• Carnival of Personal Finance – Qualifying and Applying for VA Loans

 

• Festival of Frugality – The Value of Quality Cookware

       And here are some good articles I found this past week:

• Bad Money Advice – Should You Invest in Gold? – [Frank shares his thoughts on why you shouldn't buy gold.]

 

• Bad Money Advice – When to Start Collecting Social Security, Revisited – [You can reapply for a higher benefit if you take Social Security early. And the best part is you don't have to pay any interest on the benefits you collected. I was surprised that Frank never heard of this, but I guess most people probably haven't. Check out Frank's article to learn about this nice little government benefit. It won't work for most people, but it can be a good option for some.]

 

• Christian Personal Finance – 24 Top Legitimate Home-Based Business Ideas & Opportunities – [If you've been thinking about starting a business from your home, you might want to check out this list Bob put together. It may help you find something you'd enjoy doing and can make some money at.]

       Have a great weekend!

Related Articles at Provident Planning:

1. Weekend Reading – 04/16/2010
2. Weekend Reading – 03/19/2010
3. Weekend Reading – 06/04/2010
4. Weekend Reading – 11/20/09
5. Weekend Reading – 05/07/2010

Costs & Time

       I spent a little less time this past month because I’ve become a bit more efficient and because of a change I made a little less than a week ago. (Read on to find out.) His feed cost about the same as last month.

• Feed – $40.93

       

• Time – 8 hours

       And here are our total costs over the past eleven months:

• Cost of Bambi – Free!

       

• Castration & Dehorning – $16.00

       

• Milk Replacer – $45.54

       

• Miscellaneous – $46.87

       

• Feed – $362.77

       

• Hay – $88.00

       

• Straw – $20.00

       

• Medicine – $5.00

       

• Total Spent – $584.18

       

• Time – 102 hours

       After almost a year, we’ve spent a total of $584.18 and 102 hours raising a cow for beef. The costs have been pretty steady throughout the spring and summer, and I don’t expect much to change through the fall. It may actually cost us a little less now because I’ll be sending Bambi away. No, we’re not butchering him yet.

       As I mentioned in my last post, my main concern has been about what I’ll do with Bambi once he gets too big to handle. It turns out he’s reached that point now. I can still get him where I want him to go – but just barely. His cooperation is important because I have to move him to a new grassy spot every day since we don’t have a fenced-in pasture.

       After a little spat we had last Friday, I decided it’s time to either leave him in the barn or send him to live in a pasture until November. We both came out of that little event unharmed, but every time I look at Bambi I only see this:





       If I had to leave him in the barn, we would be spending quite a bit on hay from now until November. Thankfully, the Hersheys (who gave us Bambi) have agreed to let him stay on their farm in a pasture with their pregnant heifers. This means our costs should go down a bit and our time commitment will go to zero. He hasn’t left our place yet, so in the meantime I’m keeping him at the silo and feeding him only hay and grain (no grass).

       There are several benefits to this arrangement – my safety not being the least of these. Bambi’s getting big enough that he can almost drag me around, so I don’t want to deal with moving him anymore. But now he’ll have a fresh and continuous water source, which means no more filling up buckets for me. It also won’t take the Hersheys any extra time to feed him because they already have to feed their heifers. Finally, I won’t have to worry about Bambi getting loose any more (which almost happened twice this past month).

       This is not to say that I couldn’t continue raising Bambi myself. As I said before, leaving him in the barn is an option. However, I doubt he’d like it much (not that it matters) and this option will cost less in time and money.

       With this new arrangement in place, I probably won’t have much to say about Bambi until he goes to the butcher. If you all are interested, I could keep doing updates once a month to track his growth and cover any changes in costs. If not, I’ll just do a final update after we send him off to be butchered. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. And make sure you sign up for free updates to Provident Planning if you don’t want to miss out on the last updates about Bambi!

Related Articles at Provident Planning:

1. Raising a Cow for Beef: Month 4
2. Raising a Cow for Beef: Month 8
3. Raising a Cow for Beef: Month 6
4. Raising a Cow for Beef: Month 9
5. Raising a Cow for Beef: Month 5

       Also, thanks to everyone who participated in GRABBBR! The winners will be announced soon.

       Here are links to the carnivals I was in this week:

• Carnival of Personal Finance – How to Get Out of Debt: Step 8 – Celebrate Milestones

 

• Best of Money Carnival – Wake Up from the American Dream

 

• Christian Finance Carnival – Conformed or Transformed?

       And here are some good articles I found this past week:

• Early Retirement Extreme – The downsizing challenge – [Jacob shares the details of his downsizing challenge and some success stories from his proteges.]

 

• Christian Personal Finance – Poverty or Simplicity: The Choice is Yours

 

• AllFinancialMatters – A Hypothetical Conversation Between a Stock Picker and an Indexer

 

• The Digerati Life – Get Space Saving Furniture If You Live In A Small Space – [The Silicon Valley Blogger shares a great video about space saving furniture. I thought this was some pretty ingenious design and would make living in a small space much easier. Plus, the furniture is so well-made that it comes with a lifetime guarantee.]

       Have a great weekend!

Related Articles at Provident Planning:

1. Weekend Reading – 06/25/2010
2. Weekend Reading – 07/02/2010
3. Weekend Reading – 07/09/2010
4. Weekend Reading – 05/14/2010
5. Weekend Reading – 01/08/2010

       P.S. You can get 5 entries for GRABBBR just by leaving a comment on my featured post – How to Choose a Legal Guardian for Your Child. Be sure to mention that you’re entering GRABBBR (and make sure your comment is useful…).

       ***UPDATE***: You can get an additional 5 entries for each site by leaving a comment on each participating site’s featured post. This is in addition to other possible entries for things like subscribing by email, following on Twitter, or becoming a fan on Facebook. Here’s the list of the other featured posts so far:

• Gather Little By Little – Frugal and Other Thoughts from the Road
• One Money Design – GRABBBR weekend round-up
• Personal Finance By the Book – Belated Birthday Giveaway
• Personal Finance Journey – Rank My Banks

       Here are links to the carnivals I was in this week:

• Carnival of Personal Finance – How to Choose a Legal Guardian for Your Child

 

• Festival of Frugality – The Boredom Buster: Using Variety to Break Up the Monotony

       And here are a some good articles I found this past week:

• Len Penzo dot Com – A Frugal Fact: The 6 Most Valuable Grocery Store Products Known to Man

 

• Get Rich Slowly – Choosing a Target-Date Fund – [This is an excellent guide to choosing a target date retirement mutual fund.]

 

• Oblivious Investor – American Funds in Your 401k and IRA? – [Mike shares some great advice about American Funds - why you should avoid them even though they're not the worst options out there.]

 

• Free Money Finance – Trusts and Wills Defined, Part 2: What is a Trust? – [This is a good primer on the benefits of a revocable living trust.]

 

• Money Help for Christians – Practicing Christian Hospitality – How to be a Gracious Host – [Craig shares some helpful tips on being a good host and practicing hospitality.]

       Have a great weekend!

Related Articles at Provident Planning:

1. Weekend Reading – 07/02/2010
2. Weekend Reading – 06/25/2010
3. How to Choose a Legal Guardian for Your Child
4. $20 Cash Giveaway (Sorry – This Giveaway Is Over!)
5. Launch of My Financial Planning Firm and Giveaway!

       P.S. You can get 5 entries for GRABBBR just by leaving a comment on my featured post – How to Choose a Legal Guardian for Your Child. Be sure to mention that you’re entering GRABBBR (and make sure your comment is useful…).

       Here are links to the carnivals I was in this week:

• Carnival of Personal Finance – Raising a Cow for Beef: Month 10 – Editor’s Choice!

 

• Festival of Frugality – Sweet Tea: A Cheap Alternative to Soft Drinks but Tastier than Water

       Here are a few good articles I found this past week:

• Redeeming Riches – How to Live Missionally With Your Money – [Jason looks at how our money choices reflect our goal to fulfill God's mission.]

 

• Christian Personal Finance – 4 Spiritually Unhealthy Motives To Save Money – [Craig shares about unhealthy and healthy motives for saving.]

 

• Oblivious Investor – 3 Good Stocks to Buy Right Now – [Mike points out why you're probably wrong if you think you've found a "great" stock.]

 

• Get Rich Slowly – The Rewards of Frugality and Thrift (or, Why We Scrimp and Save) – [J.D. talks about how his frugal choices allow him to spend on the things he really wants. But I'm mostly linking to this article because some of the reader comments got me to thinking. One reader said he thinks contentment isn't much of a virtue - it's more a guise for mediocrity. Another asked why it's soooooo wrong to want a huge house you'll never fully use or any other luxurious items that you may want. I think you all probably know my reaction to such thoughts, but stay tuned for an article next week addressing why these are serious issues for Christians.]

       Have a great weekend!

Related Articles at Provident Planning:

1. Weekend Reading – 06/25/2010
2. $20 Cash Giveaway (Sorry – This Giveaway Is Over!)
3. Weekend Reading – 04/02/2010
4. Launch of My Financial Planning Firm and Giveaway!
5. How to Choose a Legal Guardian for Your Child