Easy Change

Last night, I have discovered that due to the sale of my father's house as part of a divorce settlement, there will likely be some cash that will be available to be set aside for my brother for the future. When this became clear, I was the one that they thought of as a person to put the money away and invest it for my brother. Despite the obvious sadness of the divorce, The fact that I might be able to really contribute to my brother's well being later in life got me very excited. College, retirement, cars, and real estate prices are only going up. My brother, who just turned four this past weekend, will likely be unable to take advantage of some of the opportunities of relatively affordable college and real estate. Furthermore, by the time I retire, there is very likely going to be very little money available for Social Security. If things are going to be bad for us, those of us who are in our 20s and early 30s, things are going to be even worse for the next generation. Retire

I've decided to start putting my money where my mouth is. This week there have been a couple of really nice days and I really wanted to go for a bike ride. My excuse? I have not been able to because of the fact that the bike I have is old and not really useable. Although this is an excuse, I have not been able to stop myself from looking at new bikes at the local sporting goods store. They generally range around 150 dollars. So, it would be nice to get one, but I've resigned myself to the fact that I will have to save money for one. I am going to 'delay' my gratification, at least a little while. Now just to figure out how much money I can save....

Lately, I have been struck by how much money is being drained without my noticing. Small charges are adding up. Fees are hidden. And services (that I do not use) are being happily paid for, for months on end, without even a moment's thought. After doing some basic number crunching, I started to realize that I needed to take my own advice. Not long ago, I was at my mom's house for dinner. Sitting at the table with me were my mother and my grandmother. And we started talking about gym memberships. I found it quite silly that people spend enormous sums of money on services that are not even used. And I stated that people who really want to have a gym membership and are considering getting one should do this: 1. Find out how much it costs per month. 2. Take that much out of your monthly accounts/spending money every month for the next 3 months and put it in a drawer somewhere and forget about it. 3. Go out every single week for the next 3 months and go for a 1-2 mile walk (roughly