The Addison Cafe

Meet Shinobi: a 1 year old, 14.5 pound miniature Australian Shepherd affectionately referred to as our “dog child”.  He likes to run around, play, fetch a frisbee, and eat peanut butter. Boy does he love peanut butter. He also loves to cost us money; lots of it (and I am not just referring to the shoes, books, furniture, and cell phones he has chewed on).  When looking for a puppy, we didn’t have a lot of money (that crossed bulldog off the list…a healthy one of those puppies will run you 2,500 bucks).  We ended up getting Little Freaky (one of his many nicknames) for 300, marked down from 700 because the breeder was local. I thought “another 100 on a kennel, food dishes, and toys and we are set”. Wrong. Very wrong.  Between all of his shots, medicine, vet visits when he got sick from eating who-knows-what, and getting fixed, we had to cough up another 1,500 bucks! Didn’t see that coming… We were forewarned to get pet insurance, but I figured it was a rip off like insurance tends to be. Turns out the gods were right on this one.  Something to think about when you get a dog: get pet insurance for the first year. After that they are good to go except for the occasional sickness, but that first year there will be all sorts of expenses; seen and unforeseen.  BTW - the majority of average purebred pups will generally run you 500-800 bucks to buy. It can sometimes be best to get them used (ha) or get a mixed breed from the local pet shelter. Not only do you miss out on getting them fixed, giving them shots, and worm/flea meds, but they don’t tend to ruin your carpet (if you know what I mean) when they are over 1 year old. The downside is you don’t get to play with them in puppy mode and sometimes they have issues from past owners.  Whatever you decide, buyer beware: dogs cost a lot more than you think.

Ah, Merrwidge (as quoted from “The Princess Bride”).  One of the dividing lines between being a kid and an adult, immature and mature (yeah right).  Funny how we all aspire to be married someday (I’m generalizing).  Well, I made it. Got hitched. Jumped the broom. Ball and cha…(just kidding honey).  I must admit, marriage is great. However, an obvious drawback in marriage (for most people) is the inability to spend money on whatever you want, whenever you want.  I suppose you could, but I don’t recommend it unless your couch is comfier than your bed.  Taking this little unspoken rule into consideration, I have some advice. I know you are thinking, “yeah yeah, buy your toys before you get married. I know.”  Ah, but you are mistaken. My advice is to buy your toys before you are engaged.  I have yet to find anyone, male or female, who tells their fiancé “go ahead honey, spend as much as you want…we aren’t married yet”.  You could even replace “engaged” with “seriously committed” if you wanted to get technical. Enjoy your financial freedom today. Make a list of the things you want and a timeline of how long it will take to save for them.  Before I got married my list included a mountain bike, video camera, new computer, and a life-like gorilla suit to name a few.  A quick bit of secondary advice… don’t do this by running out and racking up 20k in credit card debt and then telling your significant other that “the blogger guy at the Credit Union said it was ok”. That’s not buying toys before your engaged, that’s paying extra in interest for them while you are engaged.  What’s on your pre-commitment-must-have list?

Already married? Missed out on your toy buying time of line? There is still hope! Of course, I can’t emphasize enough how important saving for the future is. However, you only live once and for some couples you won’t have that long from the time you start life together until the time you have kids.  I remember going into Toys-R-Us as a kid and feeling like I was in heaven on earth. When you have kids, it is more like going to “Toys-R-Not-US” where you get to buy fun things like diapers, formula, and Flintstone vitamins. So for all you married people out there, you might not be able to spend like crazy on yourselves individually whenever you want, but you can dream and plan together to get the things you want as a couple.  Especially if you want to drive a sporty 2 door car before you have a car seat, or go on a cruise together, travel, or get more invested into a favorite hobby. I don’t have kids yet, though I hear they are great, but I don’t want to miss out on this time of life. Live it up with your spouse. Personally, we like trying out different Bed-and-Breakfasts and hope to go on a cruise someday. What are your big plans?

Ok, let’s kick this off with a confession: Banking is boring. There. I said it.  I am not going to pretend otherwise. Nobody’s favorite hobby is balancing their checkbook (if it is, please email me…we need to talk). This Blog is NOT here to scream generic catch phrases like “Free Checking!” and “Save More!” all day long.  No, this Blog is here to hopefully do two things: enlighten and entertain.  That’s right, I am going to attempt to break the banking mold. No gaudy suit and tie and well groomed mustaches here (I can’t grow one anyways…I tried). Rather than talk about lame-O products over and over again like a broken record on finances, I am going to address the more interesting side of banking, and the side that is rarely talked about: life application.  Virtually EVERYTHING we do, need, want, or have requires money. I want to discuss how we can get the things we want and do the things we want to do in a relevant way.  For example, some of my friends go on cruises every year. Others can barely afford to go on a camping trip. The sad part is the ones who can’t even go camping make more money then the ones who go on cruises. Why is that?  What do you want to do? How do you want to live? Are you doing it? At 27, I am finally figuring out what I want and sadly realizing that I can’t do some of the things I want to do because of poor choices (like eating WAY too much Burger King…). In short, it’s time to make some changes and start living the way we want to. No excuses. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jonathan Gowins and my whole job is to bring relevance and financial opportunity to our generation. Fun huh? Feel free to email me any thoughts, questions, or suggestions for topics; I am open to anything.  And thanks for reading; more to come soon…