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DH's Grocery Challenge...

August 14th, 2008 at 02:06 pm

...and my financial planner story.

I'm back. Vacation was great. Not necessarily relaxing with 2 young kids at the beach and boardwalk but really fun. (I'm like a kid myself - LOVE the rides at the boardwalk)! But now I'm back to reality.

Hubby and I have been having major conversations about our financial situation over the last few months. The prices of everything are through the roof, and it's too tight for comfort for me. I showed hubby the numbers and indicated that we really need to crack down on all areas of spending. His response: the problem is the grocery bill, which averages about $600/month (including detergent, personal and paper products).

While that's certainly not the only area we could attack, it's definitely a good place to start. We could plan meals better, waste less produce, etc. to get it down some. But I think he may have an unrealistic view of how low it can go. (He's thinking in the neighborhood of $400).

So I gave him a challenge. I'll give him $400 (or $450, or $500 - whatever he finally decides) on September 1st and he will be completely responsible for grocery shopping for the month. I'll help him however I can, as far as planning meals, cutting coupons, whatever, but he's going to the store and shopping. If he's successful, maybe I can learn some of his tricks. If he's unsuccessful, at least he'll have an appreciation for what things cost and agree to attack some of the other categories that he's avoiding now. Either way, it's a win-win for me.

On another note, we met with a financial planner yesterday. What an absolute crock! We did it as a favor to friends who used this guy and recommended him to us. He's a "wealth management" advisor. His advice: 1) stop overfunding your 401(k). (We currently max out). His suggestion was to only contribute to the company match and invest the rest in his investment vehicle. 2) Refinance our current mortgage. We currently have a 15-year fixed at 4 5/8%, with 9 years left to pay and a balance of about $187k. He wants us to take out a 30-year fixed, leaving only 20% equity in the house and invest the rest in this investment vehicle. His logic: The return on the investment plus the additional tax deductions more than make up for the additional interest you incur moving from a 15 to a 30-year.

Are you kidding me? I won't bore you with the details of his argument, but suffice it to say that we weren't biting. I'd much rather have the peace of mind of being debt free with no tax deductions, then having a $600k 30-year mortgage hanging over my head at the age of 38. I'm sure people who aren't as cynical as I am lap up what he says, and are probably responsible for all of the "for sale" signs going up in my neighborhood. Unreal.

Plan for today is to work on cutting some more expenses, filling out some FSA paperwork, and the like. I'm also going to open the windows and let some fresh air in!

9 Responses to “DH's Grocery Challenge...”

  1. littlegopher Says:
    1218720035

    Kind of sounds like that financial planner manages 'his wealth' best of all - ha!

    It'll be interesting to see how the grocery plan plays out for you - it's an area of my family's spending that I keep going back to often. Hope you post the results of your challenge, and good luck!

  2. monkeymama Says:
    1218724306

    Yikes.

    I mentioned earlier, a wealthy client of ours, who had the cash to buy a second house when he moved, was told by his investment advisor he should just take a mortgage on the house. "It's a good tax deduction." So he asked my boss and my boss of course says, "pay cash." Duh. They guys seriously has more money than he knows what to do with. The tax deduction is not worth borrowing money he doesn't need to borrow. Of course his investment advisor doesn't want him to liquidate several hundred thousand dollars.

    Egads!!!!

    Good luck on the groceries.

  3. mbkonef Says:
    1218727770

    No wonder I am so suspicious of financial advisors. It is people like these who give them a bad name. I have friends who got a settlement from a car accident about 4 -5 years ago. The husbands car had been totalled by another driver and he had been injured. They received about 60K when all was said and done. Her hubby wanted a fancy new truck. Yes, he needed to replace his vehicle but this was also a TOY for him. It cost about 30K. The "investment advisor" told them to finance the truck, invest the 60K with him (of course he made a commission on the sale) and use the interest in the account to pay off the truck over time. Flash forward to now, they have blown the money in the account on other things and are still making payments on the truck. They probably would have blown thru the money either way but at least the truck would have been paid for and they would not have that additional debt hanging over them. What else would have been different? Oh yeah, their "friendly investment advisor" would not have made as large a commission. Nice to know he was on their side! With friends like that, who needs enemies!

  4. mbkonef Says:
    1218727843

    Oh yes, I almost forgot. Good luck with DH's grocery challenge. It does sound like a win-win situation for you either way!

  5. M E 2 Says:
    1218732088

    Holy crap!

    I have what I would call a VERY basic understanding of general finance and even I can see that the only pockets that would be getting padded are H I S !!

    I guess technically he didn't do anything illegal, but his advice is/was bad, to say the least.

  6. Myrtle Says:
    1218735499

    Please keep us posted on the grocery challenge!!!

    I think I'd run from the financial planner!!!

  7. retire@50 Says:
    1218739305

    Not only do people who take this adviser's 'advice' get screwed they get to pay for the privilege. My sister is paying her adviser 2% to manage their accounts. So far he's lost 20% this year.

  8. scfr Says:
    1218768682

    Good luck with the grocery challenge ... I am sure it will be a big eye-opener for your husband.

    Oh, I would have run screaming from that planner's office!

  9. baselle Says:
    1219020413

    woo wee - good for you for running away from that financial planner. "His investment vehicle" must be a real gem ... probably a Hummer. Big Grin

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