Stiffing Bank of Mom and Dad

I previously wrote that my Snowball Plan will come to a screeching halt now that I'm purchasing a condo. In actuality, I've just revised my Snowball Plan, yet again, to include my anticipated new debts: my mortgage and the down payment lent to me by Bank of Mom.

Come 10/31/2011, my debts will look something like this:

10/31/11	Fed'l Sub'd Student Loan	$ 50,558.49	@ 5.125%	Fixed
	Mortgage	$ 274,000.00	@ 3.875%	Fixed
	Down Payment	$ 68,500.00	@ 0.000%	Fixed
	TOTAL	$ 393,058.49

Based upon these estimates, here's my new Snowball Plan ver. 3.0.

I know that the "real" Snowball Plan requires me too pay off my debts in the order of the smallest balance to the largest. I do plan to pay off my smallest debt first, but I'll also be snowflaking $4,000/year to my Bank of Mom debt.

Some would argue that the $4k/year snowflake should be applied to my student loans instead of to Bank of Mom. But I feel that Bank of Mom deserves the not-so-insignificant snowflaking since she was generous enough to lend me the money interest-free. Additionally, my mom's 69. God knows how much longer she'll live. She got a relatively clean bill of health recently so I'm thinking that she'll be good for at least another 10 years. Hence, my goal is to pay off Bank of Mom in 10 years. I guess I should also be prepared to make a balloon payment for the balance in the event my mom's health deteriorates prematurely. The bottom line is, I intend to take my debt to Bank of Mom seriously and will treat it no differently than any other debt to a "real" creditor.

I'm going to switch gears now and I'm going to engage in some catty gossip. My best friend recently confided to me that she and her husband also "borrowed" approximately $20,000 from the husband's parents for their down payment. It's been 8 years and they've paid back $0.00 so far. In the mean time, they've taken vacations, bought a new car and made improvements to their house. My BFF claims she feels guilty for stiffing the in-laws, but not guilty enough to initiate a repayment plan. My BFF further feels that it's her husband's responsibility to make the repayment arrangements since they are his parents.

I'm appalled at my friend's cavalier attitude about how she and her husband are stiffing Bank of Mom and Dad. I guess since her in-laws haven't said a "peep" about being repaid, perhaps the in-laws intended to "gift" the money. Either way, the issue has been swept under the rug and no one is dealing with it.

I'm a bit disappointed with my friend. No matter how you slice it, she and her husband are deadbeats. They're deadbeats because they're stiffing their family members on a significant sum. Even assuming that the in-laws were willing to gift the money, my friend and her husband are deadbeats since they didn't pay taxes on the non-exempt portion of the amount that was gifted to them.

I wonder if the in-laws have forgotten about the "loan"? Or I wonder if it will always stay in the back of their minds that their kid and his wife stiffed them?

Pinecone Looking For New Members

Apparently, I'm a member in good standing with Pinecone Research and they have given me the opportunity to recommend membership to a friend or relative to join the panel!

To those who are unfamiliar, Pinecone Research is a subsidiary of the AC Nielsen Company and are one of the most reputable paid survey companies. They pay $3 for each completed survey which takes approximately 15-20 minutes. It's not the most efficient way to make money, but it IS easy snowflaking money.

Click on the logo to go the registration site.

Anyone Interested in Pinecone?

Apparently, I'm a member in good standing with Pinecone Research and they have given me the opportunity to recommend membership to a friend or relative to join the panel!

To those who are unfamiliar, Pinecone Research is a subsidiary of the AC Nielsen Company and are one of the most reputable paid survey companies. They pay $3 for each completed survey which takes approximately 15-20 minutes. Since November, I've earned about $21. So, okay. It's not the most efficient way to make money but it is easy snowflaking money.

Jonathan from My Money Blog cautions:

1) These guys are very strict. Whatever info you sign up with, you must always keep it up to date and follow it exactly. For example, if your profile says you’re 35 and in a later survey you state that you’re 46, you may mysteriously stop getting any new surveys. It’s best just to be honest.

2) Fill the surveys out as soon as you get them. I think this is why I was kicked out. For some reason they stopped e-mailing me survey alerts (multiple e-mails to Ms. Scott trying to fix this went unanswered). By the time I got the notices in the mail, the survey had expired. If you miss enough surveys, they boot you. I’m still a bit grouchy over this…

If you're interested, please leave a comment with your email address.

Please note that only one person per household may register. Multiple registrations will void all.

I'm Accepted to Pinecone. :-D

I recently applied to become a panelist for Pinecone Research and I just discovered I was accepted. I don't expect to make much money filling out product surveys online for $3-a-pop, but I'm hoping to start my "snowflaking" savings with the proceeds.

Anyhoo, I'm out of town today on a business trip so I don't have much time to write.

Off the topic here, but is anyone burned out with non-stop election coverage? Someone sent me this video that I thought was hilarious! Enjoy and have a great weekend.

Beer Me!

Thank you to all who have participated in my To Beer or Not to Beer poll.

The vote is in: By a margin of 2 to 1, the people have voted their approval of buying beer with recycling proceeds. Pheeewwwwww. (Truth be told, I was hoping for this outcome. Heh heh.)

I also want to thank the people who've taken time out of their busy lives to leave thoughtful comments. It's interesting that all of the commentators have voted "yes" to buying beer. (I love my audience!) They suggested that although savings are important, it is also important to enjoy some small indulgences here and there. I couldn't agree more.

So there you have it. I shall redeem my recycling voucher today to buy myself a six-pack at Trader Joe's. :-D

But to also honor the wishes of the proponents of snowflaking, I will make every effort this month to save an extra $10.

I Hope I Get Accepted to Pinecone!

My recent post pondered whether I should "snowflake" random extra income like my recyclable redemptions.



Frugal Chick snowflakes her Pinecone survey payments. According to Frugal Chick:

Pinecone is a very reputable survey site that is a bit elusive. They usually pay $3 a survey, and I tend to get one every couple of weeks or so. You can't simply sign up on their site--you have to search for a banner or happen to chance upon one and then qualify once you've clicked on it. Keep your eyes peeled if you like doing surveys for a bit of extra cash!

I just registered through a link at this site and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be accepted. (It's very possible that I may be rejected since I didn't register through a random banner.)

[Note: It's also very possible that this link may not be valid. But since the url appears to be Pinecone's and the registration does not ask for sensitive information such as Social Security number, I rolled the dice that it is legitimate.]

Jonathan at My Money Blog reviewed his experience as a Pinecone participant here. Jonathan's tips include: (1) be truthful in your registration and (2) be prompt in taking the surveys.

Now I realize $3 every other week isn't much, but I guess that's the philosophy behind snowflaking -- each snowflake is small but if you accumulate enough, you'll get a snowball.

:-D

To Beer or Not To Beer?

For the past 6 months, I've been recycling cans, bottles and newspaper to earn beer money. I just recently recycled stuff I've been collecting since 8/27 and earned $9.92. Not too shabby for stuff I was going to throw out anyways. :-D

Many PF bloggers throw this kind of extra income into their "snowflake" jar. I wondered whether I should start snowflaking my recycling proceeds?




Since it's an election year, I've decided to let my readers decide! (Please cast your vote on the sidebar.)

Query: Should I buy beer with my most recent recycling proceeds?

Like the official voter information guide we get in the mail, I've decided to provide a Pro and Con argument for this vote.

A YES vote means I get to enjoy an occasional ice cold beer. I used to drink a bottle a day, but I've cut out beer from my regular budget. For the past 6 months, I've only bought beer from my recycling proceeds. The last six-pack of beer I bought was in August and I still have 3 bottles left. A "yes" vote will promote mental relief and happiness (albeit very briefly).

A NO vote means I will put most recent recycling proceeds into my savings. I don't have enough money in my emergency fund to last me more than 3-4 months. I have over $120,000 in debt and I may be laid off next week. Beer is an extravagance I cannot afford right now. A "no" vote is a vote for fiscal responsibility.

I haven't cashed my recycling voucher so I won't be tempted to spend it before the vote is closed. Viva democracy!