Boy dies of a tooth infection.

A good chunk of my medical posts last year were about fixing my teeth. I’ve had really poor dental health over my lifetime. I’m ashamed to admit this. But I am proud I overcame my fears and made fixing my teeth a priority. I’ve still got a long way to go, but at least I’ve stemmed the tide and it’s changing direction.

What makes me really sad about this story is that his death was entirely preventable. I had perfectly reasonable dental healthcare till I left for college. I didn’t see a dentist for 4 years. And then I worked a string of jobs where I couldn’t afford a dentist or didn’t have dental coverage. Eventually, you get scared of going because you know it’s not going to be a happy visit.

What drove me finally to take care of it? After three years of having dental insurance, but living in terror, I finally went because I was eating Tylenol like candy from a toothache. Pounding, horrible, headaches. I had an infection of the gums that was reaching into my nasal cavity. (Purposeful choice of word there.)

It’s criminal that this boy wasn’t able to get dental healthcare with other Medicaid coverage. What is wrong with us as a nation that someone dies of a tooth abscess?

As an adult I made my own choice out of fear and strained finances to skip the dentist. I fully accept the consequences, and nothing you can say will hurt more than those headaches or the hours in the dental chair. But in simple terms, $80 tooth extraction vs $250K hospital stay, resulting in death. You tell me what the price of a life is.

[Feeling a little angry about the world right now. Injustice everywhere, but on a personal and private level. (No, not directed at me.) Anyone one know a good lawyer in VA who specializes in employment law? Please email me directly. Thanks!]

Henry at Binary Dollar has it available now. The Oscar edition is pretty funny. Love the Hasselhoff - Queercents icon. The subtext is killing me with laughter.

I’m busy this week, so I am not going to point anything specific out.

Please note that I’ll be hosting next week. Your submissions are welcome through the form at the Carnival of Personal Finance website. (no link right now. it’s blocked from my office.)

Fascinating brief history of usury and lending. It’s offered up by the Americans For Fairness In Lending. It’s an advocacy organization with some well known names like Consumer Reports.

Like any transaction, “Let the buyer beware!”

Payday Loan Math from JLP at All Financial Matters.

Divorce2FinancialFreedom has a great companion story about Payday Loans and what you really ought to do to before you get one.

I wholeheartedly agree with D aka LaundryQueen that if you’re desperate enough for a payday loan, then you’re better off swallowing your pride and asking someone else for a loan. A) It’s not for some exorbitant sum. It’s one paycheck. B) The loan rate you pay your friend could be nothing. Or surely a LOT less than you’d pay at a payday loan place. C) It might be hard to find a way to pay it back, but if like the person in LaundryQueen’s story, you may be able to get an advance from work and have an amount taken out every check to pay it back.

Like I commented at Get Rich Slowly, I recently noticed that these places are in the suburbs and they are no longer the ghetto phenomenon I used to think they were. Urban poverty is turning into suburban poverty. That’s pretty scary. They say that most of the people going to food banks are middle class people who are too busy keeping up appearances when their financial lives are going to hell in a handbasket.

As Boston Gal says, “Today is a great day to start saving!”

This weekend I was describing autism to my mother and my weirdly autistic tendencies. (I tend to listen to one CD in my car over and over again every day, even though I have an in-dash 6 fully loaded up with 5 other options. I also like to repeat the same song over and over too, but I don’t do it when I have passengers. But it tempts me.) As I described the condition, my mom asked me if I thought my cousin was autistic. I said no, but he is developmentally disabled. My cousin went to a special high school for developmentally disabled kids, so I’m not making a casual diagnosis. He’s been tested and evaluated. Somewhere in the back of our minds, we are all a little worried about how his older brother will care for him when my aunt and uncle die. He’s just getting started on his career path as a dental technician and it sounds like a good career one that isn’t physically taxing that he can do for the next 35 years.

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Today, 80 blogs are linked to me. That’s a nice round number.

My heavy on the religion post about Lent this week was post number 666. That makes me chuckle and no, it was not planned at all.

It’s a math geek thing to look at the significance of numbers. I’m not one of those crazy numerology types. I don’t read into numbers and find mystical messages. I’m going to go see that movie ‘23′ because I don’t really like horror films. (Though I might if it’s mostly suspense without gore and the reviews are good.)

I’m kind of bummed I’m going to be hosting the 90th Carnival of Personal Finance in two weeks. I seriously thought I was going to be 91, which is a prime number. Though 90 factors down to 3 x 3 x 2 x 5.

Debt is Slavery, by Michael Mihalik

This book is short and to the point. I liked the direct writing style, but it appears suspiciously thin for a $14.95 volume. Amazon is not currently discounting it right now.

His general thesis is that you have to change your thinking about money and debt is a form of slavery. I think I can get behind that statement. Debt is hard work to pay off and the only way not to enslave yourself to debt is to not have any or manage it wisely.

This is a great starter book to help someone starting out in their financial journey. The definition boxes are great. He has good examples of how much money you’re really spending, but not every illustration is as successful as the others. The cash refinance example isn’t as clear as it might have been. The anecdotal remarks are from his sole experience, and a useful cautionary tale.

His best statement is, ‘Possessions are a prison.’

I agree. It’s true. If you don’t believe me, just watch the George Carlin and the ‘Stuff’ routine. (It’s not safe for work, so don’t click it at your office.)

I am troubled a little by his credit card advice and its impacts on a credit score, but more than anything, I see this as a good gift for high school graduates on their way to college. It’s not an after college book because they need to see beforehand how the debt they incur during 4 years of school will effect them later on.

I don’t particularly find it a compelling story just because he lost his father early. I think if you read a lot of PF blogs, you’ll find stories just as intriguing and inspirational, but his willingness to offer up some of the insane mistakes he’s made (like the SCUBA lessons and gear) make it a very sincerely written book.

I screwed up my WordPress migration so I don’t have any archives by month like other good bloggers do. Instead, I’ve been trying to tag my articles with categories so you can read them topically.

I’m not finished yet, but some old, but I tagged some good articles. I don’t know when I’ll get around to tagging what’s left. I have about 6 more months to tag and then I have to backfill all the other articles that weren’t easy to categorize.

Please enjoy the Books category for book reviews. (A new one will be posted soon!)
Articles I Like: for articles I have plucked from other sites and bloggers, but mostly other bloggers.
Personal Memory: if you want to get to know me better.
DIY: you are inclined to make things. Plus it’s one of my favorite categories.
Emergency Fund: if you want to see my Save-O-Meter progress and thoughts on the subject.
Emergency Preparedness: if you want to know what to do in an emergency or how to protect yourself.
Frozen Dinners: for Frozen Dinner Reviews (or search my blog for ‘FDR’, because not all were tagged yet)
Jobs or Employment: These include some of my best posts like Mapgirl, Inc.

Also remember that a category only appears if there is a post with that tag. So every single category has something. You won’t be clicking nothing if you click them.

Happy Lunar New Year! How are your Julian Calendar new year’s resolutions going?

I’m a big believer that every day is a new day and a new opportunity to make a change in our lives. If you’re not following your budget this month, that’s no reason to stop trying to make your budget tomorrow or next month. So what if Lent started on Wednesday? Tomorrow is Thursday and a perfectly good time to start if the concept is new to you.

I love Lent because it’s another shot at any new year’s resolutions I’ve made and failed at keeping. It’s a specific period of time during which I can try to discipline myself once more. Since today was the first day, Ash Wednesday as one of my commenters noted, I will note what I did to keep Lent.

1) I avoided the cans of soda in my desk, even though I **REALLY** wanted one today. My friend and I went to eat lunch at her apartment and she made me coffee instead. (We got Panera take-out so she could walk her sick dog.) Later I heard my boss open a can of seltzer at his desk. I swear he was doing it to torture me. I am conditioned to crave soda after I hear a can pop open.

2) Even though I bought lunch, I made the decision to go get groceries and cook dinner at home tonight. I feel this was a good choice because I have a ready supply of food in the house now so I don’t get tempted to go out for dinner. I probably saved $3-5 as I hoped to do, and I got my ‘allowance’ out as cash back, thus saving myself a side trip to the bank!

Take a moment and think back to any goals you sent at the beginning of the year. Are you working on them every day? Every week? Every month? This doesn’t just apply to your finances. What about your diet? Your exercise? Your homework? Your house projects? Your craft projects?

Onward and upward, my friends!

Last year I wrote about what a lousy Catholic I am, but I do keep Lent. I’ve been really busy this year due to Daylight Savings Time changes this year. I’ve had a lot of upgrades scheduled midweek at odd hours, etc. It’s why I never posted yesterday. (BTW, you guys in the PF Blog world do know about this right? Your computers are all fixed?)

Bear with me here. I promise this post really is about personal finance, but you have to get through some of my personal history with Lent to get to the good stuff.

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I’m just bragging today.

Yesterday I got a nice home decorating magazine from my friend because she had two. She also gave me a small bag of Valentine’s Day M&M’s, which I stuck in my pocket for a chocolate treat today. She has too much chocolate in her house.

I had a business meeting at lunch. The check was paid by my client because he can write it off.

My boss loaned me two books. I gave him Moneyball in exchange.

Friday night at happy hour, someone bought me a beer!

Sometimes I feel like I’m a mooch. I have to wonder what the fine line is between getting something for free and being a mooch. I can’t be the only one who worries about this. When is it crossing the line?

I was thinking again recently about my willingness to save money at last year’s Cape Cod wedding by camping. When the tough get going, the tough get creative right? I wonder how cheap am I willing to get while I am cutting down on my spending. Hard to say.