PerkStreet Financial

This post is by guest writer Kevin Mulligan. Kevin is developing a freelance writing career focused on personal finance.

photo credit: Triple Tri

If you’ve ever followed me on Twitter you’ve noticed my profile photo is me standing outside the glorious Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. I’m sporting my UT hat, and (you can’t see it) a UT sweatshirt.

There’s a great personal finance story behind that photo that I’ll get to in a minute.

But as you can tell I’ve got a passion for college football just like millions of other Americans. The question remains: how do you balance your passion for sports with the ups and downs of your personal finances?

Have no fear sports fans because I’m here to tell you it can be done. You can enjoy your team without going broke.

When Is It Okay to Spend on Sports?

It is never okay to splurge on any hobby or passion if you can’t afford it. You’ve got to have your budget and personal finances on the up and up first. As Dave Ramsey points out you need to start with the basics: food/water, shelter, clothing, and transportation. Then move on to your emergency fund and the rest of your saving categories.

When my wife and I decide to integrate a sports event into our budget we simply start saving up for it. It feels a lot better paying for tickets when we know we already have the money. No worrying about payments or credit card interest for this family.

How to Support Your Sports Team Without Bankrupting Your Home Team

If you’re the person with season tickets in the first row on the 50 yard line this post is simply not for you. You’ve got more money than I can imagine.

For the rest of us that can’t afford a $10,000 donation to a university each year, there are a couple of different strategies you can use to avoid paying through the nose while still getting to enjoy a game or two.

• Buy and Split Season Tickets

This is a strategy my wife and I used in 2008. She surprised me by wanting to take me to our first Tennessee football game. Since we live in Alabama and have to listen to their smack talk all year long we thought we’d go see the Vols play them in Knoxville.

Unfortunately tickets were running $200 to $400 per pair — and for terrible seats. We weren’t ready to pay that much.

Then I learned there are two different types of season tickets: renewable (you get the same seats each year) and non-renewable (your seats could change from year to year). While both season ticket types require a donation to the University the non-renewable donation was 50% less ($250). The total cost for 2 tickets to 7 home games was $880.

We hatched a plan.

We did some research on eBay and found that Florida at Tennessee tickets were going for upwards of $400. That was well over face value and would cover 45% of the cost of the tickets. If we sold the rest at face value we would at worst pay face value ($70 per ticket) for the Alabama game. That alone would save us $60 to $340 dollars based on what we were seeing tickets go for.

We ended up giving some tickets to family, selling a pair to a couple of friends, and eBaying the rest all successfully. We got to go to the game for about $25 per ticket — well below what we would have paid elsewhere.

It was a calculated risk and we planned ahead. It worked out really well!

• Buy Individual Tickets Close to Gameday

If you aren’t comfortable with taking a calculated risk with several hundred dollars just hop on the other side of the equation and buy some tickets from friends that are looking to split a season. At worst you can hop on eBay or StubHub to buy tickets. You obviously won’t make money off of this, but you can limit your financial risk by getting a set price.

• Enjoy Big Games from Home

One thing to know about college football tickets is that the while smaller games are usually still available directly from the University for face value, big games may end up costing you way more than just the cost of one ticket. Tennessee requires you to either buy a mini-pack of the big games or season tickets to get access to the really big games.

So you’re not comfortable paying $300 for a lower end zone ticket? No big deal. Just stay home. With all the technology available today staying home can be a better experience than being at the stadium.

Even if your game isn’t covered on any of the networks you can always Pay Per View it for $20 to $30. Invite 4 friends over and split the cost of the game (and the snacks) — everyone wins.

Keep Your Perspective… If You Can

Sure, everyone wins. Everyone, that is, except for Tennessee when Alabama came to town. We got rolled 29-9.

You know what took a little bit of the sting out of the loss? It was our first Neyland experience together and we didn’t pay through the nose to watch our team get beat.

That and a little bit of perspective… because it’s just a game, right?

Oh, it’s only a cup of coffee. Just this one album. You probably find that you can easily justify most small purchases by telling yourself that it’s just this once or the item is low cost. But lots of low cost items over time can add up into some fast and furious debt. Imagine if every time you reached into your wallet to splurge, you put that money aside instead.

PerkStreet customers are no strangers to spending smart. The difference is the cash back perks they get for making those smart decisions. So they can reward themselves with that super duper large extra hot four sugar with skim milk coffee, or a great new song by their favorite band, or whatever their hearts desire without having to dip into the rent fund to do it. From where I sit in PerkStreet customer land, those little things sure are adding up to a whole lot of awesome.

How about you? Are you ready to join us in PerkStreet Customer Land? We’d love to see you here.

The final post in this week’s series of managing finances during major life changes comes from our friend Pete over at Bible Money Matters, who’s a brand new father!

A few weeks ago my wife and I had our first child, our little boy named Carter John. We’re both overjoyed at becoming first time parents, and we both agree that there’s nothing quite like welcoming a new life into the world. The overwhelming joy and happiness that comes along with being a parent can’t compare to anything I’ve ever known.

While becoming a parent has been a wonderful journey for us, it hasn’t been without it’s surprises. As any parent can tell you having a child isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. It does have its costs, some of which I hadn’t really anticipated.

Unexpected Financial Costs Of Having Children

My wife and I are probably above average when it comes to financial preparedness. We had anticipated quite a few costs associated with having a baby, which I wrote about in my post “What Expenses Should I Expect When Having A Child?“. In the post I talked about a lot of the expenses new parents can expect including baby furniture, diapers, baby clothing, formula, medical costs and the cost of child care.

While I think the post nailed a lot of the expenses to expect, what I didn’t anticipate for some of them was just how much they would be.

Diaper Costs

For example, I underestimated just how much diapers, wipes and other associated diaper products would cost us. Since day one our son has had quite the robust gastro-intestinal tract, filling his diapers in excess of 10-12 times per day some days. While I expected to be changing a lot of diapers – I didn’t expect to be changing quite as many as I have. In fact, we’ve already gone through a couple of packs of diapers, 2 packs of wipes and an entire tube of baby butt salve. In the end I think we’ll be spending a lot more on diaper care than we first realized.

Eating Out Costs

Another place that we knew we would be spending some money after the baby was born was in our eating out budget. As with diaper costs, however, we grossly underestimated just how much we would be spending. We didn’t realize how tired we would be, and how unmotivated we would be to start cooking right away. Because of that we’ve spent quite a bit on eating out. Thankfully we’ve been saved to a degree by friends and family who have pitched in to bring us several meals.

Lost Opportunity Costs

One cost I hadn’t anticipated was the lost opportunity cost because of the restrictions on your time. I don’t think I appreciated before just how much time it takes to care for an infant. Caring for a baby is a full time job, with constant feedings and diaper changes, and reduced sleep on top of that. It is extremely hard work!

Because you have less free time, it also means less time to devote to sideline income generating pursuits. For me that means less time for blogging, less time for graphic design and less time for researching new money making ventures.

The Financial Costs Are Worth It

So those are a few of the places where I was surprised by the financial impact of having a child. While the increased expenditure (and reduced income potential) haven’t been overwhelming, it has been enough to be noteworthy. If you’re thinking of having a child – be ready. You too will most likely have some unexpected costs that you’ll need to factor into your budget. As long as you’re flexible and are able to adapt, you’ll come out ahead in the end.

What are some other costs associated with having a baby that you were surprised by? Tell us in the comments!

A Boston-based freelance writer, Susan Johnston hopes to put these tips to good use someday. She’s written for publications including Bankrate.com, Yahoo! HotJobs, and Young Money Magazine.

In the flurry of wedding and honeymoon planning, many couples forget to plan for their financial future. According to a PayPal survey conducted last year, at least 10 percent of the couples surveyed said they have ended a relationship at least in part due to money. The survey also found that money causes more arguments than sex or any other issue.

I talked to Manisha Thakor, personal finance expert and co-author of Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money with Your Honey, about how to improve finances and achieve matrimonial money bliss:

photo credit: Photos by Lina

1. Get Lovey-Dovey Over His & Her Paperwork
If the bride is changing her name, she’ll need to update her passport, Social Security card, driver’s license, and other documents. Thakor suggests doing this ASAP. “Early in your marriage is a great time to sit down and make a comprehensive list of all your assets, accounts, important papers, etc., – something both of you should do and share,” even if the bride is keeping her name. Start with the most important documents, then move on to routine items like magazine subscriptions and utility bills. Both newlyweds will also want to name new beneficiaries on their retirement plans in an effort to take control of finances.


2. Consider a (Financial) Three-Way
Some couples keep separate bank accounts, while others merge all their money. There’s also an intermediate option Thakor calls a “financial three-way,” which includes a separate bank account for each of you and one joint account, potentially requiring you to find a new bank. “I am increasingly seeing this as so many couples are marrying later in life and coming to marriages with income, assets, and habits that are fairly ingrained,” she explains. For whichever approach you choose, she says, communication is key.

Jennifer‘s note: my fiancé and I do this now. We have a joint account into which we put an equal percentage of our paychecks for household items and the occasional night out. That way no matter who makes what we’re both contributing equally, and I don’t have to feel guilty about splurging on a manicure when I have a little extra in my account.

3. Getting in the (IRS) Bed Together – Or Not
Not so fast – you don’t have to file taxes jointly. For instance, if one of you owns a business, the other may want to file separately in case any bookkeeping issues arise on the corporate level. The downside of separate returns is it lowers the ceiling for things like Roth IRA contributions and capital gains, which won’t help with budget issues. “This is definitely a discussion for you and your accountant.” says Thakor.

Did you get married recently or are you getting ready to get married? How are you and your betrothed handling finances? If you’ve been married a long time, what are your keys to successful financial communication in a marriage?