't using power, even in standby mode. And those same items will last longer. But saving money and being environmentally responsible and aware don't have to be mutually exclusive.

I do think one thing to be wary of or investigate more is when a business says it sells organic or says it buys local. Those are becoming popular phrases, but what do they really mean? What is the effect on the environment? It's easy to buy into hype from a phrase, but it's more important to do research, to understand what those phrases really mean and determine how, if at all, what's advocated really supports the environment.

It's little choices I'm making in my life, when it comes to the environment and my effect on it. But I think they add up, both in terms of what I can do, and what I'm willing to do, and also in terms of the effect on the environment I live in. I do know I'm increasingly aware of just how finite this planet is in terms of resources and even it's ability to allow life to flourish. It's easy, sometimes, to look at the sky, to look all around you and think there's more of this eleswhere...or it doesn't matter if that patch of wild area gets destroyed. But it does matter. These resources aren't infinite, particularly if you treat them as resources that can be used without awareness of the effect on the overall system. I sometimes think that people forget that nature has its own rhythym, it's own "technology", it's own methods of maintaining a balance of life on this planet.

I'll admit though I do enjoy the technology I have access to. But in whatever way I can I want to use it more mindfully, with more awareness of the effect it has on the environment, and also with an eye toward how I can use it mindfully in my financial choices so that both the Earth and I win. As I said above, my choices to go green don't have to be expensive. They can actually, in the long run save more expenditures. That's something I think the green movement should actually emphasize more...and it does look like in certain ways that they are starting to frame some of the reasosn to go green in that direction.

x-posted to my journal

Where $100 goes

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:52:59 GMT

This past weekend, Taylor and I opened personal spending accounts through our bank. We both like shiny objects (books, etc.) and left unchecked we can both spend pretty amazing amounts of money! So we decided that having separate accounts for fun money would allow us to know what our limits were, as well as keep us from taking too much out of our budgets.

We each get $100 a month in our accounts. We can use these to buy whatever we want, even gifts for each other. We can also pool our resources if there's something we both want.

I got my first $100 this weekend. I've already spent $74 of it. About $30 was for things bought at Goodwill--roller skates, clothing, etc. (Goodwill is like crack for me.) $44 was for a new pair of Converse Chuck Taylors--I was going to get the No Sweat Apparel lookalikes, but they're out of stock until summer, and I needed the shoes now. So in less than a week, I've spent 3/4 of my month's fun money.

I can sell personal stuff--books, clothes, etc.--for extra spending money if I want. However, other than that, I'm at $26 til late March. Funny how I never thought about it as much until I had a hard limit to work with!

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:22:50 GMT

Got this from my f-list:

31 days to fix your finances

It's pretty standard get-your-finances-into-shape advice, but it's scheduled so that within a month you can completely revamp your approach and start instilling better habits.

Manifesting Prosperity is available!

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:37:43 GMT

Well, we have good news, bad news, and more good news about Manifesting Prosperity: A
Wealth Magic Anthology.

The Good News: It's out and available, both at the link above and at Amazon.com!

The Bad News: We received an entire box of copies two weeks ago, just
before PantheaCon--and sold out of every single copy we had available
for sale. (Well, maybe not bad news for our business budget :P)

The Other Good News: We had a new order put in this morning, and we
should have a new box o' books within two weeks. So get your order in
now, and find out why we ran out of this title at PCon! More info, including Paypal
buttons, here.

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:36:28 GMT

Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want out of Life
Liz Pulliam Weston
ISBn 0132383837/978-0132383837

I'm still getting my footing in the wide, wild world of personal finances. While I've read books by other noted authors, I figured another one couldn't hurt. "Easy Money" turned out to be a great addition to my financial bookshelf.

If you're one of those people who's terrified of money, or who is baffled by the stock market, banks, and other financial institutions, this is your book. If you're deep in debt and not sure how the heck you got there, this is a great place to start. If you're just trying to figure out what to do once you know how to balance your checkbook--you get the idea.

Liz Weston covers all the basics here. She goes from explaining great ways to keep track of your money, to good advice on what to do with it when it comes to everything from investments to mortgages to getting rid of debt. Along the way she makes some wonderful suggestions for resources, including a wealth of useful websites that should be bookmarked for future use. She doesn't get as deeply into things like stock market investing and other such things as some other authors do, but she touches on it enough to give the reader an idea. Basically, this is the book you want if you aren't quite ready to invest, but want to have a good foundation for doing so.

One thing that I really liked is her balance between being brutally honest about bad spending habits, and not guilting the reader. For example, she makes it clear that buying a too expensive car or house just for social status is a bad idea, but she doesn't guilt people who already made that mistake. Instead she does her best to offer advice even to those who are stuck in the mire of debt. She also speaks in plain English that shouldn't intimidate readers.

While it isn't a complete guide to finances, and you should definitely follow up with other books on the subject, this just became the first book I'm going to recommend people read if they're totally clueless. Nice work!

Certificates of Deposit

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:07:56 GMT

I'm taking a community college class in Personal Finance, and I posted some thoughts from last night's lesson about CDs in my journal.

Fair Warning: This is a regular old journal entry also with some grumbling about being tired from an early morning aerobics class, and also some choice words about my Personal Finance instructor! But you might find the CD info interesting.

http://traceroo.livejournal.com/627312.html

Traceroo

another great reminder for us

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:09:29 GMT

spending money and emotional attachment

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/01/30/emotional-fulfillment-and-financial-success/

another financial goal met

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:02:06 GMT

In the ongoing marathon of my financial independence, I have managed to have enough money to put one extra payment each year towards the principal on my house mortgage. I was going to make a lump sum each December (my gift to myself), but the customer service rep said she could add $100 each month to my autopayment to realize a larger benefit over time. No fees. A rough calculation shows that I can pay it off 7 years earlier and save over $25k in interest. Feeling satisfied.

Funny Money Myths

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:10:52 GMT

I'm continuing to read Your Money or Your Life, as well as doing the exercises provided. One exercise they include is looking at your money myths, basically the beliefs you have about money and its role in your life. My money myths have undergone some changes over the last few years.

I moved away from the myth that money is evil for instance, because I recognized that was an attitude I'd chosen to believe about money. In fact money could care less about good or evil. It's a bunch of metal coins and paper that happens to be used by people. It doesn't care about the intentions of the people using it. Believing that money was evil just disempowered me, and didn't help me understand how I could make what I had work for me. Believing that money was evil allowed me to justify and rationalize my circumstances, while letting pieces of paper oppress me...Not exactly a useful myth.

A myth I struggle with to some degree even now is that money is security. My answer has increasingly become yes and no. I know that the belief money is security comes from a scarcity mentality, specificlly my mom, and her hoarding of money...and I can trace that back to her parents and the fact that they lived during the depression. And yet from personal experience, I can't say that money brings security. It can provide some forms of security, it can help you get through some crises, but it can also cause a lot of worry. Money doesn't provide security, so much as it provides opportunities for how to handle situations that come up. I recognize that money can be beneficial to have in certain circumstances, that it can either mitigate or completely solve specific situations, but in general money as security only works so far. In the end, any sense of security has to come from how you deal with situations (and then I also think about Eastern concepts of security...does it even exist, or is it just a desire we cling to in order to avoid facing the void).

Today I was looking at a homeless person who was sleeping under the Burnside bridge. I realized he didn't have to worry about rent, or bills, or any of the things I deal with. He has a different set of concerns, ones I likely have little, if any conception of, but money as a form of security probably doesn't apply to him in the same way as it applies to me. It might get him a meal, or alcohol, or something else, but it's a different kind of security. Money as a form of security is a myth, because security differs from person to person, and whatever money might buy, security is definitely a finite resource, dependent on the situations that it's supposed to protect you from. My sense of money as a form of security is awareness of opportunities to use it for that purpose, but I don't want to limit myself too much to that...because then I'll miss out on other opportunities, which don't involve money as security, but can involve it as other things.

Money as power is a myth I've moved toward, though it's one I'm carefully considering. I definitely see the effect money has on my own life and on the lives of other people. It's something which isn't easy to escape. But I think money only represents one kind of power. It can allow you to buy things, buy services, etc, but that's pretty much it. Even though money has helped me buy the opportunity to be certified as a life coach, there's so much more about that experience that money really can't buy. It can provide me the opportunity to have the experience, but the worth I get out of the experience is far removed from the actual purchase. I think, when I think of moey as power, I do think of it as a means to an end...it's not the end, but it does provide opportunities, if you want to take them. At the same time, there are opportunities money can't buy. It can't easily buy you friendship or love (and you'll always suspect the friendship or love it does buy).

Money as a a form of social acceptance is a myth I don't subscribe to much, but it is a myth applied to all of us. We are labeled by the "class" our money supposedly fits us into. I don't see much value in money as a form of social acceptance...it seems to divide more than it unites, and causes a lot of disharmony. I have no desire to keep up with anyone.

I am starting to recognize and embrace a different mindset about money and what it provides. While it provides opportunity, I also have to start being more picky about the opportunities it provides. What are the opportunities I really want? Is buying a book the same as buying a ticket to an event or a place I want to go? What is the value of the opportunities and what will I do with those opportunities in the end? Yesterday I looked at a stack of books I have yet to read and thought to myself: "Do I really need or want more books right now?"

Part of me says yes, because there's always something I want to read, but another part says..."You have enough right now. You don't really need those books, and they'll still be there later." I'm beginning to see the wisdom of the latter part. I already have books to read that I haven't read yet. I still plan on getting some of the books I want, but it won't be for a while. I don't need them right now, they just take up space, and I have enough.

And that recognition of enough isn't denial of myself, so much as it's saying...but look at what I already have. I have this abundance and I have yet to enjoy it. Here now is my opportunity to savor it, to be mindfully here with it, instead of just moving on to the next thing to buy...the next thing to consume. I recognize the impulse to buy is a scarcity mentality at work, trying to fill an emptiness, a void that in the end must be sat with and experienced and accepted. Instead of letting it eat at me, I can just say, "Enough"

My abundance comes from sitting with it and finding within it, and with what I already have an appreciative awareness of what I do have going for me, as well as learning to have a better appreciation of how I really want to live my life...and the opportunities and experiences I want to be able to say I've had. I could consume everything and still be empty...or I could appreciate what I do have and let that fill me with abundance and appreciation and only get more when I know I've experienced what I need and want to experience from what I already have.

What kind of money myths do you have, and how have they effected you?

Xposted to my journal

Unusual Taxes

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:40:34 GMT

Huh, there's some food for thought right here.

Apparently lots of states are trying to figure out ways to raise revenues, including this:

More than a half-dozen states have a tax on narcotics and other controlled substances. Theoretically, a drug dealer in North Carolina can go to the state revenue office and get a tax stamp for $50 per gram for cocaine over 7 grams (the first 6 grams are tax-free). A moonshiner could get a stamp for $1.28 per gallon of mash.

Then the dealer or the moonshiner can walk away -- the law prohibits snitching on anyone who buys the stamps -- with proof he paid his debt to the tax department.

The idea is that a peddler, even one who sells illegal substances, should pay taxes. But in reality the revenue is only collected after arrests, when dealers are slapped with a tax bill.

Show of hands here, who knew that illegal drugs were already taxed? And that the first 6 grams of cocaine are tax free?

Sorry, I know it's not strictly related to finance, but I've been learning a lot about the tax code lately - and this is a rather nice example of how bizarre and chaotic it can be as it tries to advance social values, raise revenues, and please lobbyists. (Ha - take that, people who think taxes are boring :D)