Review

“An incredible publication–nothing short of a bible. . . . For people who want to day-hike, explore, camp, fish, dig for clams, or simply kick back, this guide provides the insight and knowledge to enjoy the treasured coastline. If a book could ever be considered a great emancipator, the California Coastal Access Guide would surely qualify. It is that valuable.”–Pete Ottesen, The Record — Review

The California coast, from the majestic redwoods and (more…)

California’s picturesque villages and small towns and its stunning landscape, from rugged sierras and fog-laced headlands to golden sand beaches and rolling oak-studded ranchland.California is nicknamed “The Golden State,” and though the name applies literally to the color of its state flower, the golden poppy, it is also a metaphor for the hopes and dreams that have lured generations of settlers. There are villages that grew up around the famed Spanish mission trail, and  (more…)

From the Manufacturer

Costume includes corset style dress with lacing detail along attached apron and crinoline. Also includes the mini cape with attached hood.

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Best Metal Bands

But I decided there was something I could do. I’d been a customer with Chase (previously Washington Mutual). After reading J.D.’s article on rewards checking accounts and realizing I was missing out, I closed my account with Chase and moved my checking and savings to a local credit union down the street. I have to say, it felt great.

My new credit union insures my money just as well as the big bank, but it also offers a ridiculously high interest rate on my checking account, refunds on ATM fees so I can use any ATM I want (even those $3 fees at the back of the convenience stores), really great customer service, and — best of all — free cookies on Fridays.

They can afford to do all of this because, as a credit union, their top priority is me, the member. Not CEO and shareholder profits, not bloated advertising budgets. And best of all, by moving my money to a local community bank, I’ve taken money away from the poorly-managed, impersonal big bank and given it to a bank that will actually use it to help me and people in my community.

I made a real difference, and while my tiny accounts are nothing to a company like Chase, they matter a lot to my local bank and my community. (And did I mention the free cookies?)

Here’s an interesting (if over-earnest) video about the difference between big banks and small banks:

If you, too, have been thinking about moving your money, here’s what you can do:

Ask your friends, neighbors, and coworkers if any of them are using a local community bank or credit union. What do they think? Do they have any recommendations? You can also try the “Find a Bank” locator at the Move Your Money project.

Once you’ve decided on a local bank that meets your needs, set aside half an hour to stop by a nearby branch and open an account. I’ve always found this a very pleasant experience.

Start to contact any companies that have your debit/credit card or bank information on file, and give them the new bank’s info. It’s best to get this all done about a week before the next step, so that everything’s nice and tidy.

Set aside about an hour to head to your old “too big to fail” bank and close your account. If you haven’t already done so, get the rest of your funds in a check to bring to your new bank. If you’ve already transferred all auto-billing to the new bank, this should be a quick and relatively painless process (easier than trying to cancel your cable service, anyhow).

From Library Journal

A veteran travel writer of guides to San Francisco and Northern California, with at least four titles in multiple editions, Misuraca has expanded her territory by heading south from the Redwoods down the coast to San Diego. In this colorful portrait of the West Coast, she describes the environment, towns and cities, and attractions that make this 1200-mile coastline an exciting place to explore. The ten essays, providing both current and historical perspective (more…)

Walking out on a mortgage. “If you owe more than your house is worth, walking away is not your only option,” writes Canavan in the article. “For information about modifying your mortgage, go to MakingHomeAffordable.gov, a website sponsored by the federal government with the goal of helping the 12 million American families whose homes are now worth less than they owe.”

Using credit cards to finance a lifestyle you cannot afford. This is the deadly sin I feel victim to when I was younger. I wanted everything, and I wanted it now. Rather than wait until I could pay cash, I financed my lifestyle on credit. Now, many years later, I’m finally using credit cards again. But I use them because I can pay cash, and not because I can’t.

Falling for debt-consolidation schemes. When you’re deep in debt, it can be tempting to look for magic bullets. Those debt-consolidation schemes you hear advertised on the radio can seem so tempting! Who wouldn’t like to get rid of their debt all in one blow? But these plans aren’t magic bullets, and as my little brother learned, they can actually make matters worse. If you need help with your debt, find somebody reputable who can help. (Check with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.)

Co-signing a loan. I know, I know: You want to help your boyfriend or your sister or your son. And they promise they’ll change their ways and pay you back. But be careful. When you co-sign on a loan, you’re making a legal commitment, and if something goes wrong, you may find that you’ve not only lost money, but you’ve also lost a friend.

Taking out a payday loan. Payday loans are a trap. They’re a stopgap measure that often snowballs for folks who use them. Usually, they just sink people deeper into debt.

Using a reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage isn’t necessarily evil, but it’s absolutely not a cure-all. In fact, reverse mortgages are suitable for only a very small portion of the population. As the article says, a reverse mortgage should be “a last resort, not a first resort”.

Cheating on your taxes. Nobody likes paying taxes. But despite what your Uncle Joe might tell you, you are obligated to pay them. If you want to protest taxes, talk to the media or your legislators. Don’t take it out on the IRS, and don’t try to cheat.

As part of my financial turnaround, I learned to track my spending. In fact, this was one of the most effective tools in getting me to change my spending habits. Every week, I’d sit down at the computer to enter my receipts into Quicken. Once or twice a month, I’d play with the graphs and reports, keeping an eye on the problem spots. By tracking every penny that I earned and spent, I became more aware of my habits.

But something’s happened lately.

Last summer, I noticed that my discipline seemed to be lacking. Instead of logging my spending every week, I’d often go two or >gasp!< three weeks without using Quicken. At first, this made me fret. “Something’s wrong with me,” I’d think. “If I don’t track my spending, I’ll lose control.”

You know what? I didn’t lose control. Even if I went an entire month without entering my info into Quicken, my spending stayed in check.

Last fall, as I was writing my book, things got even worse. Sometimes I’d go six weeks without remembering to enter data. And then 2010 rolled around. Here’s a shocker: Since doing my year-end numbers in early January, I haven’t logged my spending once. And just last week, I stopped saving every little receipt. (It’s been years since I tossed out a grocery receipt before coming home.)

Some of you may be alarmed by this. A few years ago, I would have been concerned, too. But I’ve actually found that my scofflaw attitude is liberating. Over the past few months, I’ve seen that I’m perfectly capable of practicing conscious spending without logging every penny I spend.

Although I no longer track my spending in detail, that doesn’t mean I’m ignoring my finances entirely. Hardly! I still check my statements every month to be sure there’s nothing goofy. Plus, I double-check to be sure my account balances are continuing to grow. In a way, it’s as if I’ve removed the training wheels and am now zipping around the driveway on only two wheels.

This reminds me a little of my return to credit cards. In 1998, I destroyed my credit cards because I couldn’t use them responsibly. For nearly ten years, I lived without a personal credit card. I was afraid to trust myself. But about three years ago, I decided to take a chance. I set some ground rules and signed up for a single card. Since then, I’ve not only used credit responsibly, but have actually learned that it can make life more convenient.

So maybe leaving Quicken is the next step. Maybe part of the third stage of personal finance is recognizing that my financial discipline has become ingrained, that I no longer need certain redundant systems because the internal systems are working just fine.

Some of these lifestyle shifts will save you money. Others are expensive. Often, I hear cost used as a reason not to “go green”. In fact, environmentally damaging products and lifestyle choices are only affordable because we’re not paying the full cost of them. While you enjoy your cheap plastic toys, people in the developing world are paying the price in terms of pollution, exploitative labor, and natural resource consumption.

Most of us want to do right by the environment. We’d love to have pesticide-free homes and diets. We want our spending to support small farms, local businesses, and fair wages for workers in the developing world. That doesn’t mean we necessarily have the available cash to do what our values dictate.

A lot of green lifestyle changes also have a time cost, associated with them. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how easy it is to slip into Time Debt by thoughtlessly taking on new commitments. Biking to work sounds great, but if it adds an hour to your commute time each day, you’re losing an hour at work or at home.

With every green step you take, you need to consider whether or not you can truly afford it.

Here are some inexpensive steps you can take that will “green up” your bank account and the planet:

Stop buying Stuff. You all knew I was going to say that, right? When you buy consumer goods, you create demand for resources to make, transport and sell those goods. That can be good for the economy, but it’s bad for the planet — and your wallet. When you do need to buy something, always investigate your options for getting it used rather than new. Used goods are cheaper and greener.

Cut back on utilities. You can save about $150 a year worth of electricity by line drying your clothes instead of drying them in a machine. Another $150 can be trimmed just by washing them on cold cycles instead of hot. Using high-efficiency light bulbs, insulating your home, and using recycled rainwater to quench your garden are all small changes that can save you big money. They also leave a smaller ecological footprint.

Park your car. Biking to work might not be practical every day, but maybe you can do it one day a week. Try expanding your radius for walking and biking, and explore public transit options in your area. My family of four drives less than 500 miles a month these days; much less than that in the warmer months. How low can you go? Make it a game. The prize: more money in your pocket, and fewer emissions into the atmosphere.

Once you’ve explored your free or cheap options, you may want to take a close look at some of those spendier choices. Should you be buying organic strawberries? What about “green” disposable diapers? How do you know what the best use of your limited resources is?

Making a decision about a green lifestyle change or product is like making a decision about any other expense. You just need to add the impact on the planet into your set of priorities.

It helps to do your homework. I can’t afford to buy only organic foods, so I use this handy table to help me understand which foods absorb the highest amount of pesticides. I prioritize getting organic apples and strawberries because they’re high on the list, and worry less about sweet potatoes, since they’re very low.

It’s also useful to consider how the added cost of an eco-friendly item will affect your ability to do other things you value. For example, I cloth-diapered both my children. We used second-hand diapers and washed them in a high-efficiency washer. If you’re going to use diapers at all, this is about as low-impact as you can get.

When my daughter’s daycare refused to use the cloth diapers, I assumed I’d put her in the “eco-friendly” disposables you can buy at Whole Foods. Those diapers, made in part from recycled paper, can cost as much as ten times what a box of generic disposables costs at Costco. I bought the generics, and used part of my savings to pay for a membership in the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Ultimately, being an earth-conscious shopper is a bit like being a frugal shopper. It’s important, but it isn’t the whole answer. The simplest, best thing we can do as consumers is to just consume less. That’s good for our bank accounts, our environment, and our bodies.

When we do consume, we’d do well to weigh the environmental impact of our purchases and look for used or eco-friendly options. We also need to hold corporations and governments accountable for large-scale change.

Don’t buy into the idea that every purchase you make needs to be local, organic, hand-made, or recycled. What matters most is that we bring our lives into balance, value the simplicity of buying less, and work for change on a global scale — as well as in our own backyards.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. My friend Ramit set out to write a money book for young people, and he succeeded admirably. Even if I had no idea who he was, this would be the first book I’d recommend for most students. Two drawbacks to note: Not everyone likes his tone and style, and the book doesn’t really address the psychology of spending. (Here’s my review.)

Debt is Slavery by Michael Mihalik. I raved about this book a few years ago. Of all the personal finance books I’ve read, I think this would have been most useful for me when I was in college. It’s not a comprehensive guide to IRAs and stocks and bonds; it’s a short treatise on how to take control of your financial life.

The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke by Suze Orman. This is a pretty comprehensive introduction to personal finance aimed specifically at young adults. There’s almost too much information.

Reality Check: The Student’s Guide to the Real World by Grant Baldwin. I haven’t read this book; the publisher sent me a copy, and I’ve leafed through it. It gets great reviews at Amazon.

Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner. This book comes highly recommended, but I haven’t read it.