Having learned my lesson afyer accidentally deleting my previous reply, this will come from a saved textfile :)
- ipods: you are certainly more up to date than I am. Have not bothered to buy an ipod, as I notice that I do not use my portable CD- and MP3-players a lot anymore. There's too much entertainment in this house - basically I blame computer games for the lack of music these days. Of course I also blame the cats - they hate electric guitars. They also hate my keybords and my old drum computer, so I don't even bother anymore to hook all of that stuff up again. Although I still wish I had a piano ... the lack of music is rather disgusting, I used to play in a band, and I collect old vinyl and CDs. Oh well!
- saving: I have nothing against the concept of saving money, and yes, I agree that saving in the form of a certificate of deposit is still the most secure investment. What I do not enjoy are the low interest rates offered these days. Like you, I am very wary of risky investments (stocks and bonds), and I have not made a lot of profit with the few mutual funds I have. I would not invest in mutual funds again! Your comparison to gambling is totally correct, made me grin. It needs to be said that my view on these things is rather European. I dislike credit cards, too. In my opinion, don't spend money you do not have. Living on borrowed money is basically the reason so many houses are being foreclosed these days.
- financial advice from Oprah: yes, in an ideal world, we would put half of what we earn away for an emergency, but this is not how it works these days. I put away whatever I don't need, and then just re-invest it. I also make a conscious effort to spend less on entertainment. I guess living with these animals is a luxury. We now see the vet bills as 'household expense', but it's brutal. And again, so are groceries. I noticed this in particular because of our last two trips abroad, the UK and Germany. There, groceries were dirt cheap. I was positively surprised. Aside: they also tasted a lot better, not as much chemical junk in them as here.
Sorry, this is turning into a rant :( - just don't let me get started on the weather forecast. They predict thunderstorms with a 10% chance this weekend. My foot!
Second attempt
- ipods: you are certainly more up to date than I am. Have not bothered to buy an ipod, as I notice that I do not use my portable CD- and MP3-players a lot anymore. There's too much entertainment in this house - basically I blame computer games for the lack of music these days. Of course I also blame the cats - they hate electric guitars. They also hate my keybords and my old drum computer, so I don't even bother anymore to hook all of that stuff up again. Although I still wish I had a piano ... the lack of music is rather disgusting, I used to play in a band, and I collect old vinyl and CDs. Oh well!
- saving: I have nothing against the concept of saving money, and yes, I agree that saving in the form of a certificate of deposit is still the most secure investment. What I do not enjoy are the low
interest rates offered these days. Like you, I am very wary of risky investments (stocks and bonds), and I have not made a lot of profit with the few mutual funds I have. I would not invest in mutual
funds again! Your comparison to gambling is totally correct, made me grin. It needs to be said that my view on these things is rather European. I dislike credit cards, too. In my opinion, don't spend
money you do not have. Living on borrowed money is basically the reason so many houses are being foreclosed these days.
- financial advice from Oprah: yes, in an ideal world, we would put half of what we earn away for an emergency, but this is not how it works these days. I put away whatever I don't need, and then just re-invest it. I also make a conscious effort to spend less on entertainment. I guess living with these animals is a luxury. We now see the vet bills as 'household expense', but it's brutal. And
again, so are groceries. I noticed this in particular because of our last two trips abroad, the UK and Germany. There, groceries were dirt cheap. I was positively surprised. Aside: they also tasted a lot
better, not as much chemical junk in them as here.
Sorry, this is turning into a rant :( - just don't let me get started on the weather forecast. They predict thunderstorms with a 10% chance this weekend. My foot!