Mortgage Monday: And Then That Happened…

Last week, in the early afternoon, I was in the middle of a project at the office. The deadline wasn’t until the end of the day and I was looking forward to taking care of a few other things before leaving the office that evening. After my phone had vibrated for the fourth or fifth time I found a good paragraph after which I could take a quick break and read the messages. I knew that they had to be from my wife but I had no idea what she was writing to me about.

Well, it could have been worse but it also could have been so much better. It turns out that the air conditioning, a project still lingering in the middle of our to-do list, decided to stop working in the middle of the day. And, of course, it was one of the hottest days of the year. That short break from the project I was working on was no longer a short break as I had to make half a dozen phone calls before a “solution could be found”.

Between the calls with my wife to get some additional details, texting my brother in law (this is what he does for a living), calling and emailing the home warranty company (the AC is covered under our policy), and finally trying to get a hold of the referred service company, all that time that I once had quickly went up in steam. Thankfully, I had gotten enough written before the chaos and I was able to get the project completed by the time I left the office (which was a little earlier than usual so I could meet the repair person when he arrived at the house). Driving home, I was expecting the worst as the half sized unit had been struggling lately.

I arrived at the house just as the service window was opening. Not surprising was the fact that it was another two hours before the technician pulled into the driveway. Almost immediately he began making comments on the small AC unit tucked away behind the garage. What did provide us with a rather pleasant surprise was the fact that it was a relatively simple solution to our problem with a loose wire (likely due to the constant usage) being the culprit. Thankfully, the air conditioning was restored quickly allowing for the house to cool a little before we put our son to bed.

Of course, this little hiccup has really put our renovation list in focus as the overhaul needs to be completed in the near future as I doubt that the next stoppage will be remedied so easily. We really are just waiting for the next time at this point and hoping that it holds off just a little longer until we can budget for the replacement system. But, for now, we are just going to enjoy the cool air for as long as it lasts.

Where Did All Of Our Money Go?

Every couple of weeks I look at my pay stub and go through the growing list of deductions from my pay… taxes, 401K, and healthcare. Taxes have always been relatively consistent (too high and annoying but consistent), the 401K contribution is something that I set (this I hope to increase in the future), and the healthcare costs have gone up over time according to how many people are covered under my plan which now covers my whole family. However, it is this last significant deduction from my pay that is really annoying. Not because of the direct costs outlined in the deduction but because of the high costs that my wife and I have encountered recently.

For years, every month we have encountered a co-pay in one form or another, office or pharmacy, that is in addition to the insurance premium that we have already paid for that month. Over the past year, those required payments have become more frequently as we have had more doctor visits and prescriptions that needed to be filled. However, these last few months have been atrocious and it really makes you wonder where the money is going. Since our son was born, we have sent out checks for approximately $2500 just to cover the astronomical co-pays. I have seen enough doctors during my life that I have gotten used to the various expenses associated with healthcare but this is simply ridiculous.

I can hear some of you now saying this is why we need Obamacare. Well, in my experience, that is a load of crap! While the delusional utopian concept is intriguing to many it is not something that fits into the confines of reality. This is why we have seen those premiums increase faster since the bill was signed than at any other point in history. Additionally, due to the ridiculous requirements therein, not only have the premiums gone up but the co-pays have seen a sharp increase as well.

Of course, there is also the basic employment fallout. I know for a fact that many employers have set limits on hours simply to avoid having to offer healthcare benefits. Frankly, I have no problem with employers not offering benefits to full time employees so long as said employees understand that they will not be offered. So, instead of someone getting paid for 35-40 hours per week, they are limited to 29.5 hours per week. In the end, they still aren’t getting benefits and now have less money in their pockets.

Furthermore, there are some benefits that were being offered to those who worked 30 or more hours per week. A perfect example that I have seen is that of extended leave. However, because hours are now eliminated that benefit disappears as well. So not only are you getting paid less at the end of the week but you are also losing some of the benefits that you once had. An when you go back to the original gripe in this post, you are also going to pay more for insurance and more in co-pays. You couldn’t afford to get sick before and you still can’t afford it now. Thanks Obamacare!

Maybe we should focus on making sure people can have jobs where they can work full time hours. Maybe we should stop regulating and forcing coverage on people and stop strong arming companies to cover employees. Maybe we should address the high premiums and co-pays that have become the accepted norm in this country. Maybe we should provide a true freedom to choose to have coverage and what coverage to have, whether someone is willing to take a job without healthcare benefits, and whether an employer offers healthcare benefits. Maybe this is the change that we really need!

And You Thought Wal-Mart Was Crowded!

There were a lot of 4473's filled out on Friday
which means we will soon be accused of killing trees. 

Black Friday Facebook posts seemed to be the norm this past week especially for the local shops in the area that don’t put the money into fancy commercials or newspaper inserts. This was especially true for the small shops around the region. Even the local gun shops took to Facebook to promote the discounts that they were offering this weekend (Tanner’s Sports Center is a perfect example of this). And, as it turns out, my local mom and pop shops were not the only ones cutting prices.

While I kept reading about the lines at various retailers across the country, it didn’t quite click that the same thing would be happening at the local gun shops and big chain stores. Just like last year, I didn’t have the need to go wait in those lines and none of those stores are along my usual commute so I was fairly oblivious to the rampant sales that were happening across the nation. Those thoughts were soon chipped away when I started reading through some of the comments left on the Facebook sale posts.

These demonstrated that there was a higher than normal pace to the sales but the volume was still something that I didn’t fully grasp until additional posts were made by a few of these stores. As it turns out, the PICS system was completely overloaded (no back door gun control theories here just the pointing out of a crappy antiquated system). Something that I cannot remember happening for some time and not this bad since the first few months of 2013. That is when I really began to wonder how many firearms were being sold on Black (Rifle) Friday.

And then I came across a CNN article (via The Blaze) that summarized the mass buying that was taking place across the country and why the system was unable to handle the load. Here is a little bit from the article:

The busiest shopping day of the year also saw a major boom for gun sales, with the federal background check system setting a record of more than 175,000 background checks Friday, according to the FBI.

The staggering number of checks -- an average of almost three per second, nearly three times the daily average -- falls on the shoulders of 600 FBI and contract call center employees who will endure 17-hour workdays in an attempt to complete the background reviews in three business days, as required by law, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said.

"Traditionally, Black Friday is one of our busiest days for transaction volume," Fischer said.

Indeed, Friday saw the highest number of background checks ever for a Black Friday, and second in history. The highest day on record was December 21, 2012, with more than 177,000 background checks.

Without any major controversies or political maneuvering currently being considered, it really came down to price this year. While there may not have been great Black Friday deals to be had overall, it seems as though the firearms industry is doing well and the real deals were in the gun shops. Like it or not, firearms are part of our culture and the ownership thereof is our right. Thankfully, there are many people out there who choose to exercise that right and Black Friday was there opportunity to embrace that right… and at a discount.