Growing, the Best New Hobby

I was encouraging him to try some new hobbies, so my son decided he wanted to start a garden inside because he was getting into cooking. He wanted to grow parsley, sage, rosemary, even thyme and he didn’t even know the song.

What a coincidence. I always like to encourage my son in his endeavors so I decided to help him out with his new indoor garden. Now, I made him do all the research to figure out what he needed, but I helped him finding a good deal on the stuff. We needed a to get a grow light of course to simulate sunshine. Also, these ones are really low energy which of course saves money. Also they last a long time.

You can never really have too many led grow lights, because you need different colors for different types of seedlings and at different stages of their growth. You may think all lights would be the same because heck, there’s only one sun, but remember, you’re in a world without sun when you’re doing indoor growing so you might as well keep all those prejudices back in Boise. If you have any questions about what’s available, we did all our shopping at http://www.accesshydroponic.com and their selection really helped us figure out what we needed. It’s not just light, it’s all the wiring and the ballasts and reflective grow tents.

It’s kind of expensive at the end of the day, and you might think I should just go to Food 4 Less and get some dried spices that others have already grown and while yes that would be more cost effective this is way better and more delicious. Making a pizza with ingredients your grew yourself, in the basement, is an invaluable experience and also it gives the grower, my son, an exceptional sense of accomplishment, which of course it is.

What is “Good” Debt?

To many people the term “good debt” may seem like an oxymoron. Being in debt can be a burden, but there are types of debt that are beneficial because of the opportunities that come out of them. Avoiding debt completely isn’t always the best option. Paying for everything in cash can often deplete your savings, and leave you without having anything to fall back on. Knowing when it’s necessary to borrow money, and managing your debt well is part of what becomes good debt.

A lot of what makes certain debt “good” can be associated with what is known as “opportunity cost”. Opportunity cost is the sacrifice a person makes of income in the short-run with the intention of making more than they would have in the long term. Furthermore, good debt should be for things you need but can’t afford to pay for out of your own pocket. As the saying goes: “it takes money to make money”. Here are three examples of what can be considered good debt. 

Education

Tuition for schools is notoriously high, and there’s pretty much no way you can get a good education without gaining some debt. It’s true that certain careers are obtainable without getting a college degree, but they are scarce and don’t pay as well. For example, you may get a job where you make $30,000 a year without going to school. However, you may never go above that amount and have a greater opportunity to maketwo times as much if you go to college. This is where good debt and opportunity cost come in. By sacrificing the $30,000 over four years (a total of $120,000) you are investing in the long term, and the idea that you will make vastly more than what you lost. Since the debt you are acquiring is for the purpose of something you need to become more successful, it is considered a good debt.

Homeownership

Buying a home can be pretty costly, and if we’ve learned anything from the last decade—it’s pretty volatile too. Chances are you won’t be able to pay for a house upfront, and even if you could it isn’t wise to spend all your capital in one shot like that. A mortgage loan is a good form of debt because of the equity that comes out of it. Once you’ve paid off your loan you now have a new asset. Down the road the opportunity cost will most likely be positive too, since you may end up paying less in property taxes and home maintenance than you would have in rent every month.

Small Business

Taking out a loan in order to start your own business is another form of good debt. Again, in the long-run the opportunity cost of having your own business can end up being a bigger financial windfall for yourself than if you worked for another company. Of course the risk associated with starting your own business is much higher than getting an education or owning a home. Although this is good debt, since you are doing something to further your financial success, it is important to do research and know if it’s right for you.

As stated with the small business example, it’s imperative to realize that taking on debt in any form can be a risk, and you should do your research before making any costly decisions. When taking on debt of any kind keep your debt to income ratio in mind. A good rule of thumb is your monthly debt payments should never exceed 36% of your gross monthly income. Be aware of how much debt you’re taking on at any one time. What all three of these examples, and any type of good debt, have in common are that they are investments in your future with the intention of capital growth. Remembering that when deciding to borrow money can help you avoid bad debt situations.

Angie Picardo is a staff writer for NerdWallet, a personal finance website dedicated to helping consumers find the best credit cards.

Frank W. Abagnale Jr. The real "Catch Me If You Can"

Catch me if you can, is one of my favorite movie.

The 2002 film Catch Me if You Can, directed by award-winning director Steven Spielberg, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Abagnale and Tom Hanks as Hanratty. The film is based upon his life and the autobiography and is mainly true to the source as Abagnale was a consultant to the writers but some of the details were changed for obvious movie purposes

Catch me if you can - part 1

Poor Cheryl for giving  $400 back for the bouncy cheque

Catch me if you can - part 2

I really like on his words about 'kids need for parents', on the ending of part 2. It really meaningful. A divorce would turn a kid perform unexpected behavior. 

A wonderful marriage with perfect wife and lovely children will make a husband a perfect man.