Notes From the Trenches: Paying Tuition & Childcare or How to Spend All Your Money

This is a guest post from Rebecca, a mom of two who will start law school this fall.

Enrolling in law school can be a controversial choice. I expected to receive at least some blowback, especially since I will be selfishly abandoning my children to advance a career. Here's my beloved grandmother on the subject:

Your children, so dependent on you now, may hate you in 15 years! This is your most precious time to feel like a real woman. And I know, once you get that law degree you will have a job in which you find even less fulfillment and you will spend your days litigating fights of one kind or another. And you will start at the bottom. You think you are going to make a difference in the world--"help people?"--but think of the difference you will make for generations by raising your children who are right in front of your eyes."

That's just a little taste. My grandma has an ideological objection to the legal profession. But you have to admit it's impressive that she's in her eighties and emails me regularly. But, I was somewhat surprised by the cascade of news articles I found suggesting that graduating law students suddenly were having quite a bit of trouble finding jobs, especially jobs with high enough salaries to pay down the six-figure debts they now owed to their schools.

There was that guy from Boston College who wrote an open letter to the school asking for his money back, articles in the New York Times about how law students get gamed by the system, and the general recognition that schools are currently accepting many more students than the legal market will accommodate. I also discovered the expanding community of blogs -- with names like LawSchoolScam and But I Did Everything Right! -- devoted to warning "0Ls" (really?) to run, not walk, away from law school.

In the face of such negativity, I was forced to ask myself (and my lawyer friends) why none of it would apply to me. A friend of my husband's had some very encouraging (enabling) advice: "Here's the thing about the 'not enough jobs for lawyers' argument. It actually is 'there's not enough jobs for incompetent lawyers.' You're going to be a competent one, I'm sure. In general, my lawyer friends with jobs think it's a good idea for me to go to law school. The ones who were disappointed with law school or don't have jobs have been, well, less positive.

My husband and I decided that I would only go to law school if we didn't have to take on any debt for me to do it. That seemed doable. I knew I'd be charged the reduced tuition for in-state residents. I crossed my fingers for a big scholarship, and I got one. Strangely, in the award letter there was no mention of the conditions for keeping my scholarship. Watch, I'll call the Office of Student Affairs and be told I must maintain a GPA of 3.8.

The real cost of law school for me (us), though, are childcare costs of ~$1400/month for my two kids, ages 3 and 21 months. I've had complete control over my kids' environment since my daughter was born, so it's kind of a big deal to me to give that up. I suppose that's why we're taking on a monthly payment that exceeds our mortgage to send our toddlers to an "academy."

So I hope I can keep that scholarship. But just recently, another mom who graduated from the school I'll be attending told me, "you won't be in the top ten percent, you know, because you have kids." Maybe they should have put that in my award letter? "Parents: don't bother."

Settling Up: The Cost of a Law Degree

I took out over $130,000 in student loans to pay for law school. Add in my undergraduate student loans and my total student loan bill is a little bit north of $180,000. That is a lot of educational debt.

Some finance books say educational debt is "good debt" because it is an investment. I call bullshit. Debt is debt and it does not matter whether it was incurred in pursuit of collecting every Betsy Johnson handbag or in pursuit of higher education. No, I cannot rationally justify $180,000 worth of student loans but bemoaning my financial situation does little good. I must get to the real task at hand: repaying this monstrous debt. Thankfully, I think I did a few things right.

First, I consolidated approximately $140,000 of my student loan debt at a low, fixed rate of 5.25%. The payment on my consolidated loans is $752. The payment for my other $40,000 in student loans is $633. I know it seems odd that the lesser loan amount has a payment nearly equal to the higher loan amount. However, one of my loans is amortized over three years instead of twenty-five years like my other loans. Thus, the payment on that one, short amortized loan is $375 per month.

Second, I did not take any private loans. I maxed out my federal loans, begged my school for more grant money, and paid the rest out of pocket. I have heard horror stories about private lenders and I knew I did not want to borrow from them if it could be helped. Luckily, I was able to meet (almost) all my expenses. I do have a small tuition balance right now but I can afford to pay it because all my loans are in deferment until at least January. By then, I should be well settled into my job.

Lastly, we have kept our household expenses very low. We own one car that will be completely paid for in two months. We own a modest house on which the mortgage is $1100 per month. We have no credit card debt. We buy secondhand whenever possible and generally try to spend very little on things we have identified as "needs" rather than "wants." It's dull. Date night is usually a rental from the local Redbox and some microwave popcorn. But the upside is that my student loan debt does not worry me as much as I thought it would.

I know we will be okay. I have run the numbers more than once. Yes, $1385 in student loan payments is mind boggling but I am fortunate. I have a degree and a job that allows me to comfortably repay my student loans and all my other household expenses even if my spouse were to lose his job. I know I am lucky. Now I need to work on being grateful - for law school, for the Juris Doctorate, and for all the financial hurdles it can help me overcome.

Taking on Water, No Bailout in Sight

Last week Citymama wrote a great post juxtaposing the global economic crisis with her personal financial struggles. She took a big, nebulous issue and made it accessible. The point of her cathartic post, I think, was to show that normal folks who work really hard, people like her and JB, are struggling too and also to spark a dialogue with her readers. Soon, the comments flowed, other people blogged their stories, and this post was born.

Eight years ago I was a mid-level Human Resources manager for a mid-sized start up. It was my first real job after college. The money was good and I enjoyed the work. Madhhubby had six months in on his new job. Life was calm and predictable. We had one kid and plenty of expendable income. Then, the house bug bit us.

Lizzie was four years old and would start kindergarten the following year but we were still living in an apartment. I fantasized about a shaded yard, about a kitchen big enough for entertaining friends and neighbors, and about having our own space free of shared walls and communal cooking smells.

After Olie was born, we left Boulder and bought our first house in the suburbs. The hemorrhaging of money began. I thought buying a new house would be great. It was great but it was also very, very expensive. We suddenly found ourselves dropping huge amounts of cash at Home Depot; we were on a first name basis with the clerks in Lighting and Paint.

It took about a year for me to determine suburban life was not for me. Living in a city there is a certain anonymity, but in the suburbs my neighbors were nosy, busy bodies who chastised us for skipping church and allowing our daughter to be friends with Jews because "the Jews killed Christ." After two years in the suburbs, we leased out the house and moved back to Boulder where no one cares if you go to church or if you stick a pink plastic Flamingo in the middle of your lawn. For the most part, Boulderites just let you be. We landed back in an apartment and paid big bucks for a storage unit to hold all the trappings of our "house" lifestyle. We were miserable.

Soon, we found another house we loved and we bought it. The only problem was our tenants had moved out and our old house was sitting on the market. Making two mortgage payments on a single income was painful. Luckily our first house sold in forty-five days but we gave a buyer's concession that left us taking money to the table at closing. Oy!

We have been in our current house for nearly three years and we like it here, but because of where our kids attend school I know we will move to a different home soon. Our mortgage most likely won't increase because, unlike last time, we actually have equity to use as a down payment; people keep moving to Colorado for the lifestyle and we happen to live in a booming area. Between Madhubby's salary and my part-time income, we cover our nut but that could all change when I graduate next May.

I have six figure student loan debt that worries me. In retrospect, I should not have gone to law school because I took on additional debt for a career path I now loathe. Our goal has always been to live on one income but I screwed it up when I decided to attend law school; we now need one-and-a-half incomes to fund our lives. Two full-time working parents is not what we want for our family but that could happen too. Sure, I regret some choices we made but it's too late. There is no turning back the clock to eight years ago when we had a nice nest egg, little debt, and few worries. I'm optimistic though. We will make it work - we always do - but it will definitely be a challenge.

When the only choice is Jim Beam and Pliers

I didn't have my first dental visit until I was ten years old. I only remember it because my dentist was really nice and that first visit led to a string of visits that culminated with a root canal which, given my candy obsession, was probably inevitable.

Avoiding the dentist wasn't a conscious choice or even the result of some wacky parental belief; we had no dental insurance until my mom took a mail clerk job, making minimum wage, at a health care company. Only then did the doors of dental offices open for us.

But my life is different. My girls have been getting twice yearly dental checkups since they were three years old. We go in, they get a cleaning, some cherry fluoride rinse, a bag of toys, and we're out of there. The whole visit is covered by our dental insurance carrier. Since the girls have never had any cavities, I have been completely and blissfully unaware as to how much our dental insurance sucks.

Olie recently had two teeth pulled for which we were charged $306! Our insurance paid a whopping $123 and I paid the remaining $186; paying that bill was more painful than Olie's extractions. Believe me, I was in the room with her and the nitrous oxide and Novocaine was laid on so thick that I was high. We have another visit scheduled, to pull two more teeth, in two weeks - another $186 is due then too. Then, Lizzie has oral surgery next month for which our out-of-pocket portion is $513. And I need some dental work too: another $664.

Madhubby is employed with a large company that provides us with a good low deductible benefits package, but our out-of-pocket costs for certain services can be costly.

I don't think universal health care is the answer because I believe overall health care quality would decrease; everyone would have universally mediocre health care. Right now, we could switch to a different dentist, one that isn't so specialized; the entire practice is strictly pediatric. Our costs would likely decrease because different dentists charge different rates but I think you get what you pay for and I like to think we're paying for quality and expertise.

But what about those other families whose purse strings are tighter or those families that have high deductibles? How can they get the care their families need without breaking the bank? I don't have any answers. I'm no political pundit, though I play at being one from time to time, but I think surely there must be a better way; I just don't know what that better way is. For now, programs like Stan Brock's Remote Area Medical, a non-profit, volunteer, airborne relief corps is certainly a pretty good start.

Operation: Dinner In (April & May Recap)

April

Groceries: $451.33

Dining: $534.46

May

Groceries: $576.46

Dining: $419.31

Our April grocery spending decreased about 15% and our dining expenses about 9%. But, this month has seen 22%+ in our grocery costs. Without analysis, these numbers would make no sense.

In April, I shopped primarily at Super Target and Super Wal-Mart. I have almost completely stopped shopping at the King Soopers/Kroger near my house because their prices are consistently higher than Super Target and Whole Foods (for comparable organic items).

This month, I went back to Whole Foods specifically for the organic meats and fruits that we crave during the summer months. Last weekend, we grilled Buffalo bratwurst, which is a specialty item neither Super Target nor Soopers carries. Surprisingly, the price was no higher than a package of the name brand bratwurst.

I fully expect our food costs to climb over the summer because we love a good steak, fresh salmon, and we are fresh fruit junkies; I rarely think twice about spending $10 for a package of pre-cut fruit to snack on in the car. Add in trips to the Farmers Market where the prices are higher than WFM (I paid $6.20 for a basket of cherry tomatoes!), but where we go anyway for the atmosphere and to support local farmers, and you can see how our grocery costs quickly get out of hand.

Operation: Dinner In (March Recap)

Last month, I changed my grocery shopping strategy and I have noticed a few more dollars in our bank account. This month's food bill came to:

Groceries: $528.65
Dining: $581.30

As you can see, our expenditures for "dining" and "groceries" are nearly even, which is what I would like to see every month. Usually, the numbers are heavily weighted towards the dining category, but dining out has always been a large part of our budget because (a) we are lazy people and (b) ordering out/in is convenient.

I did not try Door to Door Organics this month and I probably will not until next winter because The Boulder Farmers Market opens this weekend; I can buy produce there well into the fall. Yes, the fruits and vegetables will be more expensive - and we tend to buy a lot when we go - but being at BFM is a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Operation: Dinner In (February Recap)

Groceries: $1137.03

Dining Out: $406.40

Our food costs are still high, but within the "normal" range for us. I think some of the increased cost is attributable to rising fuel costs, which in turn influences food costs. For example, we live in a landlocked state that does not produce a crop year-round. Consequently, we pay a premium for fruits and veggies that must be transported from other countries and/or states. But, I'm not going to stop buying fruit. Instead, I complain and pay the increased price.

I did make one small change to the way I grocery shop. I stopped doing all my shopping at Whole Foods. Now, I only go there for certain things (Sonoma Chicken Salad, Gruyere cheese, etc). The upside is that I still spend roughly the same amount of money on food, but we get more of it, which means groceries last longer and I go to the grocery store less often. Hopefully, the March numbers will reflect my new shopping strategy.

Three Strikes

I just may be in the market for a new laptop. Remember when I doused my iBook in tea? Yeah, good times. Oh! And let's not forget that time the logic board quietly died and I lost my freaking mind (in addition to $300 bucks).

Well, three days ago my hard drive finally went to its grave, clicking and grinding all the way. I managed to save all my pictures and my current class notes, but all my notes from the past three years, work projects, iTunes files, and other important data are gone, baby, gone. I am secretly holding out hope that the geniuses in California, who will fix my computer, are smarter than the geniuses here, in Colorado, and can miraculously coax my data from the dead hard drive.

But first, the Colorado geniuses need to step down off their heavenly pedestal and send my damn computer to the depot for repair, which as of today THEY HAVE NOT DONE. Do they know I am a law student at the end of her tether? Really, it's a good thing I had not started writing my seminar papers or The Apple Store would have one angry black woman on their hands.

At this point, I have spent $900 to repair my three-year-old iBook and I'm pissed because I could have bought a piece of shit Dell for less than $900. Instead, I chose to spend $1500 on an iBook because I love Apple computers and I thought Macs were reliable but, now, I'm not so sure.

When my iBook crapped out this time around, Madhubby suggested I upgrade to a MacBook because - well - I need a laptop and my birthday is soon, so it gets him off the hook for a gift. But, I'm worried. I don't want to spend another $1500 for a sub-par product. I mean, yeah, I'm loyal, but - shit - at some point spending more money on a product I can get for $600 less, which may work just as well as the more expensive version, really doesn't make sense. Does it?

Aside

I think $1500/mo. on food is excessive and I'm starting to feel a bit consumeristic because I know there are people out there whose food spending is a third of ours. Heck, there are people out there whose mortgage payment is less than what we spend on food and - well - that just seems kind of off.

So, internet, I need a little help. Well, some feedback, validation, or whatever you want to call it. I want to know: How much do you spend on food? Because I need to know if we're normal or just insane foodies.

That's right. I want you to crack open your wallet, gather up your receipts, run a Quicken report and spill. Leave me a comment for all the world to see (anonymously is ok). A spending breakdown (dining & groceries) would be lovely.

Operation: Dinner In (January Recap)

Daily trips to the grocery store and lack of time (see previous post) are a budget killer:

Dining: $559.67
Groceries: $856.28

This month, I resolve to get back on track with weekly meal plans and explore dinner take-and-bake options.  I have some leftovers for Monday and Wednesday, but I really need to plan - and shop - for the rest of the week.  

Monday: Texas Chili

Tuesday: Sage Pork Chops, Asparagus, Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday: Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup

Operation: Dinner In (December Recap)

Operation: Dinner In was not a complete success. My plan was to boost our grocery spending from $500/mo to $700/mo and eliminate dining out. I planned weekly menus and shopped for groceries accordingly, but house guests and breakfast at Lucile's a few too many times wreaked havoc on our budget. Here is the food spending breakdown (all numbers are exact thanks to Quicken):

• Dining - all food purchased at a restaurant or other eatery (like Dairy Queen) goes in this category: $506

• Groceries: $971.69

This month I stuck closer to the grocery budget ($693.84), but dining totals are still pretty high ($444.59) and we're going to Aspen this weekend so I expect to spend at least $150 more for food.

I may be able to reduce that number if we pack our own lunches. Still, I'm worried our overall dining totals will stay high until I graduate and have more time to cook family meals. I can become hyper-vigilant about planning meals over the weekend, but I know me, and I know I will succumb to laziness. But, if you have suggestions for how I can stay true to my budget while balancing kids, work, and school, please let me know!

Operation: Dinner In

As of November 30, we've spent $10,116 (~$919/mo.) on food. If our spending stays the same in December, we will easily exceed $11,000 for the year, but that's not even the worst part. Approximately 55% of our spending was done at restaurants because I was too tired, lazy, or busy to cook at home. The madness has got to stop because money spent at restaurants would be put to better use elsewhere in our budget. So I have a new plan.

No, we're not going to stop eating, but we are going to drastically reduce how much restaurant food we consume. I think bumping our grocery budget up by $200 to $700 per month and planning meals one week at a time will make a big difference in how and where we spend money on food.

I put the new plan into action today. This week's planned meals:

• Italian Sausage and Wild Mushroom Risotto (there are leftovers!)
  
• Roasted Chicken with Winter Vegetables
  
• Wild Salmon Chowder
• Honey Glazed Chicken with New Potatoes
• Hearty Crab Bisque
  

We also got some cheeses, snacks, fruits and items for sack lunches. Total spent: $165.71 at Whole Foods. I think we're off to a good start.

More of a Shaker than a Mover

Madhubby says I'm a mover. I disagree. In fact, we "disagreed" so heatedly that Bubba had to intervene, on Madhubby's behalf, with a plaintive: don't fight with daddy. But, dammit, when someone labels me as something I'm so clearly not, I've got to defend myself!

The average person moves eleven times in their life; I've moved twenty times. Madhubby has moved ten times - seven with me - and he's done. He wishes I would just pick a spot and stay in it, but I can't. I'm restless and I can't stay pinned to one place too long.

Oh, I have the best intentions but you know all that talk about the best laid plans. A town catches my fancy, we find a cute little house in which to settle down, and the rest should be history...but it's not. The neighbors are too conservative, the town is too far from the mountains, the commute is dreadful, the neighborhood kids are clique-ish and unfriendly. The list goes on and on. So, I start scouring the local stores for boxes, phone up a reasonably priced movers and we move on to greener pastures.

Still, it's not my fault people are strange and fake. I was not going to stay in a 'burb where the neighbors pressured us to attend church. We're agnostic, we don't go to church and we prefer to worship in our own way, so back off, I'd scream every time one of them came near us with rosary and a bible. We didn't make many friends there. But, c'mon, there's only so much religious browbeating a level-headed, thinking woman can take! If I weren't fielding religious questions, then I was dodging questions about my wahm status or, more aptly, why I chose to work at all. I knew it was time to move when the neighbors started pointing and whispering whenever we left the house.

Now, we're in a house we love, love, love but the schools - eh - not so much. I tried the neighborhood schools. It didn't work out, so we're at different schools this year. Different schools that are not within walking or biking distance to my house and that pains me. It pains me to gas up the car on Monday only to have it empty by Thursday. It pains me that the children cannot bring friends home on a whim or that every school activity has to be carefully planned and bundled with other activities in a nearby location so as to save on driving and gas costs. I'm done living this unfulfilled life. My emotional house needs to be in order and its not right now. So, we're going to move.

Madhubby wants it to be the last move. So do I. I want to be settled, but I refuse to settle. I would love to find another house we love and just stay. It's not going to be easy because we have a house to sell in a down market, but I think, with a little faith and some elbow grease, we should come out alright in the end.

I Just Saved a Bunch of Money on My Textbooks

It should come as no surprise that textbooks, specifically law school textbooks, are the biggest racket around. New court decisions and changes in statutes drive the release of new editions, which are churned out before you've even cracked your first exam.

I've been a student for awhile now, so I'm no stranger to a college bookstore or to Amazon.com but, without fail, I procrastinate every year when it comes time to purchase my textbooks so I'm left flailing and frantically searching for books. I usually stop by the law school consignment store for a good laugh because they never have the books I need; if I were enrolled in Civ Pro or Contracts, I'd be golden. Panicked, my next stop is the campus bookstore where they gladly empty the contents of my bank account and send me on my merry way.

Well, yesterday, I got mad and I was also feeling a little broke. Those two feelings in combination often lead to really good ideas or to really bad times spent culling through my already depleted cd collection looking for discs with few scratches suitable for resale.

My really good idea that is so un-original as to be laughable? Comparison shopping. A few quick pecks of the keyboard at Amazon.com* and I immediately knew I had spent way too much money on my shiny new books: $135.50 for Basic Criminal Procedure + $103.50 for Secured Transactions. From Amazon.com, I purchased a new Secured Transactions text for the unbelievable low price of $69 and a slightly used Basic Crim Pro book for $50. A savings of nearly $120 after shipping and handling!

I was an idiot. I can admit that because if my moments of idiocy can help YOU save a bunch of money on your textbooks, then hey, my job is done.



*I am not employed by nor have I received compensation from Amazon.com. I'm just your everyday gal trying to save a few pennies.

Generation Gap

Recently, my mother and I were gossiping about discussing the financial plight of some of my family members. Several twenty-somethings in my family have filed Chapter 13 at least once; a cousin who is older than I am has filed several times. The general philosophy in my family is a young person who files has time to "survive" the hit to their credit. Uh...what?

We bought our first house when I was 26. Had I filed bankruptcy at that time, we would have been totally screwed, but under the "Bama Family Plan" (we're Alabama folks, y'all) I should have thrown caution - and my credit score - to the wind because I was...young? I spent a grip of money at Ann Taylor this month. Oh! I'll file bankruptcy. Who needs to own their own house anyway. That's so mature and sh*t. When I pointed out that ruining one's credit is not the path to financial riches, my mother just shrugged: They're not thinking about owning a house right now. I didn't buy my first house until I was 40.

Which is why I bought at 26. I remember the countless moves, the ghetto apartments, the landlords who pestered mom for the rent money, the stabbing pangs of house envy whenever I visited friends' homes, and I did not want my children to ever experience that. Oh, they still have house envy but it's not envy for their own bathroom (which they have) but rather envy for a home movie theater (which our friends have). That sort of envy is understandable - the movie theater - and adjoining dessert bar - is really nice.

But, did you ever see the commercial with the African-American mom, dad, and two kids? They're in their new house for the first time since closing and the boys immediately run into the backyard and go crazy. Mom just stands there at the window gazing out into the yard prompting dad to ask what's wrong? Mom just smiles and says: It's my first backyard, too. That commercial resonates with me because until we bought that first house, I had never had a backyard. I never had a place to kick the ball around or hunt for bugs or just lay in the grass. My play space was a cement 2x8 area contained by metal bars otherwise known as a balcony.

So for my mother to say to me that buying a house is not a priority for a twenty-something baffles me. It certainly was a high priority for me, but maybe it's because I had three children in my twenties and I really yearned for a place of our own - a solid home base suitable for child rearing. If I were childless, maybe my priorities may have been different. I would have bought a fancy car or toured Europe instead. Then again, maybe home ownership truly is not a priority for some.

I don't have all the answers but I don't think youth ought to be considered a positive factor when it comes to bankruptcy. If anything, being young and bankrupt - before one has even had the chance to start a career or get a financial foothold - is terribly limiting.

Starter House

I need help. What exactly is a starter house? The answer to this question determines our target buyer and influences our price floor.

Claire wrote a post awhile back about the starter house but none of those situations really apply to us. We didn't scrimp and save to buy this house. We had a list of "deal breakers" and "must haves" but what buyer - seasoned or new - doesn't?

Our first house felt like a starter house because we were kinda desperate to Own a House. Our second, and current, house is in a better, close-in, neighborhood, which means less house for the same amount of money we paid in the 'burbs. So...maybe this house is an upgrade for us?

Around here the "average 3 bedroom house" costs between 250k - 600k and our house will be priced within this range when we sell, but I don't consider these prices to be "starter prices" because the average buyer or, say a young family, can't afford to buy at these prices. So, I guess my real question is whether rising housing costs have killed the starter house market or are there certain homes that still fall within the "starter house" category?

The $40,000 Preschool

I am astounded by the high cost of childcare and especially at the inverse relationship between preschool costs and wages. The responsibility of managing our modest one-income is primarily mine, as is the responsibility of choosing a quality preschool for our son. Usually, I am pretty good steward of our finances, but I've been recently thrown for a loop with Bubba's impending preschool tuition. Quick background: we applied to one preschool because we trust them and, because of Bubba's late birthday, we need a school that he can attend through kindergarten. Lizzie went there when she was a tot and now its Bubba's turn.

Now, for the scary part: tuition is $9500/yr (payable in ten payments or a lump sum). For preschool. For the past few weeks I have been exploring other options but none of them seem right. We can afford the monthly payment but should we? $950 is a mortgage payment for people who don't live along the Front Range or require much living space. $950 that, barring any tuition increases (unlikely) must be paid by us for the next FORTY months.

So, I am at loss for a viable solution. If we decline the spot, there is little doubt in my mind that Bubba will ever get into this preschool again; we were on the waitlist for two years. In hindsight, we could have set aside that money for just this purpose but hindsight is 20/20 and right now, our preschool future is anything but clear.

Courage to be Wealthy

Over the years, several "financial professionals" have cited courage as one of the most often overlooked trait of the super wealthy. Do I have the courage to be wealthy? is a question I ask myself when planning the financial future of my own family. Surprisingly, the answer isn't always yes.

I have purposefully ran, screaming in the opposite direction of the law firm track and have instead embraced the oft disparaged "mommy track" of public interest and telecommuting, which provides me with the flexibility I want to be both an interested and an interesting parent; my life is not yet as enviable as my real-life heroine, Anna.

Madhubby has a similar low-powered, "daddy track" job, so we've been left to suss out other methods for creating wealth. Enter: Real Estate investing. The blogosphere has a lot to say about REI. Most of the advice comes courtesy of the infomercial ilk. No, thank you. I prefer to get my information from people who are interested in freely sharing information without soliciting a fee for doing so. Shaun and Kenric have both managed to keep their heads above water while Meredith gets my praise and respect for managing to buy and sell three homes for a profit all while living only on a teacher's salary.

One of our close couple friends netted nearly two million dollars by simply buying a few properties and holding them for a decade. Two years ago, at age 37, they sold all but their vacation home and built their dream home on a wooded five acre lot with a private lake.

We are no strangers to the REI game ourselves, but we are a wee bit cowardly. When our tenants bought their own home shortly after leasing our first home, we opted to sell instead of search for new tenants. We lost some money on that deal but we haven't lost hope.

Currently, our real estate market is experiencing its traditional 10 year low period, which makes this an excellent time to buy. Our plan is to buy our third home by next August and makes our current home into a positive cash flow rental. So, do we have the courage to be wealthy? I think so. Do you?

Loose Change

Since I started the day with a money topic, it seems only fitting to end the day telling you about the ridiculous amount of money I dropped at The Apple Store whilst retrieving my precious iBook:

$295 - replacement of Major Logic Board and Keyboard Assembly

$50 - Backup of all data on my hard drive in case - you know - it got erased. Turns out I didn't need a backup but I still had to pay.

$129 - Mac OS X Tiger - I HAD to upgrade in order to run ExamSoft. For the uninitiated, ExamSoft is a program that allows students to use their laptops on exam with full or limited capabilities.

My Con Law exam was a beast but I think I did pretty well. Typing instead of writing in blue books was a very nice perk.

TOTAL = $474 + some change

Far less than a new MacBook but still very, very painful. Oh, and did I mention our trusty Sony Trinitron DIED last weekend? We're another $285 light from that little mishap. But the repairman rocked! He also fixed a potentially future problem for free. How cool is that?!

Smart Women

Since reading David Bach's book Smart Women Finish Rich, I've been obsessed with the saving and investing of money. I'm no stranger to David Bach. I have read Smart Couples Finish Rich (excellent read!) and Start Late, Finish Rich (doesn't apply to thirtysomethings but has useful information for those approaching their fifties). I passed on The Automatic Millionaire because - well - is it really that big of a secret that automatic contributions are an excellent way to invest? Maybe it is to the less investment obsessed.

Honestly, though, we are irregular investors, so I felt the need to make some immediate changes:

• Increased pre-tax 401(k) contributions to 20% - We receive an 81% employer match on the first 6%.

• Allocated 90% to the Aggressive Stock Fund and 10% to International Fund - We are young so we can handle some risk.

• Increased payroll allocation to savings account/emergency fund - We bank with the best bank in the country, which also happens to pay very nice interest rates on its savings account.
  

Also, according to our latest property tax assessment, our house appreciated a modest 6% despite Colorado's rise in foreclosures. I know the housing market is supposed to get worse before it gets better, but along the Front Range we seem to be fairly well insulated against market fluctuations. We still have people moving into this area in droves and that's always good for keeping real estate in demand. The addition of the Northwest lightrail will only add to our community's appeal despite a final construction date of 2014. The next step for us is a cash-out refinance to a more favorable rate. We'll park that money in a money market account where it can earn interest until we use it as a downpayment on our next home.

Hopefully, in three years, we will have a nice nest egg - and a bit more income from my job - for the next stage of our lives.