by mapgirl on February 23, 2010
I just saw a post at Seeking Alpha regarding the latest quarterly release of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings.
I found this one tidbit quite fascinating:
There are 200 million shares of Coca-Cola held by Berkshire Hathaway. That is the main reason why Mr. Buffett sits on the board of directors of Coca-Cola.
But get this, KO pays $1.64 in dividends for each share of stock. That’s $82,000,000.00 a **QUARTER**. Or $328,000,000.00 a year!
No wonder he’d vote yes to raising their dividend as a member of the Board of Directors! haha
Think for a second that the dividends are taxed at the 15% rate, that remains a quarterly net of $69,700,000.00.
I get a piddly $20 a quarter, or about $80 a year. Some how, I think the secret of my success may be tied up in buying some more KO.
Disclosure: I’m long on BRKB as an individual stock because I bought it close to $80 before the 1-50 split. I’m not quite in the black consistently enough to think of dumping it.
by mapgirl on February 23, 2010
Remember earlier this year I said that I hope no one gets married this year, thereby saving myself the expense of their felicitations? Well, I just got the very good news that my 2nd cousin is getting married. This August.
Nuts. There is no way I’m missing this one. He’s the oldest son of the oldest son of another oldest son. (I could keep going here, but you’re getting the idea. At least 4 generations that I know about, and probably more.) My cousin has spent a really long time finding the right girl and we’re really happy for him and his parents. And when I say ‘long time’ I mean about the time he was 35, his dad finally asked him if he was gay. We just figured he’d be a bachelor forever. He’d regularly joke with me about how he couldn’t go visit Korea again till he was married. I would commiserate since I feel pretty much the same way.
I wouldn’t dream of missing his wedding. I know that Christmas plans this year may not be in California, so I’m ok with making my annual trip out there during August. (There will be a new niece for me to see then too.) Part of the fun of going to family weddings is to see which of our family will fly in from Korea and getting our parents together and watching them be silly and joke around with one another. (My dad has not been the same since the stroke. I think this will be the first time most of his relatives will have seen him like this.)
The catch though is paying for myself and my parents. It’s going to be important to book hotel rooms and a rental car so that we can all get around. I don’t mind chauffeuring my aunts and uncles and what not, but I do get the feeling that this will not be a frugal affair. The groom was a bank veep at one point, so I’m guessing it will be slightly posh.
Oh yeah, there’s another part about drags on my finances coming up later this week. The drama never ends with the pocketbook. I suppose that’s why we can blog endlessly about it. heh.
by mapgirl on February 22, 2010
The NHL hockey season is 75% over and the Washington Capitals have a very good chance to make an excellent run for the Stanley Cup.
It’s the time of year when the Caps organization sends out renewal notices for season ticket holders and announces ticket prices for playoffs.
Boyfriend and I like to speculate what’s going to happen with ticket prices between periods while we’re at games. Frequently we discuss where we’d sit if we had more money or buying more tickets. It makes for interesting conversation.
This past year after watching ticket prices being held down to 10% increases, even as they rise in stature, it’s been clear to us that the hottest ticket belongs to the Capitals and we’re going to pay a lot more soon. The question was really only how much more.
Let me just tell you now that I’m going to renew tickets. There wasn’t even a question of that.
In speculating the rising stock of the Capitals and the amount of debt the holding company has, (in 10 years of ownership, they’re still in the red) we figured realistically the team could raise ticket prices 20-25% and the fans would pay it. (A ton of the home games have been sold out this season.)
Sure enough, boyfriend and I are getting better at understanding the price of things. He pegged it right that the ticket prices would rise 25% and now that’s what I’ve budgeted. I hope this means that I’ll be able to sell a chunk of my tickets and get a good premium for them. I’ve got some unexpected expenses coming up for 2010. (But the time to plan for unexpected things is before they happen.)
by mapgirl on February 19, 2010
I’m a lapsed Catholic, so I don’t actually take Lent very seriously from a religious standpoint. I do like Lent because it’s a nice chance to restart goals from New Year’s that need to be jump-started.
For the most part, I know that saving money a few years ago in a piggy bank worked out pretty well for me. But I can’t think of a good 40-day goal for 2010. The best thing I can think of is to knit a few minutes every day. I have two projects that I’d really like to finish and that’s the best thing I can think of.
Instead I’m going to make personal financial to do list.
1. File Federal tax return.
2. File VA part year return.
3. File DC part year return.
4. Cancel Altima insurance (I am waiting for DC DMV to tell me they got my old tags.)
If I can get all four things done this year before Lent ends, I’d be happy. Sometimes I’m so lazy that I don’t file till the very last minute but this year, I’d really like to wipe out as much of my credit card debt as possible that I want the money now, NOW, NOW!
by mapgirl on February 18, 2010
That’s not a reference to the record snowfall in DC this winter. But if it was, yes, I herded a lot of snowflakes with a shovel the past 2 weeks. (Can you say 3 weeks of trash piling up in the alley?)
I don’t participate in any special snowflaking or debt snowball sites, but I do like the idea of snowflaking. (Sending little bits of money to pay down debt quicker, go look at Snowflake Revolution for more info.)
I rounded up my little snowflakes this week. I don’t sweep all my accounts regularly. I just try to do it once a quarter from my Prosper, Paypal and random brick and mortar accounts.
Good stuff. I think I’ll be able to send a small payment off to finish paying off my evil Citicard account.
by mapgirl on February 16, 2010
I know this article at SmartMoney is probably old hat by now. (It’s from January.) I ran across it in a waiting room the other day and it occurred to me that I’ve never really explained what’s going on between me and my boyfriend and living together.
I have a huge personal issue divulging stuff about my boyfriend in this blog because this blog is mine. If he wanted the world to know about himself, he’d start his own blog, therefore I don’t feel it’s up to me to tell everyone his business, even though he’s told me that it’s ok if I do.
After reading the SmartMoney article and realizing that Singles Awareness Day has just passed, I thought it might be a good time to explain a few things about our situation.
[click to continue…]
by mapgirl on February 14, 2010
I’m sure by now everyone’s seen Mrs. Micah’s totally awesome Mammoth 2009 Tax Credit & Deduction List. You can also get your tax refund split between multiple bank accounts, which has been available for a few years now.
But as of 2010, your tax refund can now be split and routed to the US Treasury Department to buy I-Series savings bonds.
In any single calendar year, you can purchase up to $5,000 of I bonds under this program. If you purchase bonds with your tax refund, the amount you request must be divisible by 50. If you don’t buy I bonds with 100 percent of your refund, you will need to have another account in which to deposit the remaining amount of your refund. For example, if your refund is $280; you can direct $250 to I bonds and the $30 balance to your savings account.
Paper bonds will be issued in your name
When you purchase savings bonds with your tax refund, you will receive paper bonds, issued in your name. If you are married and filed a joint return, the bonds will be issued in your’s and your spouse’s name. You cannot designate a beneficiary under this option.
Your request will be processed in two parts
Part 1: Generally, you will receive the bonds after you receive the remainder of your tax refund from the IRS. The IRS will process the portion of your refund that you are not using to buy savings bonds. This amount will be deposited into the account you designate. Go to Where’s My Refund? or call 1-800-829-1954 to see if Part 1 is complete.
Part 2: The IRS will forward your request for Savings Bonds to the Treasury Retail Securities Site. It will take them up to three weeks to issue and send your bonds to you at the address on your tax return. You can call the Treasury Retail Securities Site at 1-800-245-2804 to check on the status of your bond issuance.
More about savings bonds
Series I bonds pay interest based on a combination of a fixed rate (currently .30%), which remains the same throughout the life of the Savings Bond, plus a semiannual inflation rate – currently 3.06%, which is updated each May and November.
The interest earned by purchasing and holding savings bonds is subject to federal tax at the time the bonds are redeemed. However, interest earned on savings bonds is not taxable at the state or local level.
Use Form 8888 for Direct Deposit Refunds and follow the special instructions to route a portion of your refund to be issued as bonds.
More information from the Treasury Department is available on I-Series bonds.
by mapgirl on February 12, 2010
I’m having some professional difficulty right now and I feel like quitting and finding a new job. Unfortunately, I don’t have an emergency fund to float me during a period of unemployment. I have the windfall from the sale of my car and my tax refund which won’t be coming for a while since I haven’t filed for them yet.
This will teach me to keep a razor thin savings account.
Because I am consulting, I can hop to another project. Therefore I don’t really have to walk away from my job. But it does sharpen the heck out of my mind and motivate saving.
A few weeks ago people asked me what I was going to do with the money from selling the car. I really thought I was going to use it to pay off my credit cards, but I’m happier to save it now that I realize where I’m at. It may cost me more money in interest, but I feel like the smarter move is to build that emergency fund up.
I’m already meeting my Save-O-Meter goal then so it feels good to cross that one off this year.
by mapgirl on February 10, 2010
I think I’ve had at least 4 since last Friday. In a good or bad way, I’ve been able to get out of the house and spend money because my boyfriend has a 4×4 vehicle. We were able to re-stock on groceries before getting slammed again with snow last night. So that’s 3 days in a row where I haven’t spent a dime.
As it is, I would really like to get out of the house and do more stuff. I’ve baked bread, cookies, made another pot of braised chicken, started knitting some hand/wrist warmers and shoveled snow. I’ve also done all the laundry and now the house is leaking. (Thank God it’s a rental and our 2 of our 3 rental units are doing OK. It’s too dangerous to find out if the 3rd one is alright.)
I know I made boyfriend buy me a juice the other day from the corner store when it was open because I really wanted a different beverage from the water, wine and orange juice in the house.
I’ve been able to chat up the neighbors and take a bunch of conference calls so I’m not suffering from cabin fever, but I haven’t seen my regular knitting club in 2 weeks and that’s very unusual for me. I’ve been uploading pics to my Ravelry account in desperation to stay in touch.
by mapgirl on February 10, 2010
I’m not a fan of Dave Ramsey, but he’s spot-on about having ‘gazelle-like intensity’ when it comes to debt repayment.
This year, despite whatever financial crisis my parents are having or whatever they want (like a new-ish car for their 40th wedding anniversary), I need to pay down my debt. I have flat out told my mother that if she keeps asking me for money, I will never have a kid. I just cannot afford one with all of her whines and wants. Either she wants me to have a kid or she deals with her financial problems herself. I’ll always be here for what she needs, but she cannot expect me to keep finding money I don’t have. (Sell the business. Retire. Take Social Security early. Sorry, but I don’t have any better solutions for you. Your other kid agrees with me, but you’re not listening.)
I get pretty distracted throughout the year. I had no idea that this past year would bring a 70th birthday party in Monterey for my father. (A really boring trip I really would rather have not taken. Monterey is not that exciting. It was just convenient for family in Carmel and a day at the aquarium for the kids.) I hope to God no one gets married in 2010. (I know that my old pal from the knitshop has invited me to her wedding. Thankfully it’s local.)
