How Will You Spend Your Tax Refund?

If you are one of the lucky ones, you will be getting a tax refund this year.  Let me rephrase that, it is lucky if you don’t have to pay additional taxes.  But getting a large refund really means that you let the government use your money interest free all year.  So if you do get a large refund every year, you probably need to adjust your withholding so that you can invest that money yourself instead of giving it to the government and then getting it back.

But if you are getting a refund, it can be pretty exciting.  But before you spend it, think really hard about what your best options are for utilizing that money in the best way possible.

If you haven’t accumulated an emergency fund yet, do that first.  This cash is so important to use for the little emergencies that inevitably come up.  Repairing a washing machine or car, or replacing tires, etc.  These types of events can derail a budget if you aren’t prepared for them, causing you to charge something on a credit card again.  And at some point in time you are going to have something break down.

If you are paying off debt, throwing a chunk of money on what you owe all at once can make a big difference in how long it will take you to be financially free.  This also gives you a big emotional boost that helps keep you motivated to stay on your debt reduction track.  If you accumulated debt over the holidays, get rid of it with your refund.  I always advise to pay off your past purchases before considering new ones.  Or use it to reduce the balance of your car loan or mortgage.

If you have your debts paid, put that money into your long term emergency fund.  This is the money that you will live off of if you lose your job or can’t work for an extended time.  Or you can put that money into your retirement fund.  Time is on your side when investing money, so the sooner you put that money in a savings the better.

Although it’s really tempting to take a large sum of money and do something fun with it, take some time to decide what you really should do with it.  Most people don’t usually get a lot of little windfalls like a tax refund, and if you blow it, you’ll regret it later.  If you use it wisely, it can be a blessing that will jump start your debt reduction or retirement savings in a way that can be difficult to do otherwise.  And then go back and change your withholding…

 

Getting Your Kids Outside

Do you love the outdoors?  Do your kids love to adventure with you?  Although kids are wired to naturally enjoy playing outside, sometimes that wiring gets crossed.  One day they are little kids just living for a playground, then all of a sudden they are glued to their electronic devices, more intent on watching other people do exciting things than doing it themselves.

It’s easy to get little kids outside.  It gets trickier as they get older.  At some point they start to be more interested in their friends and social media, and it’s tough to compete with these other distractions.  You have to get creative, you may have to up your game a bit.  Maybe the activities you used to do with your kids aren’t as enticing to them as they were when they were younger.  So how do you solve this problem?  And further, how do you solve it without spending a fortune?

Look at activities that would be exciting enough for your kids, even if they are out of your comfort zone.  Kids today are so used to instant gratification that a lot of them have really short attention spans.  Look at new activities that you can learn together.  Have you tried fat tire biking in the winter?  There are a lot of places where you can rent bikes.  How about rock climbing?   One of my favorites, learning to fly fish.  It’s great to get your kids out in areas where there’s no network for their cell phones, if forces them to interact with you.

Paddle boarding offers enough challenge to keep a short attention span engaged, while also giving a sense of accomplishment.  How about those places that do night-time paddle boarding where the boards light up the water?  How cool would that be for you and your teen and even a few of their friends?  Horseback riding is a great way to show them how to connect with the outdoors through an experience with the animal.

Snow shoes can be a blast.  It’s fun to explore in the winter, where the world looks completely different.  And being out in the cold air is good for burning off energy that seems to accumulate more during the cold winter months, making them bounce off the walls.  Try researching some hikes that your family isn’t familiar with, then take a weekend to go find these new destinations.  Even though we can be content going to the same peaceful places, kids often need more variety than we do to keep from getting bored.

And what if you just can’t get your kid disconnected?  Then maybe you can take advantage of their world by finding apps that help get kids outside while still using technology.  A few of my favorites:

Plane Finder – you can see where the planes in the sky are from and where they are going.

Use Plane Finder to track a flight or see where a plane you can see is going

National Parks – details the National Parks so that you can make the most of your trips.  This is a favorite one for adults too.

Let the kids do the research on hikes and campgrounds for you on the National Parks app

iTrack Wildlife – think of this as a kind of scavenger hunt.

iOrienteering – good for kids that like competition, it can be used for both running and mountain biking courses.

Go Sky Watch – details the stars and constellations you can see from where you are.  This is fun for home, but it’s also great for travelling.

Whatever you choose for your kids, the trick is to do it with them.  They are sometimes resistant to new experiences but will be more willing if you will do it too instead of just watching them.  Somehow it’s a lot more fun if you get to watch your mom fall off of the windsurfing board than just falling off yourself.  Having mom and dad put themselves out there shows that you don’t outgrow a sense of adventure.  And they’re usually up for the opportunity to see their parents do new things, especially if there’s a chance for a good laugh.  Or maybe that’s just my kids…

What outdoor activities have you found to keep your kids interested?

Choosing A New Car

Are you looking for a new car?  Maybe a new adventure wagon, something sweet that you can use to get to the ski slopes, pull your boat, get you to the trailhead, take on your next vacation?  Let me give you some advice on choosing your new vehicle!

Don’t do it.  That’s my advice.  Okay, that was a trick, wasn’t it?  But so often we discard our older vehicles in favor of some shiny new piece of metal that has all of the bells and whistles that we just can’t live without when the one we have still has a lot of life in it.  There is a common train of thought that when a vehicle gets more than 100,000 miles it is just about worn out. These ideas are not only outdated, but can be very expensive.

How many miles can you get on a vehicle?  Probably a lot more than you think.  Cars are expensive, they often come with a monthly payment, and they lose value quickly.  If you really want to get control of your budget, driving a car as long as possible is a good place to start.  Learning to be happy with what we have, or being happy with something sufficient even if not new, can save a ton of money.  How much faster could you pay off your debt if you didn’t have to fork over anywhere from $400-800 every month for a car payment?  Where could you go and what experiences could you have with that much extra money?

So to debunk the myth that a car is worn out with 100,000 miles on it, let me share with you some true stories of vehicles that are still running strong with many more miles on them than that.  First of all, let’s talk about my trusty 2003 Chevy Suburban, aka the Mom Wagon.

Pulling the boat out of the Snake River

This vehicle can carry several people, always has a load of fishing equipment in the cargo space, pulls our boat easily, and has 4 wheel drive.  We bought it new with 43 miles on it, and it recently hit 351,000 miles.  I’ve driven it for so many years that it now carries so much sentimental value that I would have a hard time parting with it.  When we bought it our kids were younger and it was super handy for keeping all 4 of them separate enough that they weren’t in each others spaces on long road trips.  We’ve hauled friends, hockey bags, suitcases, camping and fishing supplies, bicycles, sewing machines, groceries, and lumber in it.

We still use it to pull the boat to the river, and to go on short and long road trips.  It’s been on family vacations, game weekends, camping and fishing trips, business trips, weddings, and funerals.  I can’t even tell you the emotions and memories that are wrapped up in that one vehicle.

This rig has paid for itself many times over, and for several years it has cost me only maintenance and minor repair expenses.  I typically average under $1,000 per year keeping it going, but we do make sure it is well maintained.  And I plan to keep driving it as long as possible.  It isn’t new, it doesn’t have heated seats or a backup camera or wi-fi, and I now make sure to keep my AAA membership current just in case.  But it still fits my needs so perfectly that I have no excuse to trade it for something newer.  And the well worn in seats are ridiculously comfortable.

If I had traded it when it hit 100,000 miles, on something that I had to make payments on and kept that cycle going, assuming a $700/month payment for 10 years, it would have cost me $84,000.  Spending $1,000 per year for 10 years instead saved me $74,000!  That doesn’t count the interest we have earned on that money saved either.  Imagine paying that amount of money toward your home mortgage instead of on a car.

So just to show that my car isn’t an anomaly, let me introduce you to a few friends who also have a well loved vehicle that is still getting them where they need to go.

Taryn, of http://www.happiestoutdoors.ca drives a 2004 Nissan Xterra with 112,000 miles on it.  She bought it new off the lot, and has since taken it from her home in BC through every Canadian province and through most western states.  She says she has taken it on “extended road trips across Canada, to Utah, down the West Coast to California and to Alaska”.

The Adventure Mobile

She also adds that it has plenty of room for 5 adults and overnight backpacking gear, along with 4 wheel drive.  Taryn also has a sentimental attachment to this car as it reminds her that “every backpacking trip, day hike, road trip or weekend away started with loading things into the truck”.  It has become part of her family as much as mine is a part of our family.  The call it The Truck, but think of it as the Adventure Mobile, and have no plans to drive anything different in the near future.

Teara, of http://www.thepipsqueakchronicles.com had a 1990 Chevy Blazer K5 that she bought used.

It had 186,000 miles on it, and she took it to Delta, Park City, and Moab, Utah, through Nevada, Oregon and California, and on all of her mountain biking adventures around Salt Lake City, Utah.  What I love is that she says it was her dream car, and it was old and beaten so she didn’t have to be careful with it.  This sounds like a perfect adventure vehicle to me.  She called it Franklin, and drove it until she needed something that she could pull her trailer long distances with, otherwise she would have “ran that thing into the ground”.

Franklin

Hatie, of  http://www.whoamag.co/ has a different perspective on vehicles because she lives in Chicago and doesn’t need a vehicle for her daily life.  But she uses her mom’s 1998 Honda CRV with around 300,000 miles on it for adventuring.  She takes it annually to northern Minnesota, used it to move to college in 2009, and says that it has since been to every Midwestern state.  She adds, “It was even stolen once, I couldn’t tell you where it went those couple days!”  She loves its reliability, and I think she even has an affinity for its “goofy flame type details”.  It doesn’t have an official name but she refers to it as a “sturdy bitch or sturdy bastard”, so I’d say she’s bonded with it as if it were her own.

These are all examples of vehicles that are loved because they get us where we need to be, with the gear that we need to have a great time.  This doesn’t require that the ride is new or has GPS, most of our phones do, and for places with no cell service they still make paper maps like they used in the old days.  It doesn’t need leather seats, or heated seats; I bought a heated seat pad for mine for about $30.  It doesn’t require wi-fi (again, smart phones).  What it does require is dependability, safety, and enough space to haul our families and our gear.  So before you buy a new vehicle, look at the one you have with fresh eyes.  Be sure to stick to a regular, “severe use” maintenance schedule, and take care of it as if you are going to drive it forever.

Think about the money you would spend on something new and the adventures you could go on with that money instead.  If you do decide you need something different, take advantage of the fact that there are lots of people getting rid of perfectly good used vehicles that have many more years of use left in them.  Let someone else take the hit on the new price and the drop in value.  Look diligently and be patient and you will find a gently used and well maintained rig that you can use to get you to the mountains and back for many more years to come.

The Mom Wagon

 

 

 

 

13 Reasons to Visit Wyoming this Winter

When you think of visiting Wyoming, usually the idea of Yellowstone Park in the summer comes to mind.  Wyoming boasts of wonderful, not too hot summers, with rivers full of trout and an enviable wildlife population.  But what isn’t commonly known outside of the state is what a great place it is to visit in the winter too.  Many outdoor enthusiasts put skiing Jackson Hole on their bucket list, and everyone should try it at least once.  But there are a lot of other outdoor activities planned around the state too, many of them unique to Wyoming.  So if you have a free weekend coming up in the next few months, think about attending one of these events:

1. January 20-22:  The Burbot Bash Ice Fishing Derby, Flaming Gorge Reservoir.  This is held to help reduce the number of these non-native fish that were illegally introduced into the reservoir that threaten the native trout population.

2. January 21-21:  Saratoga Lake Ice Fishing Derby.  This one also includes a Small Fry Derby for children under 14.

3. January 27-February 4:  Pedigree Stage Stop Race.  This dog sled race has been held annually since 1996 and helps raise awareness of the need for childhood vaccinations.  The race starts in Jackson, Wyoming, with stops in Driggs, Idaho; Alpine, Wyoming; Lander, Wyoming; Pinedale, Wyoming; Big Piney, Wyoming; and Kemmerer, Wyoming; the race ends in Evanston, Wyoming.

4.  February 10-11:  Cody Ice Climbing Festival, Cody, Wyoming.  Clinics are offered for beginning through advanced climbers, the perfect place to try ice climbing or hone your skills.

5.  February 10-11:  Alpine Winter Jubilee, Alpine, Wyoming.  Fat tire demos and a lighted parade and scavenger hunt will be held.

6.  February 11-12:  Meeteetse Ice Fishing Derby, Meeteetse, Wyoming.  Held on Sunshine Reservoir, not far from Cody, Wyoming.

7.  February 17-20:  Pinedale Winter Carnival, Pinedale, Wyoming.  Chalk full of winter activities, with a cardboard sled derby, skijoring, ice sculptures, snowmobile racing, and more.

8.  February 18-19:  Viva Naughton Ice Fishing Derby, Kemmerer, Wyoming.  Put on by the Kemmerer Lions Club, held on Lake Viva Naughton north of Kemmerer.

9.  February 18-19:  Cutter Races, Jackson, Wyoming.  Horses pull chariot-like carriages in races put on by the Shrine Club, which donates to the Shriner’s Hospitals for children.

10.  February 18-19:  Sundance Winter Festival, Sundance, Wyoming.  Nordic ski races, a snowmobile poker run, skijoring, and bar stool races.  That’s an “only in Wyoming” thing, as seen in this photo from sundancewinterfestival.com:

11.  February 18:  Ice Fest, Gillette, Wyoming.  An ice carving competition and “make your own” ‘smores.  Need I say more?

12.  March 3-5:  Togwotee Winter Classic Bike Race, Togwotee Pass, Wyoming.  Fat tire racing on either a 25 or 35 mile loop, group rides, and live music.  This location also offers one of the most amazing views of the Teton Mountain range.

The first glimpse of the Teton Mountain Range from highway 287 over Togwotee Pass

13.  March 24-27:  Snowmobile Hill Climbs, Jackson, Wyoming.  Competitors attempt to ride their machines up Snow King Mountain.

Don’t let the cold keep you away, dress warmly and come on over to have a great time with the friendly and fun loving people of Wyoming!

You probably won’t see a moose on a bicycle, but it is possible to encounter a moose while riding a fat tire bicycle.

Setting Financial Goals

While we’re talking about goals and the new year, let’s discuss financial goals.  This is a subject that is uncomfortable for a lot of people.  It’s a lot easier to just stick our heads in the sand and ignore it all.  But our finances should be planned as much as anything else we do in our life.  Even more so than other goals in my opinion.  Because if we don’t plan our financial adventures, the other adventures in our lives aren’t going to happen.  As the great Zig Ziglar said, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”  So let’s put our goals out there early in the year so that we know what we are aiming at.

What do you want your year to look like?  Do you want to be debt free?  Do you want to own your own home?  Do you want to be able to travel?  What do you want retirement to look like?  Do you want to retire early, or do some form of work forever?  Does your vision of retirement cost as much as you are making now, or less?  These are all questions that need to be asked.

Here’s my list of things to consider so that 2017 can be your best financial year so far:

1.  How much debt do you have and how much can you pay it down this year?  This is the most important thing on your list this year.  Start this right away so that you can move to the next item on the list.
   

   Carrying debt is like lugging this ball and chain around.

2. How much extra can you pay on your mortgage?  The sooner you have your house paid off, the better, but make sure to pay off your other debt first.    That way you can take the money you are paying on student loans, credit cards, cars, etc. and put it toward your mortgage too.  Being mortgage free puts a lot of extra cash in your hands every month.
3. How much do you need to have saved for your retirement?  Chris Hogan has a great retirement calculator that will help you see where you’re at and how much more you need to save.  Don’t think that you don’t have to worry about this yet, because everyone over the age of 18 should be thinking about retirement.  Time is money, and the sooner you start saving, the less painful it will be.  On the other hand, it is never too late to start saving either, you will just have to save more aggressively if you start later.   https://www.chrishogan360.com/riq/
4. What adventures do you want to go on this year?  Plan this into your budget so that they are paid for in advance, an adventure isn’t nearly as much fun if you are charging it on a credit card.
5. How about budgeting for Christmas now so that December isn’t so financially draining.
6. If you’ve gotten your budget put together, go through it and recommit to sticking to it.  If you haven’t, read my article on choosing the best budgeting system for you, and get it put together.  Don’t wait any longer.

The new year is a great time to start on a new financial path.  The holidays with all of their added expenses are over.  We’re thinking about fresh starts anyway.

This is for me.  I totally want to adventure in a VW van!

 

You have the whole year ahead of you to save for some of the expenses that you know are coming up.  Make a commitment now to end 2017 better off financially.

 

How to Become a Millionaire (or How to Own Your Adventure)

Who wants to be a millionaire? Or a better question is, who doesn’t?  Do we need to have a million dollars to be happy?  Probably not, although it wouldn’t hurt either.  I knew that this title would catch your attention, but our real goal here is to be adventurers, right?  And trying to go on adventures when we are burdened by debt is kind of like trying to row a drift boat down the river with the anchor down.  You can row your heart out every single month and never make any progress.  And how much more fun would it be to adventure without having to worry about how to pay for it?  But how can you get there from here?  Especially if your “here” feels like a desolate place that barely covers the bills now?  How can you even think of getting to a place of financial freedom if you’re just scraping by paycheck to paycheck?

This isn’t an article about starting a new business, or getting a new job.  This is an article about using the resources you have now.  Once you have your finances under control, you will have the freedom to change jobs or go back to school or start a new business.  But for right now we’re going to concentrate on making your life better the way it is.  This is a story from someone who started out just like other normal Americans. We weren’t given any kind of inheritance, starved (literally) through college, work somewhat normal jobs, and still managed to pay off all our debt, house included, and are now free to choose our adventure almost every day. So when I say I know where you’re coming from, I really do.  In my previous article on living debt free, I talked about some of the reasons that we should live that way.  Now let’s talk about the how.

Sometimes the hardest part of any new plan is knowing how to get started. I don’t consider myself an expert, but I can tell you how we did it, and add to it an Accountant’s perspective.  Most articles you read will tell you that the first step to gaining control over your money is to live by a budget.  I agree, but this isn’t something typically taught in school, so the average person has no idea how to begin.  That’s where we’re going to start today, with the very basics.

When I was teaching Accounting at our local community college, I would have students set up a budget for themself as if they were an actual company.  I would first have them keep track of their expenses for a whole month, and then they would classify these expenses and make up financial statements for themselves.  Inevitably, almost every student would put in their narrative that they were surprised that they spent as much money as they did eating out, or at Starbucks, or on basics.  The point was that they really underestimated what they were spending.  I know that I am always surprised at how much money seems to just “seep” out, without my knowing exactly where it is going.  And it is surprising how much it costs for groceries, or kid’s activities, or fuel.  But the only way to really see that is by tracking your expenses.

What I want you to do for a full month is to track every dime you spend, whether it be for groceries, clothing, housing, insurance, utilities, or even the quick trip to the convenience store on your way to work. Every. Single. Dime.  At the end of the month you will have a better idea of what it costs for you to live, along with being able to see where you might be able to cut back a bit.  Once you are armed with that information you will be ready to construct a realistic, livable budget.

While you are tracking those expenses, there are a few websites to visit that give tips on budgeting, especially budgeting for different stages of life, because honestly a college student has different goals than a family, or a retired couple. There are sites that will give you sample budgets, and there are apps that let you enter your budget then track your spending to make sure you are spending within your budget.  Look around; see what format fits your lifestyle, what feels comfortable.  If you have any questions you can post them in the comments below, or DM me.  And remember what your motivation is.  We want to be free from financial burdens, be able to go and do what we want, when we want.  We want to be free to live our own adventures.  I want you to own your adventure, in the sense that you can choose your lifestyle without having a big heavy credit card balance dragging you back.  The time to do it is now!

Budgeting Helps:

www.mint.com  For info on setting up a budget, paying bills, and more.  Also offers an app.

www.everydollar.com  Budgeting tools, tracks spending, also has an app.

www.feedthepig.org  Tips on saving, budgeting, and investing.  Lots of different articles that pertain to different stages of life.

Microsoft Excel also has several different budgeting templates

 

My Wyoming Fly Shop Hop

As a quilter who has taken up fly fishing in recent years, it is inevitable that I would take some of the traits of one hobby and carry them over into the other. I have been fishing my entire life, but didn’t learn to fly fish until just a few years ago.  And although I love fishing of any kind, fly fishing offers a mental challenge that I enjoy, trying to improve my technique every time I go.  And it also addresses my fairly short attention span.

 

Snake River Anglers, Jackson, Wyoming

 

So you might wonder what quilters do that could enhance a fly fisherman’s life. For one, we quilters pride ourselves on our “stash”.  That term refers to the fabric that we have on hand ready to be used for future projects.  But the real meaning is that fabric speaks to us and if we see something we love we buy it, with the excuse that we are going to use it someday.  And we may, or we might not, it doesn’t matter.  We are fabric collectors and we all know it.  I have started to do the same thing with flies.  I love buying new flies; I love the different colors and shapes.  I like to look at my box(es) of flies and see what I have.  There is no shame in this.

High Country Outfitters, Jackson, Wyoming

 

But the biggest thing I think that fly shops are missing out on are “shop hops”. Quilt shops have shop hops, where quilters travel from town to town to shop at the participating shops, collecting fabrics and little prizes for participating.  Some of us make sure we hit these local shops as we are travelling for other purposes, like

The Reef Fly Shop, Alcova, Wyoming

flyfishing.  If more fly shops coordinated shop hops, it would make fisherman aware of the local shops even if those people are only travelling through town.  It encourages them to visit the local shops on all of their travels, and there is nothing like the local, small fly shop to supply you with the best flies for the area, along with local river wisdom.  I think you should visit a fly shop when you pass it whether you are fishing that day or not.

Four Seasons, Laramie, Wyoming

Wind River Outdoor Company, Lander, Wyoming

 

 

Maybe it’s because I love an excuse to shop and collect things I love. I like to think it’s a good way to get to know the area and its locals.  I also like to support small businesses.  But it’s always fun to spend time amongst our peers, and have the opportunity to gain knowledge and insights from others with the same interests.

Ugly Bug Fly Shop, Casper, Wyoming