Financial prosperity

[skalenfehl]

Originally Posted by MorningStar

Or maybe we really can't afford the Internet ...

LOL, true, true! But like health insurance, how can we afford not to have it.

[MorningStar]

Yep! Not having Internet is almost like not having a phone now. Over 90% of our ward communicates by e-mail for the most part and the few who don't seem to be out of the loop when it comes to activities.

I was going to get rid of my Internet until I saw our company has a phone plan including Internet with unlimited long distance, so it actually saved us money. I kept trying not to make long distance calls, but we have a lot of family close by who are just far enough away to be long distance. We're always having to call them back for one reason or another. Just with the phone alone, it was going over $100 per month. Now we pay under that including the Internet. Now we're being tempted by a package deal that includes cable, but I will resist. There is so much garbage on cable. I really would love to have clear picture and to be able to watch HGTV, TLC, and my husband wants to watch the History and Discovery channels. Now that we've gone without cable for over 5 years, it's not so bad. I would settle for clear picture. Sometimes when we record stuff, it looks fine while we're recording it, but then it turns out with a contant, loud buzzing noise. My husband was all excited to watch the Shrek Christmas special I recorded for him, but he couldn't hear a word of it. I know a few people now who have just opted for waiting for shows to come out on DVD and they use NetFlix.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I wonder what it would be like if everyone were living within their means? There probably wouldn't be very many people to "keep up" with.

[skalenfehl]

You know what? I don't even have a home phone. I got rid of it (them) several years ago, mostly due to my two (then) teenage boys who got into so much trouble and the wrong people calling my house at all hours of the day and night. Both my wife and I have a (company) cell phone and that's all we use. I actually love it because I don't worry about extra phone bills, telemarketers, etc. So that's another little strategy that I've used for saving money.

[MorningStar]

Cool! What cell phone plan do you use? We don't have one. We got rid of ours over 5 years ago. (I bought it to save money on long distance.)

[skalenfehl]

T-mobile. I believe it's like 1600 minutes for 99 bucks (two phones) It's an old plan and my contract expired long time ago. It's the smallest plan. I keep my calls short and simple since I'm not a chatter.

[Misshalfway]

You guys are funny!

I wish someone had warned me about student loans. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better to quit school for a time ( which my father frowned upon) and earn the money rather than to take out the loan and suffer with payments for all those years!!

Here's a question: Do you guys feel it is the responsibility of the parents to pay for college? Or should the responsibility be given to the child? Shared responsibility? Or should the parents get the kids started, and then hand them the reigns?

[skalenfehl]

I think the reason I never finished school was the rising cost of tuition and text books. I felt seriously ripped off when the school bought my books back at a fraction of their worth. Misshalfway, that's a tough call. I think if parents are in a financial position it's a good idea. I think the better/bigger head start they can give to their kids, even into the college years, the quicker their children can get ahead in life and be able to take care of their parents in their elder years and the cycle should go on. That's just my opinion.

[Misshalfway]

I honestly can't decide. As a freshman, I would have died without help. My father paid for school but I was required to pay for my rent and food, etc. My scholarship (little one) helped with books for the first year. I want to teach my children that not everything in this world will be given to them on a silver platter. I hope that we are in a financial position to help. But I also want them to cherish their education and take adulthood seriously.....as they transition from my responsibility to their own. I saw my weathier friends make horrid choices and they were bailed out by their parents. It didn't seem to make a difference. They would just keep making bad choices. Guess I want to raise the bar with my own kids.
I like that Dave Ramsey guy. I like what he has to say about teaching kids about money. He starts them earning their own money and saving it for college really early.

[skalenfehl]

Perhaps this is where your tutelage comes in to play so that in the efforts of your children, they can earn full scholarships to universities. Encourage your kids to really become interested in their favorite subject so they can excel and make excellent grades and pursue scholarships. Time is just as important as money and if you can invest your time in their education, you won't have to invest (as much) money.