I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas, so I thought I better do it today since you’ll probably be busy tomorrow. May God bless you as you worship Him and remember the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ!
And for something fun, imagine the Christmas story with Web 2.0:
Last month, I posted an update about how my wife and I are raising a cow for beef. This is a summary of our activity and costs for month 15. As always, let’s first check Bambi’s growth. Here he is at fourteen months old:
And here he is at fifteen months old (technically, fifteen months, one week, and three days old):
This picture isn’t the best because I had to take it on my phone (forgot my camera…). And yes, he’s on the cattle trailer (more on that later). True to form, Bambi wouldn’t cooperate for a good pose either. However, I think it’s clear he’s gained a good bit of weight since the last picture. He’s filled out a bit more, especially around his haunches. I’m not sure why his coloring has changed so much. Part of it is lighting, of course, but his color has changed over time anyway so I’m not worried about it. I’m sure it won’t affect the taste.
As of yesterday, Bambi is no more. He went to the butcher on Wednesday night (when I took the picture) and they slaughtered him on Thursday. However, I still don’t have a final tally on the costs because I’ll need to settle things up with my friends who’ve been boarding him and pay the butchering fees. Here are my totals so far (same as last month):
Bambi will probably hang to age for about a week, so it’ll probably be late next week or early the following week before we get our beef back. Figuring out which cuts to order took a while because there were some that I was not familiar with. It’s also difficult to think about all the beef you’re going to want in the next year and in what proportions. For better or worse, this is what we ordered (though we’ll have a chance to review it with the butcher the day before they start cutting):
All the meat will be vacuum sealed. Our roasts will come in 2-3 pound packages. Our steaks will come two per package and will be cut 1 1/2″ thick. The liver, heart, and tongue are all for other people. (I hear the tongue is really good, but I’m going to pass for now…)
After searching for a good used freezer with no luck, we bought our chest freezer on Black Friday from a local business. I figured they’d have a sale and we got $50 off – a decent discount. But I was surprised when we got a free turkey as well. I had no idea they were doing that so it was a nice bonus. Our freezer should get here on the 6th – just in time!
All that’s left now is to add up the last few costs (final boarding costs and the butchering fees) and compare it to retail and/or bulk prices. Any good ideas on the best way to make a useful comparison? Let me know in the comments. Also, be sure to stay tuned for a special tribute to Bambi in the final post of this series!
If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up for free updates to Provident Planning so you don’t miss out on my last post where I’ll figure up all the costs, compare it to buying the beef elsewhere, and see how this whole thing works out.
This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.
I’m sure all of you were extremely upset when you didn’t get a new post last Tuesday and the rest of this past week! (I’m only kidding…) The reason you didn’t see any updates was because I was on vacation in Florida. My wife and I drove her grandma (a snowbird) down on Tuesday. Then we spent the rest of the time visiting my mom and step-dad, and my sister and new niece. We got back today, and Provident Planning will return to its regular schedule tomorrow!
(photo credit: joiseyshowaa on Flickr)
Last month, I posted an update about how my wife and I are raising a cow for beef. This is a summary of our activity and costs for month 14. As always, let’s first check Bambi’s growth. Here he is at thirteen months old:
And here he is at fourteen months old:
I had a hard time getting a good picture this month due to lighting levels and moving cows. (Still haven’t gotten Bambi to say cheese…) It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but he did seem to be a bit bigger to me than the last time I saw him. He should certainly bulk up now that he’s being fed a high corn diet. We’ll see how he looks in a month!
I’ve finally got the costs for boarding Bambi included in this update. I’m paying about $1/day for boarding him, which seems to be a reasonable rate. (Is it? Anyone know for sure?) This is actually a better deal than feeding him myself, but that’s because farmers are able to buy feed in bulk and/or grow most of it themselves.
I paid ahead for the next month or so for Bambi’s last bit of boarding costs, so next month there won’t be much to add. The final update (after he’s slaughtered) will include the last $10 or so for boarding plus the butcher fees. I’m not sure yet, but I’m estimating butcher fees will be around $300. So maybe I’ll have a final cost of right under $1,000 (more if I include the cost of my time). I have no idea how much meat I’ll get, so it remains to be seen how this all works out financially.
This month Bambi moved from one farm to another. Why? Well, the friends that have him now are the ones who will be taking him to the butcher when they take their cow, so it just makes things a little easier. But also, several people recommended finishing Bambi by feeding him lots of corn for the last couple of months and we can’t do that where he was staying before. He was in with many other cows, so we couldn’t feed him anything special. Now that he’s at our other friends’ farm, he’ll be staying with just one other cow and they’ll both be on a heavy grain diet.
Other than that, there’s not much to talk about. We’re still looking for a freezer. I think I’ll need at least 14-16 cubic feet of storage space for the meat. And we still have to decide on the cuts we want, but there’s plenty of time left for that. I’ll probably focus on getting these things done in November before he goes to the butcher in December.
If you haven’t already make sure you sign up for free updates to Provident Planning so you don’t miss out on the final steps in the process of raising a cow for beef!
As I write more about personal finance and continue to expand my knowledge, I’m becoming increasingly aware of my own limitations. I’m only one man writing in a tiny little corner of the Internet. There are many other personal finance blogs out there providing great content and different perspectives. I wanted to take some time to highlight 20 of my favorite personal finance blogs.
These are the blogs that I continue to return to every day. Their content is solid. They make me think. And they challenge me to expand my ideas beyond my own experiences. I can confidently recommend them to you as a good resource for learning about personal finance.
I’ve broken them up into two groups: Christian and General. Some of the blogs in the General section are written by Christians, but the content they write is not predominantly from a Christian perspective.
I’ve also noted my personal top 7 blogs by putting them at the top of the section they’re in and adding ***’s around their name. These are the blogs that I think are the most helpful, most well-written, and most thought-provoking. The others are good, but these are the ones that are great in my personal opinion.
Finally, if you’re a personal finance blogger and I didn’t include you, please don’t feel offended. These are simply the blogs that I like the best. There are plenty of other good blogs out there, but I wanted to limit this list to the best based on my opinions.
***Money Help for Christians*** – You’ve seen me highlight Craig’s writing several times here, and that’s for a very simple reason. He does an excellent job of presenting a solid look at personal finance in the Bible. I connect with him well because I can see his passion for Jesus in what he does in his life and what he writes on his site.
***Redeeming Riches*** – Jason has really caught my attention on several of his posts. I appreciate his willingness to challenge his readers to follow Jesus more closely and to strive to become even more generous.
***Dollars and Doctrine*** – Rob’s blog doesn’t have quite as much content as others, but you can find a good bit of his writing elsewhere online. Free Money Finance ran a series on his book Dollars & Doctrine that was a great overview of money in the Bible. I’m looking forward to reviewing Rob’s most recent work on a 4-part Sunday school series called “Redefining Riches”.
Bible Money Matters – Pete has created an excellent resource for Christians wanting to learn about money and how we should approach it. I’ve been a big fan of his since I began reading Christian finance blogs.
Christian Personal Finance – Bob has the most popular Christian personal finance blog by far. He’s been doing this for quite a while and has built up an excellent archive of content.
Debt Free Adventure – Matt’s just coming back from a summer hiatus, but I expect to see more great things from him. He’s accomplished a lot in meeting his goals to become debt free, and he’s extremely interested in helping his readers do the same.
One Money Design – Jason is also another excellent Christian personal finance blogger who started near the same time I did.
Personal Finance by the Book – Joe is a relative newcomer to the blogging world, but I’ve really appreciated his perspective as one of the older bloggers among us. His life experience is a valuable resource to learn from as he combines it with his Biblical knowledge.
Faithful with a Few – Khaleef is also a fairly new blogger, but I’ve been excited about the content he’s writing. I’m expecting great things from him and looking forward to watching him grow as he works to share his faith and knowledge of finances.
***Get Rich Slowly*** – If you’re reading personal finance blogs, I doubt J.D. needs any introduction. He’s got the most popular personal finance blog and there’s no question why. He’s been doing this longer than most of us and he’s an excellent writer. I’m never disappointed by his work.
***The Oblivious Investor*** – Mike has a real gift for taking complex topics and making them simple and clear. I cannot recommend any other investing blog more highly.
***Bad Money Advice*** – It took a while for “Frank” to grow on me. He can be a little harsh and critical, but he also makes some excellent points. I don’t think his purpose is to just bash people. He wants us to think about our personal finances rather than blindly accepting the mainstream advice.
***Financial Samurai*** – “Sam” established himself very well early on. His site doesn’t have a huge collection of the foundations for personal finances, but he does make you think about things. That’s why I’ve included him as one of my favorites…that, and his humor.
Len Penzo dot Com – Len is another writer who excels at combining humor with great content. I’ve enjoyed reading his articles since I found him.
Free Money Finance – FMF is always sharing the financial advice he finds and offering useful commentary on it. He does share Christian content on Sundays and his faith comes through when he discusses giving, but most of his content is just general in nature so I included him here.
Bargaineering – Jim has a prolific archive of great personal finance content. He’s also helped me with several blogging questions, and I appreciate how he gives back to the community.
Early Retirement Extreme – Jacob’s story is fascinating and his financial philosophy helps keep my mind questioning the cultural norms.
Punch Debt in the Face – The Debt Ninja’s comics and humor crack me up. This site isn’t generally heavy on in-depth financial topics, but it’s worth reading just for the laughs.
All Financial Matters – I think one of the reasons I like JLP’s site is because he shares my love of spreadsheets and data. He gets more into the politics and economics of money than I do, but he’s also got a huge archive of useful posts as well.
Man Vs. Debt – When it comes to getting out of debt and simplifying your life, Adam knows what he’s talking about. His content is very thorough and well-written. He’s also helped me by answering some of my questions even though he’s a very busy guy.
Well, there are my favorites. How about sharing yours in the comments below?!
Last month, I posted an update about how my wife and I are raising a cow for beef. This is a summary of our activity and costs for month 13. As always, let’s first check Bambi’s growth. Here he is at twelve months old:
And here he is at thirteen months old:
I don’t see much difference between this month and last month. But the pictures were taken from slightly different angles so it’s hard to tell. Bambi’s not one for posing exactly the way you tell him! I’m not too worried about his weight gain though. I think he’ll be fine.
I’ve been on my friends to give us a cost for keeping Bambi on their farm, but they’ve yet to give me a price. I’m going to keep asking, but if they don’t give me a price I’ll just end up paying them $30/month because that’s the best estimate I can come up with. (Anyone have an idea what it should cost to board a 700-800 pound steer?) I won’t be able to update the costs until I get that sorted out. But for your reference, here are our total costs so far:
I’d guess the total costs will be about $650 after we get a payment figured out for our friends.
The big news for this month is that I finally have Bambi’s slaughter date! He’ll go off to that big pasture in the sky on December 2, 2010. (No, I don’t believe animals have souls, but it sounded nice…right?)
So the two big things I have to do before then are find a chest freezer and decide what cuts we want. We have been planning to purchase a chest freezer anyway to store up any good deals we find and for keeping veggies and such. So I’m not considering this an additional cost for raising a steer. But you’d certainly need something beyond your regular top-of-the-fridge freezer if you’re going to be getting an entire steer (or even 1/4 or 1/2 of one). I haven’t been trying very hard to find a freezer yet, but that’s something I have to do before Bambi comes back in little vacuum sealed packages.
We don’t need to decide which cuts of beef we want until the day before Bambi goes to the butcher. I have to say it’s a bit of a daunting process for a first-timer. There are many options and a few cuts I’ve never heard of before. (And I’m pretty familiar with my critter cuts thanks to Alton Brown!) Thankfully, the butcher we’re sending Bambi to has a very helpful beef processing form with plenty of explanatory notes and I can always call if I have questions.
I’m still not sure what the cost will be for butchering, but we won’t be getting any beef processed (jerky, dried beef, etc.) so that will keep the costs down. I also doubt we’ll get patties since burgers are better when you pat them out yourself (in my opinion). If anyone has experience with butchering a steer and wants to offer some tips, I’m all ears!
And if you haven’t already make sure you sign up for free updates to Provident Planning so you don’t miss out on the final steps in the process of raising a cow for beef!
Last month, I posted an update about how my wife and I are raising a cow for beef. This is a summary of our activity and costs for month 12. Bambi just turned one year old on Saturday. Happy birthday, Bambi! As always, let’s first check Bambi’s growth. Here he is at eleven months old:
And here he is at twelve months old:
I’m not really sure how much Bambi weighs right now, and I probably won’t know again until he goes to the butcher. Now that he’s living with other cows and has little interaction with humans it would probably be difficult to check him with a weight tape. But I can definitely see an improvement between these two pictures. He’s a bit stockier and more filled out.
Thanks to moving Bambi to our friends’ pasture, I haven’t spent any time on raising him this past month. I will be paying our friends some amount per month, but they haven’t let me know what it will be yet. I’m thinking it should be somewhere between $20-40/month. I was spending about $40-60/month to feed Bambi, but it won’t cost our friends that much since they have a large pasture. He’s still being fed some grain, but he gets most of his fill from the pasture. So I don’t really have anything to report in terms of time or money spent this past month. But here are our total costs so far for your reference:
If you want a more accurate estimate after a year, let’s figure on about $620 so far.
Moving Bambi to our friends’ farm was probably the best decision I’ve made. It’s nice not having to move him around our yard, feed him every day, and refill his water buckets several times a day. We couldn’t have simply paid our friends to keep him from the beginning because bottle feeding requires a good bit of time.
But it would have been better for us to raise him on the bottle, get him used to eating grain and grass, and then send him back to our friends. Then, we could have paid them a set amount to cover his boarding costs. This would have saved us some money (maybe about $160?) and a ton of time (probably well over 60 hours). The nice thing is that it doesn’t take any extra time for our friends to feed Bambi since they already have other cows to care for.
We’ve found another friend from church who can send Bambi up to be butchered when he sends his cow in November. All that’s left now is to get it scheduled with the butcher and decide how we’d like things cut, packed, and processed (jerky, sweet bologna, etc.). I’ll be learning about that process in the next month or so because we need to get it scheduled soon.
Make sure you sign up for free updates to Provident Planning if you don’t want to miss out on the final steps in the process of raising a cow for beef!
