The Baker Blog

This past Saturday, the guys got together to celebrate the end of Eddie’s bachelorhood, which included a round of golf at Sugarloaf Mountain. The picture above is of the ninth hole and the links below are videos from Saturday. Be patient, the videos are a few MBs each.

Eddie on #7
Eddie on #9
Eddie on #11
Chad and Anthony “Booger” McFarland on #13
Eddie, Steve and Anthony “Booger” McFarland on #14

Ashley, Eddie, Jill and Chris dragged Jenn and I to the Samuel Adams beer tasting at the Food and Wine Festival.

Here’s a picture of Chloe from today …

The newest member of the family is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Her name has yet to be determined …

This past weekend, Jenn and I made a trip to The History Center in downtown Orlando. We planned on going a while back to see the exhibit that featured toys of the past (and present). We didn’t know about the video games exhibit until we got there. Lots of fun.

Jenn and I have been putting together a financial plan over the past few months and, in doing so, have found a handful of great resources on the subject of personal finance. We even went so far as to read “Smart Couples Finish Rich” by David Bach to each other during the evenings and on weekends in order to establish some common ground in our approach to money. While there are still a few disagreements on the details, the big picture is solid and should let us retire from our working lives sometime in the distant future (along with achieving some other major goals that require greenbacks).

The Book

Smart Couples Finish Rich, by David Bach (2002)
This book is broken down into nine “steps” that David thinks all couples should follow in creating a financial plan to “finish rich”. From identifying the role of money in your life to setting up the various savings “baskets” (retirement, security, and dream), these steps ask you to commit yourself now to the type of life you want to have in the future. In some cases, you’re asked to participate in the activities that David - a financial planner by day - goes through with his clients. It’s these activities that are most useful in getting the ball rolling if it’s not already.

The book is a little old at this point, so I’d recommend his latest version, “Start Late, Finish Rich”, which was published in 2007. From other reviews on the web, each of the books in the “Finish Rich” series contain basically the same information, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the title unless your still in your 20s.

Personal Finance Sites

• Morningstar
• CNN Money
• Yahoo! Finance
• MarketWatch
• Saving For College

Notes:

1. At Morningstar, check out the free “Investing Classrom” courses
2. David Bach and Ben Stein are regular contributors to Yahoo! Finance
3. 529 plans can be used for post-graduate education expenses, too.

Personal Finance Blogs

• All Financial Matters
• Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich
• The Simple Dollar
• Get Rich Slowly
• Lazy Man and Money
• Five Cent Nickel

Tomorrow morning, at 7am, Jenn and I will be going “around the world” at Epcot.

No, we won’t be stopping in Mexico for a margarita. Nor will we be doing sake bombs in Japan. Instead, we’ll be fighting FOR the kidney in the 9th Annual National Kidney Foundation 5K Run/Walk for Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness.

Assuming the picture above doesn’t mean it’s going to be raining in the morning, we should be done before 8am and home before 9am. That’s earlier than we get up on most Saturday mornings. To top it off, we’ve got a bowling charity event in the evening for the Disney VoluntEars program. I think it’s goal is to raise money for Give Kids the World, but unlike the morning 5K, beer is definitely on the menu.

FYI … My goal for the 5K - 27:00

UPDATE: Well, the rain ended early in the morning and the race went off as scheduled. Jenn and I both set personal bests for a 5K, although I didn’t quite get down to my goal. Here are our times …

Chad: 27:34
Jenn: 37:56

If anyone’s out there, I think the folks at Page-a-Day Online Calendars might have the answer to this one wrong. It’s the first time this year that I’ve needed confirmation, but let me know what you think. I’ll post their answer and mine tomorrow.

In your top drawer are two pairs of gloves in white and three pairs in black— all the same because you like the style. How many gloves must you take out (without looking) to guarantee a matched pair?

If you’ve never had one of these calendars you should put one on your Christmas list. When you buy a desk calendar by the same company, you get a free online calendar, too.

A few years ago, Jenn and I decided to get away for a long weekend on Captiva Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida. While we were there, we took a short cruise ride over to Cabbage Key, the place that inspired Jimmy Buffet’s song, “Cheeseburger in Paradise”. While waiting for the boat to take us back to Captiva, Jenn found the above sign quite humorous (or was that me).