As the "Snow Hurricane" bears down on Rochester (actually its not that bad yet) we thought we would post a video of a few winter related events.  Leslie and I attended the Rochester New York Chilly Chili festival (which is part of the 2010 Lakeside Winter Celebration) and although we missed many of the outdoor events, we sure did have our fill of local chili.

Events included:

• Outdoor Children's Festival 
• Chilly Chili Challenge 
• Snow Sculpture Contest 
• Dog Sled Demonstrations 
• Annual Polar Plunge fundraiser for the Special Olympics 
• Frostbiter's Sailboat Racing 
• Winter Golf 
• Horse-drawn Sleigh Rides

We also took some video of a beautiful sunny February Sunday.

Here are some fun, but shaky, clips put to a good tune. Enjoy!

This weekend we watched the 1939 movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, directed by Frank Capra starring James Stewart. (watch the entire movie for free via google video)

70 years after it first arrived on the silver screen (yes, back then it was actually silver) this movie still strikes a chord with audiences - it sure did with us.

You fight for the lost causes, harder than you fight for any others.

Synopsis:
In the movie Mr. Jefferson Smith is appointed to the Senate to fill an interim seat due to another Senator's untimely death. He is appointed because it is assumed he'll be a pushover who wouldn't have enough sense to understand anything, let alone get anything done.

Once in Washington, Smith discovers that things aren't as rosey as he once thought. A lobbyist machine that controls all the newspapers and media of the time, run by a Mr. James Taylor, is corrupting Senators by guarenteeing them perpetual reelection if they push through a pork bill attached to an urgent appropriations bill that "must be passed immediately!"

Unfortunately the pet project of this lobbyist and his corrupted Senators conflict with Mr. Smith's first proposed bill, the noble cause of a National Boys Camp.






The movie ends on an upbeat note of applause as the lead corrupt Senator is overwhelmed with guilt and after failing to commit suicide admits to the scheme and his involvement.  It took monumental effort but eventually the good and just man wins.
Has anything changed today?
After the election confetti settles a new altruistic and wide eyed face enters Washington vowing to change the status quo - to shake things up - to be the change that got that person elected..... yet they succumb to the same bureaucracy as, so it seems, many of our politicians do.

I believe a majority of our officials do try to be true and fair, however like in the movie all too often the good get buried by the long shadow of the corrupt, never to be seen again.

We have some big challenges.  We will always have big challenges but I hope someone like Mr. Smith shows up in Washington every once in a while and that it isn't too late to turn the aging bureaucratic system around into something that works better.

Last week I wrote about the Credit CARD Act of 2009 and it seems like the aftereffects of this bill are rippling as the countdown until implementation continues.

Saturday we received a note from Citibank letting us know that both of our currently free (with direct deposit) accounts would no longer be free, but instead would have monthly service fees unless we maintained higher balances.

This new notice came days after we got an additional note announcing a new annual fee on one of our credit cards. We aren't the only ones - this CNN.com blogger got the exact same letter we did from Citi, but decided to risk a charge rather than simply canceling the account. She would rather avoid a ding in credit score than close the account while we are the opposite. We don't plan on any new debt so a pristine credit score doesn't matter a whole lot to us.

In the past Ryan and I would use our Citi accounts to get paid from various mystery shop sites and to pay utilities and other bills. I would send 10% of my paycheck to my account to cover small monthly expenses but we never maintained a balance for very long. We would also keep a buffer emergency fund for small emergencies (~$1,000) to cover small unexpected expenses.

Well, they've now lost our business entirely: the Citi premier pass card is closed, and as of next week all Citi checking and savings accounts will be shuttered.

Today I received a Customer Satisfaction Survey from Citi.com regarding my call to a customer service representative to cancel the card. I filled out the survey answering honestly but harshly as to why they have now lost almost all of our business.

As soon as my next paycheck clears the account will be closed for good. I wonder how many people will read the notes and fine print to get out of these fees, and how many will just go along for the ride.

Here's the deal:  Government views banks like Citi as evil money grubbing step-on-the-little-man institutions thus it passed regulations to limit their activities.  Now, like tough money love we are certainly for tighter lending requirements as our opinions of debt have soured quite substantially, but let's just look at the effect the regulation has had on us (a little guy):

• Our free credit card now has an annual fee (account closed)
• Our free online checking and savings accounts now require substantial deposits or charge a fee (2 checking accounts and 6 savings accounts closed)

Thank you Congress for yet another helpful bill. I am sure that the CARD act will really help save consumer's time and money.

Ryan and I are getting married a month from today! Yikes!

We've been together for just over 6 years now and are finally "tying the knot".

From the beginning of the relationship we both agreed that if we ever got married it would be a super small event. We both hate dislike very much large parties and spending money on such things so we vowed not to have the traditional huge fiesta - we just wouldn't enjoy it.

Our Plan:
We decided to get married here in Rochester with our parents, grandparents, and siblings at the town hall with a JOP (justice of the peace).

Costs:
The event is nowhere near the scale of a standard wedding but even at this size the costs add up.  Here is what the ledger looks like:

For the Bride:

• Dress $280.
  I didn't want a huge traditional wedding gown but I did go look at a few and was stunned to find the prices often well over $1,000! (I am naive I know)...and that's before shipping it in, altering, etc. I did want a white dress, but not a gown, so I ended up getting a terrific less frilly style. Unfortunately I didn't realize that shipment would take up to 6 weeks, so I had to pay for expedited shipping, but total cost was $280
  

• Hair and Make-up $100
  Again I don't want a super time consuming up-do or over the top makeup so I talked to a stylist and it looks like this will be about $100 with tip and everything.
  

• Flowers $75
  For my bouquet I wanted something small that I could hold on to. The first florist I went to quoted me starting prices of over $180 which seemed very high. I found another mom-and-pop place that even has more flowers available to choose from and no waiting list. After adding up the costs for a bouquet, a few corsages, and a few boutonnieres, the cost is about $75

• Shoes $30
  I thought I had a pair of white shoes to wear but it appears they got lost somewhere between home and college and buying the house, so I'll have to get a new pair but right now the stores don't have anything in white. I'll go back at the end of the month when they have Easter items stock and see what I can find. I don't expect to pay more than $30 for a simple white shoe.

For the Groom:

• Ring $75
  I found a really cool Tungsten ring for Ryan at the local jewelery store and then went online and found the same ring for a fraction of the cost (an 85% discount and tax free, it was exactly the same ring!) Cost: $75. We already had my ring as an heirloom so no additional cost there.
  

• Suit $80
  Ryan has a suit jacket already but could use a matching pair of pants. Total cost at Macy's $80

For the Wedding:

• Reserve the Town Hall $100
  We are going to have our wedding at the local Town Hall. The building itself is closed on the weekend, but the town historian is going to come let us in to the colonial era house in the back. Fee to reserve the room is $100 donation to the town.
  

• Judge: $100
  You need someone official to fill out the paperwork so a judge is in order. We are going to use one of the retired judges from our town. Donation of $100 is requested

• Fees and Paperwork: $80
  You need a marriage license to get a marriage certificate, both of which require paperwork and processing fees of $40. Something to note if you are in New York - the license is only good for 60 days and you need to wait at least 24 hours after you get it to get married; they don't want any rash decisions.
  

• Cake $32
  We are going to get a cake from a local bakery here: Cheesy Eddies. They have the BEST cheese and carrot cakes in town. I get a 10% discount through my job so the total cost for a 10" cake that feeds about 15-20 people is $32 including taxes.
  

• Dinner $400
  We decided to have dinner afterwards at a local casual place.  There are 14 people (including us) who will attending. Assuming ~$20 per person, plus tip and extras, that comes to just under $400
  

• Gifts $30
  I am going to make my own souvenirs to give to our family members (some of them read this blog, so I can't say what yet) but I basically have everything I need around the house. I expect the total cost for all 12 items to be about $30.

TOTAL: $1,382


We are lucky to have families that are generously helping with cost of the day's events and are also helping with a couple parties in our home towns: Ryan's family is hosting a small get together at his mom's house, and a summer barbecue at his dad's house, while my family is  having a dinner party in Connecticut.

Source: youmightlikethis.com

Contrarian Viewpoint:  Poorly targeted government student aid programs contribute to higher tuition charges.  Students over time have received more money than they absolutely needed to attend schools, this money is then spent by colleges and universities increasing the costs per student.


Think about it like this: If someone else is footing a portion of your customer's bills, you can easily find ways to spend more and raise your prices. (according to the University of Rochester 75% of students receive some form of financial aid)

Have you seen the movie Enemy at the Gates? I don't think I can describe my feelings very well, but I get a weighty lump in my stomach every time I think of the waves of Russian Soldiers charging towards the entrenched German 6th Army.  While the movie might not be the best portrayal of one the most bloody battles in the history of warfare, the sunken feeling that comes from thinking about the people surfaces from time to time.


Men rallying together to pursue a course of action that, unbeknownst to them, will lead them farther from their goal.


When I heard that 850 college students from over 55 campuses across New York rallied in Albany to voice their opinions to state legislators, I got that same feeling again.

From The University of Rochester Campus Times:  The main goal of the event was to specifically address New York State Governor David Patterson’s proposed budget plan. His plan included a $50 million reduction in the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), which included a $75 million decrease in all TAP awards and the removal of TAP for graduate students.

Here is the deal: (excerpts from the research [PDF] conducted by Andrew Gillen from the Center for College Affordability and Productivity)

1. Currently financial aid programs take costs per student as a given, and attempt to offset these costs
2. Costs, however, are not given (different school offerings cost different amounts)
3. It is widely acknowledged that colleges and universities are engaged in an academic arms race (example of RIT's new spending)

Thus, when financial aid programs make more money available to schools, this money is spent and results in higher costs per student.  The end result is more costly higher education, usually accompanied by higher tuition.

Here is another angle:

1. Schools generally cannot compete with each other by demonstrating they provide a better education than others, because the outputs of school (learning and experience etc.) are not measured
2. Since there are no accepted measures of outputs, and its reasonable to think that high quality inputs will lead to high quality outputs, schools compete on inputs instead
3. Any input that is plausibly thought to affect learning and attract high quality individuals (superstar campus, world class laboratories, fancy dorms, etc.) becomes the focus of competition, and each school tries to outdo the others

Policy makers have designed a convoluted financial aid system that inadvertently leads to higher tuition.

Returning to the New York situation, Governor Patterson is by no means cutting aid in an effort to wean New York off of government handouts and promote a more self reliant arms-race-free sustainable future, he is doing it because New York's broke.

We have it backwards, federal student aid is more of a cause than a consequence of rising tuition costs.

What is the solution?
I agree with the author's conclusion that the way to stop the arms race is to only provide well targeted means tested financial aid to low-income students, allowing them to pay current costs at their school only.  When aid is made available to students who can, painfully as it may be, already pay the current costs, the schools are likely to capture the aid money and spend it.  Current federally backed loan income limits are too high.

What is your view?

• An arms race has also been brewing in the college textbook market.  Read our guide on how to avoid it.
• Another way to save money may be to gain specialized training online. Tuition is cheaper when you study through online schools.  Take a look at the link that pokes fun at the topic and hosts a collection of infographics.

UPDATE: the Wall Street Journal Online just had an article with more details and information. It might only be available for subscribers, but you can find it here.

Yesterday I received an interesting notice in the mail: Citibank was changing the policy on one of my credit cards to include a $60 annual fee. I had the privilege of "waiving" the fee if I charged at least $2,400 a year but otherwise I had to pay.

Needless to say, I called and cancelled the card. Now that we are on a cash only budget we hadn't been using it anyway and even if we ask the cats it was pretty hard to find a annual fee fan in this house.

You can read the full bill (PDF) passed by both houses here, at the Thomas.gov Library of Congress website.

My friends in Baltimore couldn't help but revel in the fact that they now have more snow than we have here in Rochester. Current count is 74" v.s 63" (Rochester gets more snow on a daily basis, but far fewer blizzards)

Thanks to your support we are able to sponsor an additional business entrepreneur through Kiva. We are always so excited to share some of the incredible opportunity that we have in this country with those elsewhere who may just need a little boost.

On behalf of team Bloggers we have choosen to sponsor Mr. Sherali Nurov from Abdurahmon Jomi, Tajikistan. Mr Nurov is skilled in animal husbandry and hopes to use this loan to purchase additional cattle to grow his business.

Here is the full translated description: Sherali Nurov lives in the A. Jomi region. He is 42 years old; married with one child. Sherali has worked in animal husbandry for over 20 years. He fattens up and sells livestock. Sherali breeds the animals in a space build specifically for this purpose. He is requesting the loan to purchase cattle.

Translated from Russian by Anna Melyakova, Kiva Volunteer

Нуров Шерали проживает в районе А. Джоми. Возраст, 42 года. Женат, имеет одного ребенка. Нуров Шерали животноводством занимается более 20 лет. Он откармливает и продает скот. Нуров Шерали разводит живоных в специально построенном месте. Кредит берет для закупа скота.

Description of Tajikistan from Lonely Planet: A Persian-speaking outpost in a predominantly Turkic region, Tajikistan is in many ways the odd one out in Central Asia.

With its roots in ancient Sogdiana and Bactria, the modern country is a fragile patchwork of clans, languages and identities, forged together by little more than Soviet nation-building and the shared hopes for a peaceful future. That peace was shattered in the 1990s, when a brutal civil war claimed over 50,000 lives, turning the remote mountainous republic into the bloodiest corner of the former Soviet empire.

Though the wounds are still raw, a decade after the war most Tajiks are moving forward with their lives, as if awakening from a bad dream, and a mood of guarded optimism has returned.

Here are where all our entrepreneur friends live
View Kiva in a larger map

• Last Entrepreneur: Afi's Grocery Store in Togo

Full Disclosure:
I own a Toyota. When my truck ("The Red Sled") died I purchased a used 2000 Toyota Corolla after coming to the conclusion that this brand (within my price range) lasts longer and has fewer problems than others.  My particular make and model was not involved in the recall.

Is this the end of Toyota?  

In case you missed the three hilarious chicken horror commercials at this year's Super Bowl XLIV, Denny's will be again offering a free Grand Slam breakfast on Tuesday February 9th, from 6AM to 2PM.

Lez and I tried to attend last years free breakfast offer but decided not to endure the 2 hour wait.  It is fun to see everyone get excited, get up early, scrape the snow off their cars, grab their friends, drive across town, and wait in line. 

Don't forget: Free Denny's Breakfast on Tuesday February 9th

Oh, and in case you missed those commercials:

Lez and I are planning on filing our taxes this weekend having pretty much completed them over the last week using Turbo Tax.  It looks like I am going to be receiving a few hundred dollars back and Leslie, my dear Leslie, owes a nice chunk to the tune of about a thousand dollars.  It seems like Uncle Sam wants a piece of her free gradschool scholarship money.

Oh well....doing our part to help out the good folks in Washington.

I came across an interesting graphic about filers and who gets a refund.  The results make sense to me.  I am certainly more excited to file for my +$300 than for Leslie's -$1,000.

A TurboTax survey found that 82 percent of taxpayers who filed before the end of February got money back. In fact, 40 percent of all tax returns are filed before the end of February, according to the IRS.  And not only do most early filers get a refund, their average refund is typically larger: $2,869 compared to $2,753 for returns filed through April 15, according to the IRS. This image reveals some interesting data around the group known as “early filers” – including their demographics, what they do with their refund, their average refund, and statistics around e-Filing.

Where do you come in?

Last weekend Ry and I went to the Rochester Philharmonic concert featuring Charles Ross on Timpani. It was an awesome show, and the first time I had seen the drums featured in a solo. (I think it was actually the first time the RPO had done this type of show before) We both had a lot of fun. But the night didn't end the way we expected...

That night we made a great pressure cooker meal for dinner, then went out for an ice cream dessert. We were running a little late to get to the theater, so I kept checking the time on my phone, and absentmindedly stuffed it in my outer jacket pocket as we got in the car to drive over.

When we sat down, and the show was about to start, I reached in my pocket and didn't feel the phone, but I didn't think too much about it. Maybe I had dropped in in the car, placed it in another pocket, or if it were outside someone would turn it in to lost and found. When the show ended and I couldn't find my phone in any of my pockets I had Ryan call to see if it was between the seats or somewhere in the car. (ah, the beauty of having two phones)

To both of our surprise someone answered on the other end!

It turned out that my phone was found outside the theater by a homeless man.

He was now about two miles away, at the local bus depot, and requesting a reward before he gave it back.

As we got in the car and started driving towards the bus stop, I was thinking - how much would I pay to get my phone back? We only had $6 between us, so that is what we ended up giving him in exchange for the phone, but I was seriously thinking about letting him keep it since he had demanded a reward.

What is the value you place on convenience?

If I had let him keep my phone I would have to go down to the store and deactivate it, pay for another phone (although I think I am due for the "free every 2 years upgrade"), and get the numbers of all my contacts again. It would have been days of hassle.

I had gone through a similar situation last summer when my phone was dropped in water and never recovered, and I knew how annoying the process was. (There are still some numbers I no longer have and occasionally need.) But my world didn't stop, and I was able to recover my contacts and set up my phone again.

I don't have an iPhone or BlackBerry, so maybe my view would change if the phone was worth more or had more features, but as of right now I think the maximum I would pay to recover my phone is $10.

However, I am seriously considering backing up my address book so that if (when?) I lose my phone again I have all the numbers saved somewhere.

Needless to say, it was an interesting night.

• Why you should care about the national debt
• 4 things that we can do to fix the national debt

Today I happened to stumble on two similar stories from two very different sources. The first was a CNN video on how Whole Foods is encouraging its employees to be healthy and lose excess weight by offering those with lower Body Mass Indexes (BMIs) a higher percentage employee discount. Employees with the most favorable BMIs can get up to a 30% discount, which is nearly 10% higher than those who are overweight.

Is this right? Does it strike nerve?
Is it discrimination to allow some people higher discounts for BMI alone, or is it simply segmenting the consumer marketplace? Whole Foods is incentivizing people to take charge of their lives, not mandating certain habits rather providing rewards for specific behaviors. I look at it as Whole Foods no longer idly condoning unhealthy behavior.



The second story came from John Stossel on his show: The Stossel Report.
Stossel's story is about the "Food Police" and how there are government regulators prohibiting trans fats and forcing companies to display health information.



So where do we draw the line with government intervention?
Is the government right when it says "obviously American's cannot be trusted to choose the right foods?"

While obesity is rising, so are trends in healthly eating and fitness in a potion of the population. Examples are the growing popularity of program like P90X (yes, Ryan and I are currently involved. "Bring it!") and The 30 Day Shred program. What about the rising popularity of "real food diets" via books like "In Defense of Food, an Eater's Manifesto", surely they show some hope for America's health?

New York is the latest state to get into the food policing business. Governor Patterson's newest budget includes a "Fat Tax" on regular sodas and other sugar drinks claiming that this will both raise money for the nearly bankrupt state as well as encourage healthier drinking habits and potentially reduce the level of obesity in New Yorkers.

We are constantly barraged with unhealthy choices...
Everything from McDonald's on the street corner, to "healthy" cereals filled with fake sugars and fats but "fortified" with vitamins. Unhealthiness even permeates our lifestyle - how many of us spend hours upon hours sitting at a computer, then go home and watch TV or sit in front of another computer?

There are many factors that combine to create our healh problem, but again it comes down to this question:

Is it your responsibility, or the responsibility of someone else, to regulate YOUR life and YOUR lifestyle?

I don't like this trend towards an ever increasing Nanny State, but on the flip side could you look at these taxes and bans in the same way as you look at the Whole Foods discount tiers; using incentives to influence behavior, in the government's case the incentve being the lack of a punishment.

This is a tricky issue and I admit that I am still sorting out exactly how I feel about the whole thing. What's your view?

Individuals are being sought for part-time temporary employment in their own communities to assist and administer the 2010 US Census.  These short-term jobs provide decent pay (in our area $13.50 an hour), flexible hours, cost reimbursement, and the opportunity to work close to home.

Where can I learn more details?
Your best bet is to learn the nitty gritty right from the horse's mouth.

• Visit the 2010 Census Jobs website
• How to apply?
• Being a Census taker
• Census Job Pay Rates

What was our personal experience?
As mentioned above we both took the 2010 Census test at our local library.  Here is our story of the morning and what we felt the test covered, and here is our initial overview of the jobs.  There are some great comments on these posts and we encourage you to take a look if you want to hear from others.


Starting in February the Census will start collecting data.

Hold on a second..... What is the Census? And why should I care?

Every 10 years, as required by the US Constitution, Congress must take a poll of all people living in the United States and its territories. The tally includes ALL people residing in the states, including illegal immigrants and non-citizens, however US residents living outside of the country do not have to participate. This information is then used to decide congressional seats in the House of Representatives, as well as to keep track of trends in the country and to distribute federal funding.

That last part is the most important for you and your local community.  If your city or state has grown, it may need more money for services, infrastructure, representation, etc.

The first Census started all the way back in 1790 and has be taken every ten years since then.

Ok, I get that it's important but how do I complete the Census survey?

At the start of the 2010 census a questionnaires will be mailed to every single US residence. This year the survey will have fewer questions than ever before and only has 10 questions per person.  Simply complete the form and mail it back in the postage-paid envelope provided.  If you do not mail it back you may be visited by a friendly census taker who will ask you the questions in person.

Where else can I learn about 2010 Census jobs, the census exam, and the history of the US census?

• 2010 US Census Bureau Wiki
• Discussion Board
• Bloomberg article