Alaskans prepare to receive, spend largest PFD on record
Published Friday, September 12, 2008
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FAIRBANKS — Normally, Trish Stipe would be bracing for a difficult winter, but not this year.
Added up, members of Stipe’s household of six are poised to receive $19,614.
That’s what the family, who live in a modest home off Cushman Street, is taking in from this year’s Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, coupled with one-time energy assistance payments. Each qualified Alaskan will receive a $3,269 payment, starting today.
“If we weren’t getting dividends or the energy rebates, I don’t know what we’d do,” the 36-year-old dialysis technician said. “It would be like, pay our mortgage or pay the fuel bill.”
Paying the bills will be easier for a lot of Fairbanks-area families this winter, due to generous state handouts landing in most bank accounts today.
“I’m thanking God that we’re getting it,” Stipe said. “I’ve spent it a million times in my head.”
Stipe lives with her mother, sister and three children. The children are orphaned nieces and a nephew whom Stipe took in. She works part-time so she can be home for the children. Her mother and sister work at Wal-Mart.
Despite a household of three working adults, money is tight, and the family’s list of needs is long.
There’s last year’s heating oil bill. Stipe owes $2,200 on that. There’s the electric bill. Stipe is two months behind. There’s the $10,000 owed to the lawyer who handled the adoption of Stipe’s nieces, 10 and 12. Her nephew is 16.
“I want to buy half a cow,” Stipe said. “That’s between $850 and $950.”
Stipe also would like to outfit the children in new coats and boots.
Charlene Sponsel, who is raising three children, also has plans for her family’s dividends. Her husband has a good job as a pipefitter, but the bills still pile up. The family has an outstanding medical bill of $12,000 from when Sponsel had surgery last year.
“I don’t know how we’re going to pay for that,” Sponsel said.
The family is set to receive $16,345 when their dividends and resource bonus money are added up. The children are 1, 9 and 12.
“It’s going to make it so we can get by,” Sponsel said. “It’s not comfortable, but it’s workable. Between electricity and fuel and the gas in my truck, I am sure that’s where the majority of it is going to go. Everything has gotten so expensive.”
Sarah O’Hearn said a portion of her family’s dividend and bonus money will go toward orthodontics for her oldest child.
O’Hearn is married to an aircraft mechanic, and the couple has two children, 11 and 9, and one on the way. A 9-year-old from a previous relationship also lives with the family part-time.
The O’Hearns rent a home in North Pole. They want to buy a place but are wary because the price of heating oil has been abruptly rising. It seems safer to rent, O’Hearn said.
The family is set to receive $13,076 when their dividends and energy assistance payments are added up. The O’Hearns plan to pay ahead on their monthly bills.
“It’ll help,” O’Hearn said. “It’s starting to get pretty scary.”
When it comes to bills, Trish Johnson prefers to put the subject out of her mind. Johnson is a bartender raising four children on her own.
“Sometimes, I sit down and try and figure it out, and I am just overwhelmed,” she said. “I don’t even want to think about it. I am one of those people; I don’t worry too much. I am just day-by-day.”
The most money Johnson ever had at once was $5,000, which she had saved to buy a house. Like the Sponsels, Johnson and her children are due to receive $16,345.
Johnson plans to let her oldest daughter, who is 16, keep her dividend. She’ll use the resource bonuses to fill the family’s heating oil tank. The rest of the money will go toward a vacation, Johnson said.
“I think it’s going to be Hawaii,” Johnson said. “I have an aunt who lives there.”
Emily File, also a mother of four children, is married to a trucker, and her family has been preparing for the worst.
“We are trying to be a little more frugal with our money,” File said. “It’s kind of why I went back to work. I went back to work so we could pay off debt. We are kind of in a better place, I think, than a lot of people.”
File’s children are ages 6 and under. The saleswoman said her family has filled their heating oil tank and paid the bill.
The nearly $20,000 the Files are due to receive will go in the bank, File said.
“We probably are going to take a vacation,” she said. “We haven’t done that in a while with our kids. We are going to kind of reward ourselves for planning ahead a little bit. It feels very good.”
Community Discussion
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im actually going to use my energy surplus to pay for my electricity, gas and heating this winter :( the rest of the pfd is all going towards bills
and maybe a taco at taco king :P
I"m buying a pair of boots and saving mine for a house down payment.
Wow...just, wow.
A mother of 4 who bartends gets a windfall and decides she is going to take a vacation to Hawaii?
You know, I think I just found your problem. Why don't you save some of that money for the next time you have a bill? If you are already living beyond your means, and have to live day to day, for whatever reason, going off to Hawaii probably isn't the best idea.
Same with the File's that said they are going to "reward ourselves for planning ahead." How is getting a $20K check from the state planning ahead?
Why the myopic view? Does anyone actually save money or do they just blow it as soon as it comes in?
I'm not here to judge, but it seems as though people are doing exactly what I expected they would do. Woo-hoo! Cash for me! I'm paying all of my bills that piled up, then I'm blowing the rest of the money because I'm sure bills will never pile up again!
I'm not a financial advisor, but I believe it is safe to say that if you have to wait for the State to send you $15K so you can pay bills and go on vacation, you probably can't really afford that vacation.
One other note: kudos to the O’Hearns for paying ahead on their bills. I wish people like them would receive the checks of those who instead choose to squander the money and continue to live outside of their means.
Paying the bills will be easier for a lot of Fairbanks-area families this winter, due to generous state handouts landing in most bank accounts today.
Amanda, how dare you call our PFD a handout!! WE ARE THE STATE OF ALASKA!! This just makes me so mad to hear people treat this like welfare. Jay Hammond was a forward thinking man that held this vision of a savings account for Alaskans for, as he called it, a rainy day!! Well, this morning is raining for many Alaskans, and yes, this is going to make many have an easier winter, but to call it welfare diminishes the program that he established.
ecray, I think the "planning ahead" was her going back to work. Perhaps you missed that. Sounds to me like the Files are on their way to a better financial situation with or without the PFD. Congrats to them.
AkRascal,
You are probably right. I truly hope the Files can go on vacation and afford it, with or without the dividend.
I am a little jaded. I was a landlord for a few years, and we had several tenants that were low income. They couldn't pay rent on time, even though the state paid most of it. They spent a lot of money on cigarettes and doritos, although their vehicles didn't always run and their electric bills were constantly overdue. However, when dividend came around it was like Christmas. New big screen TVs, stereos and vacations all around! It was disgusting.
I've come to the conclusion that if you have to wait on the dividend in order to afford some luxury, you probably cannot really afford that luxury.
This attitude is why the government has to bail so many people out in this mortgage crisis.
I would like to offer a suggestion: for all of those that have this recent windfall, no doubt because you have several children, please consider putting some of that money into a college fund. I can assure you that in 20 years they will appreciate it a lot more than they will appreciate a week on the beach.
About 98% of my dividend/energy rebate is going towards energy costs and associated bills. Every year I do save $100 for myself to do whatever with, and I will do the same this year, but other than that none of it's going towards frivolous things.
Unfortunately keeping the family warm doesn’t include a trip to Hawaii. My husband and I each get $200.00 to spend and the rest will go to our fuel/gas tanks, not the airlines.
I paid off my vehicle loan this morning. That frees up $635 a month to pay my fuel oil bill. I believe I can now survive the winter. This taught me a valuable lesson. I'll never finance a $23,000 vehicle for only 36 months again. I could afford the payment when I bought it two years ago, but not now. In the future I'll finance for a longer period of time and just pay extra every month when I can afford to.
remember to put away 30% of the money to taxes just in case, but what do I know, I forgot to file. I knew some way this year was going to be big, congrates to all, you deserve it!!!!
Yep my families PFD is gone before 8:15 this morning. Paid the whole of my monthly credit card the other half to savings. Had already installed a wood stove thie summer which is going to replace 80% of my fuel oil bill this winter. Live a few blocks from my job so really in good shape. Plan folks, downsize and live easy.
Many good points ECRAY.
I agree that people are entirely too dependent upon it. What if next year there wasn't a PFD? Then what? If people saved and put it in the right places, as you said, they would be in a better position altogether. I don't know I just don't like listening to the wringing of the hands and entitled tones of people with holes burned into their pockets by money that was handed to them for doing nothing other than living here.
Mine will to go toward a new, more efficient boiler. Only luxury for me is sharing a good biscuit with my dog.
heating fuel in the tank, cords of wood, a new window, a baby gate for the woodstove, chainsaw. The kids PFD goes for college, but the energy rebate is for the household. I am one of the people who may feel guilty in spending it not on energy. But it seems energy will take it all anyway! :) Thank you to our Alaska for this money.
Yep, these funds are going toward their intended purpose. My wife and I never take our children's PFDs, as we view those funds as their money (and we would pay for the children with or without the PFD!) though we fully respect the choice as the parents' to make. We usually pull $1-200 off the top to buy them educational tools of their choice, then the rest is invested. Still debating the energy rebates attached to their PFDs. Using all four of ours, we could pay for a complete fill of our 1000 gallon tank, but I am leaning toward offsetting that fuel cost with these funds, not paying for it outright, so likely we will invest 50% of the childrens' rebate for them, buy 500 gallons of fuel (which is more than enough to go one year), and go from there.
The rest helps us finish our house a little faster, as it has for many years. While I feel entitled to nothing, I appreciate everything.
I think the dramatic rise in costs has really pinched those who have always lived frugally more than those who spend money more liberally, as we have little to cut from our already tight budgets. The extra costs come directly from what otherwise would be savings, but at least we still have means to pay for those goods and services we continue to deem essential.
It disappoints me that people would use a windfall like this to take an otherwise-unaffordable vacation, but we all make our own choices - the money will ultimately be spent one way or another by every one of us. I hope that next year, when the dividend amount drops and there is no energy rebate attached, we do not hear anyone crying the blues about how hard they have it; we all have our chance this year to leverage our normal incomes.
Stay safe and warm....
Any bets on how long it will be before the following letter(s) to the editor roll in
1) Im a single mom and lost all of my beneifts because we got too much money from the state this year
2) We need more money because fuel oil is so expensive and we have spent all of our money and its only January
3) Taxes, I cant afford the extra taxes.
Amanda Bohman wrote: "Paying the bills will be easier for a lot of Fairbanks-area families this winter, due to generous state handouts landing in most bank accounts today."
Is it possible to get accurate unbiased journalism anymore? This is the complete opposite of a handout. The great State of Alaska has chosen to make each resident a shareholder in its resources, this makes it a taxable dividend hence the term 'Permanent Fund Dividend'.
I am not eligible for the dividend as I arrived in February 2008 and I am o.k. with this. I understand the idea of establishing permanent residence to become eligible, this keeps the resource available to those who are truly here for the long haul. I am happy for those who may have otherwise had to rely on public assistance to pay their bills. I urge you all to have a "little" fun with it, as some have stated they are taking $100 to buy something nice and are being responsible with the remainder. Pay some bills, save for your children's future, put some away for those unexpected emergencies that WILL happen when you are least prepared.
Good luck to you all over the long and EXPENSIVE winter.
No wonder Time Magazine thinks "Alaskan's leech off the gov't" and "think they're better than other americans" because we are recipients of earmarks, PFDs, oil taxes etc. Read for yourself... http://www.time.com/time/politics/articl...
I was very upset with the article by Time. I am also upset with Alaskan's broadcasting their prodigal, spendthrift ways to the world. I don't care what you do with your money. Just don't advertise your gluttony! and especially don't complain about high energy costs a few months later.
Kudos to the news-miner for a nice, balanced article reporting how people will actually use the money. It looks from this survey that people are mostly using it wisely. Our kids' dividends will be going toward college funds, and the rest to our fuel bills, home energy improvements, and emergency savings.
ECray, if some people make bad decisions with their money, does that mean that they should have no right to it, and experts from the government should handle it all for them, like in a socialist state? Or maybe they just deserve to be poor and the rich deserve to be rich?
Also, once you receive the money, it goes in the same pot with the rest of your savings or debt-- in our case, we may not have had enough saved on Sept 1 to cover all the basics *and* a luxury or two this winter, but now we do. In the Stipes' example, there are no luxuries on the list because the money will all go toward debts and the basics.
“Sometimes, I sit down and try and figure it out, and I am just overwhelmed,”....She’ll use the resource bonuses to fill the family’s heating oil tank. The rest of the money will go toward a vacation" End quote.
I think I just threw up in my mouth. Oh my, that is unbelievable. Thanks for FDNM for providing some hilarity.
Nathan,
I understand it goes into the same pot. I don't begrudge people for taking some money for luxuries.
A trip for a family to Hawaii from a single mother of four children working as a bartender that has never had more than $5000 to her name is quite a different example.
I could be wrong. She might be putting 20% of her paycheck into a 401(k) and placing boat loads of money into her children's college fund. I am a bit cynical that is the case.
I wouldn't have any interest in it if I didn't pay so much into a system that rewards those for being poor. Remember, I have first hand experience with this and saw it every day for years. It always made me mad when the state would send me checks for thousands of dollars for our low income renters, and I would see these same people with 65" televisions, vacations down south, and of course grocery bags filled with beer, doritos and t-bone steak.
While it goes into the same pot, and many people will go out and buy an iPod or maybe get their truck windows tinted because of the influx, I reiterate that those who live day to day, like Trish who was cited in the article, should do something a little smarter than going to Hawaii. This is a major luxury many cannot afford.
These are the type of people that blow the money because they know the state will be there to give them assistance later on.
Not to stir the pot, and I'm certainly not insinuating anyone cited is on any type of public assistance, but I also firmly believe that if you are on any type of state assistance then the dividend should not go to you, but instead be paid back to those of us who contribute to the system, not take from it.
Check it out, oil dropped below $100 a barrel. Enjoy the extra $1200. probably will never see it again. Focus on yourself and stop complaining about how your neighbor is spending his/her income. Only mistake the government made, was not counting this family income towards other social programs income guidelines.
woodman,
Their right to use it however they want. It is also MY RIGHT to make light of their use/my perceived shortsightedness on their part.
Thank you very much.
So are you using any of your time or money (besides income and property taxes) to help people learn how to use their money better, or get a higher-paying job, or to not leave their wife/girlfriend alone with a bunch of kids?
I think making good choices with our money is important, but those who do make good choices and gain the resulting prosperity have a responsibility to help others.
We need to find ways not to enable foolishness without poverty, but to help people who are willing to become wiser so they aren't stuck in poverty.
Nathan,
Whom is your commentary for? Me? If so, maybe--if they read my comments above (I'm sure they have internet), maybe they will take a second look at their decision. Then again, common sense is not so common sometimes. I promise to take care of MY own and not be a dreg on society. That is my good deed (for the day).
How's that?
sorry icarian, I was mostly responding to ecray (see above)
icarian why don't you tell everyone how you plan to use it. Like I said before, this income should be counted towards income guidelines for any social program in this state. Having invested those checks all these years have made me some nice benefits in my retirement.
My apologies...working tonight and time to leave the DNM site. Have a good day.
I am investing my money, putting some in the bank, and pay generously into my children's college fund, as well as my retirement. I also use it to pay down the prinicple on my house payment. All vacations and other things would be paid for regardless of the dividend.
I do not have the time, nor would I care to make the effort, to try and teach someone like Trish that blowing her money on a trip to Hawaii is irresponsible when you live paychek to paycheck.
I have absolutely no responsibility to help anyone else; I do enough with my taxes. I'm not doing anything special, nor have I been given any breaks. I just show restraint and don't let money burn a hole in my pocket.
Nathan, you state we should find a way to enable people so they are not stuck in poverty. Please tell me how giving someone like Ms. Johnson $15K so she can go to Hawaii is doing that.
It would be absolutely fantastic if the state required children to have their money deposited into an account that cannot be touched until they are 18. That is, of course, barring the $1200 that really should go to the household.
Another example: one of our tenants had about 12 kids. That is not an exaggeration. They were always dirt poor, until dividend time. They would get $20-$30K all at once, and then be broke by the next month. They are on public assistance. Those people should absolutely be barred from getting the dividend because they are such a drain on the state. Those poor children will have nothing - nothing - for college because their dad is a loser without a job, nor a desire to find one.
For people worried about the price of oil, insulate your house! In addition to the PFD, the state is also willing to rebate you up to 10K to insulate your house. Check into the energy program at AHFC. There are two programs, one for low income, and one for everyone else, regardless of income.
The smartest thing you can do is insulate, because not only do they pay you to do it, it will save you significant money for decades to come.
My only financial responsibility to others is to keep my finances in good order so I don't have to have the government (read: everyone else) take care of me through social programs and welfare. That said - people with poor spending habits can be taught (I know this because I was one of them) responsible financial management. But you've really got to want to live differently and make the choices. So yes, I could use my PFD to go on vacation. Instead a huge chunk of it is going towards my remaining credit card debt that I've been steadily paying down for a couple years. Not a "fun" choice or an "exciting" choice, but definitely the right choice.
Let me start off by saying that this is the second PFD I have recieved. I do intend to remain an Alaskan, as long as I am able to. Some will goto bills, others to clothing and a lot to helping friends in a worse siduation than I.
Let me then say that I am on government assistance. I get $1 a month plus medicaid benefits, as I do work full-time. When I first moved up here, (all things considered) I actually made less money working part-time for Sears than I would have sitting on my butt collecting SSI and APA.
The way I see it, yes I am taking out from the system, I also pay into it as well. I do not expect to ever collect Social Security from retirement as, frankly, I doubt it will exist by then. I am benefiting from the system as it was meant to be used, without it I would either be dead, in massive medical debt or forced to live with/feed off of my parents (who are not living the largess as is).
Fortunately, the dividend does not count against monthly income limits otherwise I would lose my insurance. I totally disaggree with the aformentioned doritos+Tbone steak way of living, but please accept that, in some instances, "welfare" actually does some good. Some of us are responsible, Tyvm~
I has 9 childrin and me and my wife is taking a needed vacasion to Hawaii. We's leaving the kids with my folks, we just need to be get away. We's taking that $35.000 the state owe us and the God gives us and enjoying ourselfs.
We must thank Sarah Palin and God for this gift!
OK, now calm down. Just joking!
I am going to take my three grand, and add them to my existing PFD pile of cash that has been earning me between 8-12% per year, I suggest you all do the same.
If you were able to get by without it, you will still be able to get by without it, no matter how hard it is. Even just 10 years from now you will be overjoyed that you thought to put that cash away.
Isanova
You might want to double check about not counting the energy checks as income in calculating benefits.
I had heard that it will go against your inclome limits
For all of you that care what others do with their PFD what buisness is it of yours?! Tend to your problems and let everyone else tend to their problems. That is why most of you who get on here to rant and rave are so damn miserable because you're so worried about other people. If I choose to take MY PFD and blow it down at the Reflections, so be it!!!
Ecray, I probably could have phrased that more clearly. What I'm saying is,
Foolishness brings poverty (usually), but wisdom brings wealth (usually).
It's stupid to enable folly by saving fools from the results of their foolishness. I think that's partly what bugs you, because you see your tax money used to enable someone else's stupid way of life.
What I want to see (and what I think is a responsibility that goes beyond taking care of yourself) are creative ways to help people who are willing to become wiser to do so, and get out of poverty.
But my main point is that it wouldn't be fair to only give the gratuitously generous PFD+rebate money to the wise/rich. If some people squander it, maybe they'll help a local business that needs heating fuel too this winter :)
hckywtchr
From what I understand, it does count when figuring your yearly income but it does not count it monthly, like it will not consider september to have jumped your income to 3K a month. Its still taxed like everyones is though, so have to figure that in. It also does count against maximum assets (2K for SSI I believe) so spending a good chunk on bills, food, fuel, etc is important.
Gee, Amanda, if the PFD and energy rebate is a state handout (i.e. based on financial need), then why am I still getting it when I have a decent paying job?
If the PFD and energy rebate is a handout, then I really should be sitting my double wide rump on my new sofa in my rent-subsidized apartment, yelling at my kids to do the laundry piled up next my new Neptune washer, feeding the kids I am babysitting under the table left-overs from the Turtle Club (you know I had to take a cab to get there and back because I don’t have a car), chugging down my third quart of double chocolate chip ice cream before noon, picking out a top of the line laptop from the Home Shopping Network on my new 50" plasma TV so I can get stoned and go on raid with my Everquest buddies, waiting for the cab driver to deliver my carton of smokes and case of beer, yelling at my kids to find my $1200 handbag so I can pay the cabbie, and complaining to my new best friend and part-time drug supplier in the rent-subsidized apartment next door on my ACS provided cell-phone about how hard it is to blow $20,000 before October 1st so I don’t lose my APA, SSI, Medicaid, food stamps and energy assistance benefits.
Yeah, it counts as income.
Yeah, welfare recipients really do have to spend their PFD and energy rebate money AND their children’s money in the next two weeks or lose their benefits.
Yeah, that means you can’t even save the money to buy a good car or put it in a college fund for the kids.
Yeah, the community organizers have really done a lot to help poor people out of poverty.
Poor people are poor by choice.
Perhaps not by conscientious choice, but it's still choice. We are start out with the same potential (except those who were actually born handicapped). Yes, some people are born into better circumstances than others, but life is what you make it, and there are countless examples how those who were born into the worst of the worst circumstances have succeeded to make a good life for themselves, their families, and are helping others to do the same.
It's much more convenient to just whine (remember: Nation of Whiners!) about how bad one's circumstances are than to face adversity, leave one's comfort zone, and take charge of one's life.
Everyone has the same potential, most people choose not to use theirs.
Electric Bill
phone
doctor billssssssssssss
Dentist
heating fuel
gas for the red beast
clothes for the growing teenager
food for the growing teenager (and he thinks he is getting a cellphone)
money owed to past landlord (GREAT PEOPLE)
Money to the bank account for a rainy day
Money to IRS (Don't forget--!!!)
Send Thank-you letter to Gov. Palin (V.P. in the making)
Yeah my checklist is done---maybe
ecray, what exactly is your problem? I just started reading comments online and you have something negative to say about everything! Do you not have anything better to do than critize others?
I am one of those VERY grateful people that receives help for my rent....I am disabled and had to get help because I left an abusive husband and have children to still take care of. It is hard enough to have a 2 income family, try doing it with only 1. I would have never been able to do it. I DO NOT receive child support from my dead-beat, benefits from the state are there for folks like myself, it is to help get on our feets not to live on for the rest of our lives!
I do not get a dividend because my low-life ex did not pay his outstanding bills and because we "were married" at the time, I am paying for it.....he does not even file for his dividend because "he won't give his money away", that is BULL! I do get a portion of this year in the amount of $650, and you bet your butt, I will be using every single bit of it to pay my outstanding bills, because I am the "responsible" one!! You need to think of the old saying..."IF YOU CAN'T SAY ANYTHING NICE, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL!!!!
LOL,
only people who haven't experienced poverty say that, PeanutUser
Yes some people have a hard time with alcoholism, or poor math skills, or choosing abusers... all real, learned problems, but the choice is about trying to improve or giving into ones problems. Its not as simple as choosing drugs over diapers, even though it seems that way to those who haven't lived it~
Some people are still beating “The Dead-Horse”
The bottom line is = The PFD money that some of the people gets, is NOT Your Money! If they want to buy a Big T.V. or use it for Vacation…. It’s There Money” Not yours! And you should not be telling them “How to spend it!
P.S. to All the people before, that were yelling and Crying that No One should get a PDF check, “Did you send yours “BACK ??
ecray nailed it. I feel the same way. live w/in your means. if you need assistance-you sure as hell should not have a big tv, new clothes, eating expensive food.... I work hard for a living and am proud of it. If i need more money to buy something, I work more hours. Makes me sick seeing people on welfare w/new 4wheelers ect....
Boy, I made the mistake of stopping by Sam's Club today. What a zoo. Enormous televisions (bigger than your average Sam's customer in fact, and that's not small potatoes) were flying out the door. That'll cut those GVEA bills.
I bought a bottle of quality liquor and some avocados. Much of the rest will go into energy upgrades for the house to reduce our long term bills. And the kids' college accounts got a nice boost today.
When I was younger I used to blow a bit of it on fun stuff, but not so much now. I am going to put a healthy dent in my two cards & get new prescription sunglasses (as insurance only covers regular). The majority of the rest will go to savings so we have a security blanket for winter. I did splurge on a well-made pair of work shoes, this will help stave off future podiatry bills. =D
Not a 'fun' spending plan per se, but tailored to my budget & therefore one I won't be regretting.
IF I ever get my PFD this year...so much for being direct deposited today like everyone claimed...I plan to pay for this quarter's tution, books, parking fees, and any other ridiculous but mandatory fees they demand; as well as pay off all of my credit cards; buy a shredder to chop the cards up so I don't wind up in this hell of a debt that I landed myself so stupidly in; pay off all my medical bills; pay for the next few months' worth of $300 prescriptions, and for my "BIG" splurge, buy a bed, so I can end the 2+ years of sleeping on the floor, and hopefully curb the ever growing back and neck problems that have accumulated over time. If there's a couple of bucks left over, I'll probably donate it to charity.
I was given the chance to go to California for a vacation, followed by a cruise to Mexico, with family, but to me, my long-term credit and education is more important to pay for now, instead of a silly trip that lasts 2 weeks. All the vacation places that I dream about going to will likely still be there when I've saved up enough money, and who knows, maybe I'll win a free trip one of these days, haha. I really hope that others out there will be frugal and conscientious about their spending, so they don't wind up regretting their spending decisions in a month or two.
Everyone be careful on those roads this week - Oaken Keg, Freddie's liquor and every other liquor store were quite busy today. I agree with ecray - too many horrible habits wasting most of this moolah. Go ahead and blow it right away and take yer trips and whatever, I just can't wait to read all the "poor family" letters later on.
The Curmudgeon brings up an excellent point about all those new big screen TV's adding to an already expensive electric bill. I'm sure "gas-guzzling" truck sales are up as well. And let's not forget new cell-phone plans, video games, cigarettes, guns, and "Palin-style eyeglasses and lipstick".
You can bet Alaska will be one big party for at least a month. YOO-HOO!
Curmudgeon - my wife also made the mistake of stopping at Sam's Club today. She was after 5-dozen eggs and some other food item, can't remember exactly. She was bewildered at the zoo and just turned around and left. I chuckled when she told me, because neither of us realized today was D.D. day - that usually happens 3-4 weeks from now!
We have to do our monthly grocery shopping because we missed it last weekend. Pray for us. Hahahahaha. No, I just hope it will help to get to Fred's/Sam's early tomorrow; I sure would feel out of place with my cart of groceries surrounded by a bunch of big screen TVs.
north_pole79 -
Thanks for the link to that Time article. Whoa - Michael Kinsley is just seething with bitterness in it. Part of OPEC? Sorry, but its the speculators driving the prices up, not taxes on oil. Granted, oil in Alaska is heavily taxed, but that is not stopping the oil conglomerates from continuing to make record profits. What it might do is stifle development of additional oil reserves.
Hahaha; might be a good time to join the AK Independence Party, as if it were up to Mr. Kinsley, he would likely kick our rears out of the union anyway! Whew, not light reading just before bed. I am probably going to wake up a pound or two heavier tomorrow from the weight of it!
I woke up at 6 AM this morning, saw my sons dividend had arrived and immediately went shopping with it. I was staring at all these things I wanted to buy for him, so many options I had preplanned and I still couldn't make up my mind. I was like a kid in a candy store. Finally, I had made some choices. I was sure he would love them, even though he is only 10 months old. I bought him shares of AT&T, added more shares to his Pfizer position as well as his American Capital position. I almost bought him some Altria but I think he is too young for a tobacco company. Maybe on monday he'll be old enough.
I did the same for almost all of mine, minus the cash that went into the rainy day emergency fund.
No vacations this year for me and mine. But I figure in 21 or 22 more years of saving, I'll take a nice vacation to watch my son graduate debt free from any school he chooses to attend.
That is how you spend your kids dividend check, investing in their future and not in a week on the sand they'll forget in a few years.
(please note I am still pulling for my son to grow to 7 ft tall with some mean low post moves and a love of rebounding!)
I will receive $0 this year. Just like the past 5 years. Because in 2002, I left Fairbanks and went active duty Army. And because I put a Florida address on my enlistment paperwork (my Grandpa's, who I was visiting at that time), I am ineligible for the PFD. So while my mother and father, two sisters and brother all get the PFD, I do not. Oh well, 12 more months here in Iraq. Then maybe I can fly home and visit them, so they can use part of it to take me out to lunch or something.
It seems like there are alot of people struggling...watch what happens if McCain/Palin win. We will be a hurting group. I hope every person worried about mortgages, heating fuel and medical bills(the middle class) will be thinking about that in November. Let's be smart people!
scaredforlife -
I have no problems. I do not have a high post count. And I do not get on here to give kudos to people; I get on here to post logical thoughts, sentiments, and debate. If you want to feel good, don't read my comments.
I don't really care about your circumstances, although yours seem unique at it is unfortunate. I'm glad you got the hell out before it got worse.What I care about is that you actually do something with that money, other than spend it on a TV or Hawaii. If you do, I really hope social Darwinism wins.
I have heard of that saying, and it is stupid. If we all said only nice things to each other, nothing would ever get debated. Nothing would ever change.
Enjoy your money, and please make sure you are doing something for your children to better their future.
ecray-
I plan on using what little I do get to pay off my credit card and pay off the past due bills that I have so that I will not have things turned off this winter.
I don't have to worry about taking a vacation or buying a new TV, I had all those nice luxuaries when I was with the low-life, I would rather be poor than live in hell!
kenny 6703 - Is it not possible that most people will be struggling no matter who lands in office? People who spend ridiculously and save rarely are likely going to continue these habits no matter who is the next Pres. and VP.
I hope every person who is worried about mortgages and such will make a strong effort to smartly budget and change their ways with money.
I hope that everyone who goes to vote this November is being smart as well, but being smart by carefully considering which team's politics will positively benefit the most people, pushes our nation to be a stronger, smarter, greater country, and will leave their mark in history as people who were great who did great things.
I hope that the issues of gender, age, race, etc. have nothing to do with people's choice this November.
Having a bunch of kids reallyl does pay off
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