Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2013 11:01:55 GMT -5
Not sure how this is going to post. Article is on p.5 and the title is "Staying Grounded". www.usaamagazine.com/After reading the article, all I could think of is "Wow, I'd be embarrassed to have my actual name used". $36k in consumer debt, $1000 in savings, no retirement or college savings, they bought a bigger house, are fostering 3 boys and her response is that it's going to be hard to cut back on their cruises and vacations. I picture the financial advisor wanting to do a head smack like Gibbs does to Tony DeNozo on NCIS. I'm just so YM!
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Sept 17, 2013 11:08:50 GMT -5
I'm unable to read the article, but that's probably an issue on my end and nothing to do with the way you posted it. Are they actually photographed with this article, too? Can you see their faces or are they wearing paper bags? Dayum, I would be.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Sept 17, 2013 11:14:01 GMT -5
Are they actually photographed with this article, too? Can you see their faces or are they wearing paper bags? Dayum, I would be. I doubt you would put yourself in this position to need the paper bag.
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Sept 17, 2013 11:15:50 GMT -5
Yep, you can see their faces.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Sept 17, 2013 11:26:27 GMT -5
I read the article. I just wanted to smack everyone involved.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Sept 17, 2013 11:33:20 GMT -5
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Sept 17, 2013 11:34:09 GMT -5
When you are fostering, you don't need money for college costs. They are wards of the state and are considered independent (meaning no parental income counted). You can choose to help the kids with college if you want, but that is not an expectation anyone places on foster parents. And they probably needed the bigger house what with three boys and all
No retirement savings, though, that's the kicker. And you can't really get out of consumer debt if you're not willing to cut back on the consuming. Right now, I would say their "only option" is for both of them to start making a heck of a lot more money
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Gardening Grandma
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Post by Gardening Grandma on Sept 17, 2013 11:40:16 GMT -5
"To be honest, I don't know what I spend" Good grief, woman! You obviously are spending more than you can afford!
Culilnary school for their son is not going to be cheap. And with their income, he is not likely to be eligible for aid. And it's going to be hard to cut back on vacations? Really? Six trips to Disneyland wasn't enough? Go camping, for cryin out loud. (Wish I could reach through the computer and slap her)
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 17, 2013 11:43:47 GMT -5
A three-month EF would be $30,000?!?!?!?! What in the world do they spend their money on. They should have a ton of things to cut back on if they're spending $10k a month!
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 17, 2013 11:46:08 GMT -5
When you are fostering, you don't need money for college costs. They are wards of the state and are considered independent (meaning no parental income counted). You can choose to help the kids with college if you want, but that is not an expectation anyone places on foster parents. And they probably needed the bigger house what with three boys and all
No retirement savings, though, that's the kicker. And you can't really get out of consumer debt if you're not willing to cut back on the consuming. Right now, I would say their "only option" is for both of them to start making a heck of a lot more money They have a 15 year old that's theirs (not a foster anyways) that they want to send to culinary school.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 17, 2013 11:51:29 GMT -5
Fostering pays you as well. Not ten grand a month but decent money. They ought to be saving most of it to help those foster kids when the time comes, not living off of it as well.
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Taxman10
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Post by Taxman10 on Sept 17, 2013 11:53:30 GMT -5
don't worry - they have ample income...
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Sept 17, 2013 11:55:34 GMT -5
A three-month EF would be $30,000?!?!?!?!
That's what I thought too. $30k would be an entire year's worth of my income. I can't imagine needing that much for just 3 months! ETA: I could see if they had multiple investment properties like several board members but the article didn't indicate anything like that.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 17, 2013 11:59:46 GMT -5
no retirement
Not quite. The husband has a military pension. Not understanding where the disability payments are coming from though, but when he reached 65-67 (depending upon age), he'll be drawing Social Security.
One thing that the article didn't say was how he is drawing his military pension. Is he taking a reduced benefit so his wife is covered when he dies?
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Sept 17, 2013 12:05:09 GMT -5
Are they actually photographed with this article, too? Can you see their faces or are they wearing paper bags? Dayum, I would be. I doubt you would put yourself in this position to need the paper bag. Aw, thanks. I admit I was in the paper-bag category at one time, though. I came here and learned a bunch from the smart people.
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Sept 17, 2013 12:05:22 GMT -5
Is this you Drama or is it really Gwen? I like that pic of her.
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Sept 17, 2013 12:06:51 GMT -5
LOL!! I received their magazine last month and read that story. I wanted to smack that entitled woman upside her head and say "Wake up! You are spending your family into the ground with your selfishness and greedy ways!" He makes plenty of money for their family if she'd stop spending it all on her wants and vacations. What is wrong with people and why is he allowing her to do that?! If he's as bad as her then there is no hope for them.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Sept 17, 2013 12:09:37 GMT -5
Is this you Drama or is it really Gwen?
That's Gwen at her birthday party.
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Sept 17, 2013 12:11:15 GMT -5
When you are fostering, you don't need money for college costs. They are wards of the state and are considered independent (meaning no parental income counted). You can choose to help the kids with college if you want, but that is not an expectation anyone places on foster parents. And they probably needed the bigger house what with three boys and all
No retirement savings, though, that's the kicker. And you can't really get out of consumer debt if you're not willing to cut back on the consuming. Right now, I would say their "only option" is for both of them to start making a heck of a lot more money As someone with no kids, I have to ask: with the $1,000 in savings, what do they do for emergencies? I understand that the state pays for stuff, and the money they get fostering is decent, but stuff happens, right? And if they are living off the money, rather than saving anything, then what? And culinary school is insanely expensive, and the kid will likely make minimum wage when he's done. Sure, they all go into it thinking they'll come out the next Guy Fieri or Giada De Laurentiis. But that's a tiny, tiny minority of kids who go through it. He'd be better off in a community college culinary program, even to start out, and switch later on.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Sept 17, 2013 12:21:16 GMT -5
I liked the fact that it was only after buying a big house with a kid approaching college, and receiving 3 foster children that they thought, 'hey maybe we should shore up our finances.' Sadly, this is not uncommon.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Sept 17, 2013 12:21:28 GMT -5
Okay, now I have actually read the article.
Like others, I can't imagine how you spend $10k a month (maybe because my take home is about half of that), especially somewhere where you can get a 4bd/4ba home for $375k. (5bd/3.5ba in my neighborhood is $500k, and I live in the "cheap" part of the greater Seattle area.) They are not in a HCOLA. And as Zib mentioned, while they did add to their expenses taking on the three foster boys, the state gives you money to offset that, though it may not cover day care costs. (State of WA does not generally pay for day care costs for foster kids. I don't know what VA's laws are.) Still, that shouldn't take them to $10k/month.
I get that they need to save. But I think before they do anything, they have to know where they spend. And not just in a tracking tool that shows what store your money went to. While those are helpful, I can spend $300 at CostCo with $100 of that being needed items and $200 being wants. A tracking tool from my bank is just going to say I spent the money at CostCo, and I can claim that's all grocery spending. But it's NOT.
This family needs to start by tracking every penny they spend, where they spend it, and WHAT they spend it on.
I'll be that if they can get that figured out, they will quickly learn that their 3 month EF does NOT need to be $30k.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Sept 17, 2013 12:21:56 GMT -5
I doubt you would put yourself in this position to need the paper bag. Aw, thanks. I admit I was in the paper-bag category at one time, though. I came here and learned a bunch from the smart people. Most of us have. But we are all smart enough not to go public and scream "oh poor me" hence needing the paper bag. My favorite part was right at the end where she said they had never had to deny themselves, so it was going to be hard to cut back. Welcome to the real world!
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Sept 17, 2013 12:24:46 GMT -5
I liked the fact that it was only after buying a big house with a kid approaching college, and receiving 3 foster children that they thought, 'hey maybe we should shore up our finances.' Sadly, this is not uncommon. In order to adopt our daughter, we have to provide financial information (including tax documents) to the state. No financial information was required in order to foster.
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milee
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Post by milee on Sept 17, 2013 12:29:53 GMT -5
I liked the fact that it was only after buying a big house with a kid approaching college, and receiving 3 foster children that they thought, 'hey maybe we should shore up our finances.' My guess is that their realization that they needed to shore up their finances has nothing to do with buying a big house, thinking about their kids' college or receiving 3 foster children. Anybody want to bet $100 that the realization came one month when they didn't have the money in their account to pay the mortgage, utilities and all the credit card minimum payments?
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Sept 17, 2013 12:32:25 GMT -5
Fostering pays you as well. Not ten grand a month but decent money. They ought to be saving most of it to help those foster kids when the time comes, not living off of it as well. ?? Isn't that what the money is for - to help you raise, feed, clothe, and house a foster child?? Not to squirrel away for a rainy day? Obviously their spending is whack - but the money you get is supposed to help enable you to raise the child. Not save for when they are 30.
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Sept 17, 2013 12:37:30 GMT -5
Fostering pays you as well. Not ten grand a month but decent money. They ought to be saving most of it to help those foster kids when the time comes, not living off of it as well. ?? Isn't that what the money is for - to help you raise, feed, clothe, and house a foster child?? Not to squirrel away for a rainy day? Obviously their spending is whack - but the money you get is supposed to help enable you to raise the child. Not save for when they are 30. I think what Zib meant, and what I was thinking as well, is that the money is meant to take care of the kids, as opposed to living off of for vacations and entertainment and other wants. Not saying you cannot use the money for some fun stuff. But the needs of the foster kids come first, not the wants of the bio family. Dinner on the table, not a trip (or several) to Disney, for example. And a second question here for the Shane and the foster parents here: do you set up separate accounts for the money you get from the state or do you commingle and track the funds another way?
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nogooddeed
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Post by nogooddeed on Sept 17, 2013 13:06:11 GMT -5
Did you catch the part where the husband is an expert at disposing of explosives? Unless he is well insured, the ability of the whole family to survive financially could disappear in seconds.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Sept 17, 2013 13:27:08 GMT -5
NancysSummerSip - We don't keep the money separate. We aren't asked to track the funds. I could track the funds because of the way I manage my checkbook/cash flow and the documentation I have on what our grocery expenses and the like were before the pop tart. And in general, no, we don't spend the whole $500/month we get from the state on her, though some months are more expensive than others. (August has back to school shopping, including new school uniforms and her birthday party/presents.) We do put some of that money away with the plan that it will be used for a family vacation. And we'll be starting a savings account for her once the adoption is complete. If we were just fostering and not planning to adopt, I would probably (for my own purposes) do closer accounting of the money.
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NancysSummerSip
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Post by NancysSummerSip on Sept 17, 2013 13:31:01 GMT -5
NancysSummerSip - We don't keep the money separate. We aren't asked to track the funds. I could track the funds because of the way I manage my checkbook/cash flow and the documentation I have on what our grocery expenses and the like were before the pop tart. And in general, no, we don't spend the whole $500/month we get from the state on her, though some months are more expensive than others. (August has back to school shopping, including new school uniforms and her birthday party/presents.) We do put some of that money away with the plan that it will be used for a family vacation. And we'll be starting a savings account for her once the adoption is complete. If we were just fostering and not planning to adopt, I would probably (for my own purposes) do closer accounting of the money. Wow, $500 a month sounds like a lot, until you think about what kids cost. Then you realize you can't keep a kid in socks and PB&J sandwiches for that kind of money each month.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Sept 17, 2013 13:44:35 GMT -5
NancysSummerSip - I know there are a billion urban legends about people who do foster care "for the money", but there really isn't any money in it, certainly not enough to put up with all the rules, regulations, and hoops foster parents have to deal with.
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