It’s hard enough for most people to find a church that really works for them and you can imagine that it’s even worse for the President. However, President Obama has announced that Evergreen Chapel will not be the main church that he and his family attend, despite his love for the location. Evergreen Chapel is a non-denominational church located at the Presidential retreat Camp David. The majority of American Presidents have practiced the more liberal brands of Christianity – Episcopalians and Presbyterians are the majority – and some were outright deists. The religion of the President is as important to some as installment loans are to others, whether he worships at Evergreen Chapel or not.
The GRS Garden Project: June 2009 Update
June 28, 2009
Every month, my wife and I track how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for June 2009. (Here are the results for 2008.)
It’s the beginning of summer, and that means our garden is lush and green and growing. It also means there’s nothing exciting to write about. We’ve begun to harvest a couple of things, but mostly our chores have become routine. We weed and fertilize while we wait for the crops to ripen.
One problem we’ve encountered this year is weeds. There are always some weeds to be pulled, but as many GRS readers warned, spreading horse manure on our vegetable garden caused more weeds to sprout. Kris is the weed-puller (and plant-fertilizer), so she puts the most hours into the garden. She spent four hours working on food crops this month, while I spent three, all of which were harvest-related.
Harvest
As our harvests begin, I want to remind you of our methodology. For the purposes of this project, we’re using “best match” pricing. Based on GRS reader suggestions, we’re obtaining typical pricing from our local farmers market. In some cases, we use pricing from a local organic produce stand. In all cases, we’re trying to be fair, but this is more art than science.
Also, last year we established through repeated measurements that a pint of berries weighs roughly 300 grams. I’ll use this approximation frequently throughout the summer.
Those ground rules established, here’s our harvest for the month of June:
- 13.55 pounds (6.151 kg or about 20.5 pints) strawberries @ $2.99 per pint = $61.30
- 5.17 pounds (2.344 kg) snow peas @ $2.99/pound = $15.45
- 0.31 pounds (0.139 kg) raspberries $3.49/pint = $1.62
Our harvest this month was worth a total of $78.37. In June 2008, we harvested $50.83 worth of food. That’s a 54% increase in the value of our crops!
To be honest, though, we’re tempted to pull out the raspberries. They’re difficult to harvest (hidden behind a wall of thorns), and the fruit they produce is pitiful. I’ll bet that for $5, we can find a better variety.
Summary
And so the profit portion of our project has begun! July, August, September, and October will be even more productive as we begin to pick our caneberries, our tree fruit, and, especially, our tomatoes.
For now, here’s the monthly summary for June, including comparison data from 2008.
| Month | Time | Cost | Harvest | Month | Time | Cost | Harvest | |
| Jan 09 | 3.0 hrs | $131.15 | — | Jan 08 | 4.0 hrs | $27.30 | — | |
| Feb 09 | 12.0 hrs | $36.67 | $10.00 | Feb 08 | 2.5 hrs | — | — | |
| Mar 09 | 4.0 hrs | $1.00 | $5.00 | Mar 08 | 3.5 hrs | $130.00 | — | |
| Apr 09 | 3.0 hrs | — | — | Apr 08 | 5.5 hrs | $28.51 | — | |
| May 09 | 15.0 hrs | $98.55 | $5.97 | May 08 | 5.5 hrs | $110.89 | — | |
| Jun 09 | 7.0 hrs | — | $78.37 | Jun 08 | 7.0 hrs | $0.79 | $50.83 | |
| Total 09 | 39.0 hrs | $267.37 | $99.34 | Total 08 | 28.0 hrs | $297.49 | $50.83 |
As always, we’ve been supplementing our own produce with food picked elsewhere. Last weekend, our friend Jolie joined us for a trip to the strawberry patch. Kris and I picked 24 pounds of berries (about two flats), for which we paid just over $20.
On Friday, our neighbor came over to let us know that her cherries were ready to harvest. We’ve decided not to preserve any cherries this year, but we picked about 10 pounds just for snacking.
Share your progress! I’d love to hear about other people’s gardens. Especially if this is your first time growing your own food, please chime in with what you’re doing and what you’re learning.
Final word
This garden project is not a formal experiment. Kris and I are long-time hobby gardeners, and we have set ways that we do things. This year, we’re trying to incorporate some new ideas from GRS readers, but most of the time we’ll do things the way we have for nearly 15 years.
We’re not trying to be 100% organic (though we are mostly organic through our normal practices). Nor are we trying to be 100% frugal. Instead, we’re trying to see just what our garden costs and produces based on our normal habits. We hope the results of this experiment will help us find new ways to economize and to improve our crops.
You can read about my goals for this series in The year-long GRS project: How much does a garden really save?
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Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:
- The Year-Long GRS Project: How Much Does a Garden Really Save?
- The GRS Garden Project: November Update
- The GRS Garden Project: June Update
- The GRS Garden Project: May 2009 Update
- The GRS Garden Project: February Update
Survey: Millions Forced To Rethink Retirement
June 27, 2009
A survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc. shows that in the past year, 44 percent of workers age 50 or older have had to delay their retirement date. Three-quarters of those now planning to postpone retirement cite the loss of savings in their 401(k) accounts as the single biggest reason.
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Sarah Jessica Parker Twins Born into Big Money
June 26, 2009
Actress, Matthew Broderick have two baby girls
Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker’s twins were born today. After Sarah Jessica Parker’s success, I don’t think either these kids will ever need to apply for an online payday loan, but I guess you never know. What I do know is that despite keeping a lower profile than his wife, Matthew Broderick has been working steadily since his role in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” catapulted him to fame.
Famous family
Besides Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker’s twins, they have a son together named James Wilkie, who is 6. The couple had their twins via a surrogate after they had trouble conceiving.
Thanks to the rampant success of “Sex and the City,” both the television show and the movie, Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, the twins and James will likely be well off for years to come.
Money and the city
“Sex and the City” the movie brought in more that $150 million at the U.S. box office, which is excellent dough for a chick flick. Sarah Jessica Parker also has her own clothing line, “Bitten” which got plenty of attention thanks to her appearance on “Project Runway.” Sarah Jessica Parker won four Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of Carrie Bradshaw on the “Sex and the City” television series.
The man behind the money
Matthew Broderick was in two independent films last year, but he has been in some big-name productions over the years. He played a co-lead in the 2005 adaptation of “The Producers.” He is well known for his role in quirky comedy “The Election.” He also played opposite Nicole Kidman in “The Stepford Wives. Broderick has also done voice work for animated films, including “The Lion King” and “Bee Movie.”
Sex and the future
As if raising twins weren’t enough for Sarah Jessica Parker, she is now working on a sequel to the “Sex and the City” movie. Though Barbara Walters reported on the view that Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker’s twins are girls, I couldn’t find out their names just yet. MTV reported on Broderick and Parker’s decision to have their children through a surrogate:
“After unsuccessful attempts to become pregnant again after giving birth to their son, James, the couple turned to the surrogate and were completely “overjoyed” once they received the news that they were expecting twin girls. “Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are happily anticipating the birth of their twin daughters later this summer with the generous help of a surrogate,” representatives for the couple said in a statement a few months back. “They had a lot of unsuccessful tries,” a friend told Entertainment Weekly, who first broke the news of the couple’s latest addition to their family. “They came to the conclusion that this was going to be the best alternative for expanding their family.”
I’m interested to see what Sarah Jessica Parker’s twins will do when they grow up, or even before they grow up. Will they aspire to be rich and famous like their parents? Will they grow up in the Hollywood spotlight like the Olson twins? Or will they take an entirely different path altogether?
UPDATE: María Belén Chapur Pictures Found… ?
June 26, 2009
Must… have… pictures…
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Or quizás, quizás, quizás, if you prefer. That’s what bloggers out there who think they’ve found the genuine article María Belén Chapur pictures should be thinking, because nobody knows for sure whether images of the mistress of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford are out there. Here are the full E-mails he sent her. This is as close as the paparazzi have been able to come so far. Once verified current photos are located, money is definitely going to change hands somewhere.
Why has it been so difficult to find photos of “Maria,” as she is apparently known in Argentine media? As the Wall Street Journal speculates, it is a difficult undertaking to obtain pictures of political mistresses and love children because politicians in mid-scandal don’t have the facility to negotiate publication deals the way stars like Jennifer Lopez and Angelina Jolie do with the tabloids. The stars can negotiate their own deals (we aren’t talking online loan or payday cash loan money, here), thus maintaining some semblance of control. But scandalous politicians are generally trying to stay away from the limelight and retain their seat of power, so the attempts at secrecy are understandable. … click here to read the rest of the article titled "UPDATE: María Belén Chapur Pictures Found… ?"
The Problem With Market Timing
June 26, 2009
I’m in the process of consolidating all of my investment accounts at Fidelity. This isn’t because I think Fidelity is “the best”, but because I think they’re good and they’re certainly convenient. There’s a Fidelity “investor center” not far from my home. (In other words: I’m not endorsing Fidelity; I’m merely following my own advice to pick a good option instead of spending forever looking for the best.)
As I gather my various accounts under one roof, I’m also trying to set investment goals and to implement an asset allocation based on these goals. As I do this, though, I’m struggling with some emotional stuff. I’ve found that it’s one thing to write about smart investing, but it’s another thing to actually do it.
I’ve just learned a real-life lesson about market timing, for example. In general, short-term market timing doesn’t work — especially for amateur investors. If I asked you to tell me whether the stock market (or an individual stock) will rise or fall next Monday, you’d only be guessing. Investors shouldn’t make decisions based on guesses. Or wishful thinking.
Let me give you an example. I recently decided to sell a large stake in an S&P 500 index fund. In order to get my asset allocation correct, I wanted to transfer the money to bonds. But when it actually came time to sell the mutual fund, I couldn’t pull the trigger.
“What if it goes up?” I kept thinking. The market has been climbing over the past few months, and the fund was up 35% since March. 35%!! That’s a pretty good increase, but I wanted more. “Maybe I should wait until the market goes up another three or four percent,” I thought.
I held the index fund for an extra day. Then two. Then three. Each day, the market went down — and my fund followed with it.
“Ouch,” I thought. “I should have sold!” My fund had dropped 5% from the day I first decided to make the move. ”I guess I’d better just sell. Now I’m losing money that I could have safely on the bond side of my portfolio.”
So I sold.
That was early this week. As soon as I sold, the the market began to rise again. Up half a percent on one day, and the next, and then two percent yesterday.
“Holy cats!” I thought. “It’s up three percent since I sold it. I should have held on!”
This, my friends, is the problem with market timing. You can’t know what the market is going to do from day-to-day. Over the long term, the stock market has returned an average of about 10% per year. But that’s the long term. Over shorter spans, the market is volatile. It swings up and down. Over a period of days, its movements are basically random, unpredictable.
I made the decision to sell on June 12th, but I didn’t pull the trigger until June 22nd. In those ten days, my fund lost over 5% of its value. Now, in the three days since I’ve sold the fund, it’s risen 3%. Obviously, I managed to just about nail a worst-case scenario.
Market timing doesn’t always yield such poor results. But, in general, you’re better off basing decisions on your long-term goals and the market’s broad performance instead of trying to guess what your stock or mutual fund will do tomorrow.
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Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:
- Ben Stein: Buy Low, Sell High
- Saving and Investing: An Introduction to Dollar-Cost Averaging
- Saving and Investing: The Difference Between Active and Passive Management
- Daily Links: Good-Bye, 2007 Edition
- What the Stock Market Decline Means for You
What Do Static Friction, Dynamic Friction, and Furniture Polish Have to do with Argentine Tango?
June 26, 2009
They say you should never put furniture polish on a wood floor. But clearly, They don’t dance Argentine tango. I do, and until recently, I had a serious dance issue. I live in a city where the Argentine tango community is divided and caustic. Disagreements about dance styles and music preferences errupt regularly causing dance venues to close and instructors to stop teaching. During those tantrum-tossed intervals when there’s nowhere to go dance, my partner and I dance on a hardwood floor in the living room.
The floor looks like it would be a good dance floor, but it has some kind of water-based finish that’s stiff, slow, and hard to pivot on. We’ve been going to refinish the floor, not for any cosmetic reason, but to make it a better dance floor. Naturally, we’ve haven’t gotten around to it. So the other night we decided to go against everything we’ve ever been told about putting furniture polish on the floor. We applied it very lightly and let it dry. It was slick all right, and it coated the suede dance soles on our shoes, too. But we took little steps and kept wiping our feet on a damp towel, and after an hour or so, parts of the floor were becoming very manageable.
It isn’t the safest thing to do to a wood floor, but it turned our living room into a pretty dance-able venue. Dancing was much easier on our feet, and it was also much quieter. I had always assumed that our feet were so noisy when we danced in the living room (compared to real dance halls) because the house is old, the living room is on the upstairs level, and there was no one else dancing around us to mask the sound of our feet. But after we applied the furniture polish, it was like any other dance floor. The thing that was making it noisy was the inability to slide or move quickly. Dancing on Pledge furniture polish is unsafe but very quiet!
We noticed a strange thing. Stepping and sliding are effortless and quiet, but pivoting, although it is easier than without the polish, is very noisy. Pivoting actually makes a stuttering sound and the movement is a series of tiny jerks instead of one smooth spin. So when you keep moving, it’s quiet and easy, but when you stop and turn slowly, it’s stiff and noisy. The difference, I suppose, has something to do with two kinds friction and their related coefficients: the coefficient of static friction and the coefficient of dynamic friction. I’m a dancer, not a physicist, so I can’t go any further than that with the analysis. But a dancer’s point of view, I can safely (or unsafely) say that it is possible to improve a stiff dance floor by applying Pledge furniture polish!
Barbara Boxer Goes Bonkers, Disses Brigadier General
June 26, 2009
Personal Money Store Videos on Youtube
Thats why we put people like this in office. So they can become mad with power and disrespect the little peons like brigadier generals. Isnt America great that way? But please PLEASE whatever you do, never call California Senator Barbara Boxer maam. Because clearly she doesnt deserve such good old-fashioned respect.
For more information on this article and others like it, please click on the following link:Personal Money Store: Barbara Boxer Goes Bonkers
I love it when people car sing who can’t sing
June 26, 2009
I was in the car with a family friend the other day. We happened to be going on a road trip together. He was singing this song and was awful. It’s okay if you know you’re bad but when you think you are good and sing then it’s annoying. He even played a song that he had actually recorded of himself singing. I thought that would be a good clue to get him to understand he wasn’t a good singer but apparently it just encouraged him a little bit more. I laughed at him the whole time. He thought I was laughing at something else but it was definitely him.
I saw a Lion King Tree today
June 26, 2009
It was in the middle of nowhere. There was a huge desert area. In the desert area there was this tree that looked just like the tree on the Lion king. It is awesome. I just wanted to go sit in the shade under the tree. It was so inviting. It is like it was calling to me and asking me to come sit under it. I guess that’s what happens on a hot day. The trees start talking to you a little bit. Luckily I was in a car and was at a good temperature with the air conditioning on. Otherwise I might have pulled over and gone and sat under the shade of the tree.
Martin Rogen 