Lazy Man and Money

Budget Fourth of July Activities

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washington fireworks.Fourth of July is the ultimate holiday weekend. Summer time, parades, fireworks. What more could a person ask for? Having fun on Fourth of July is an American tradition! The Fourth of July weekend can quickly get expensive… especially if you are hosting a BBQ. All the food and beer can add up quickly.

Fourth of July weekend does not have to be expensive. There are ways to cut costs. It usually just takes a little bit of imagination and some self discipline, but that’s nothing new when you are trying to save money. Here are a few ideas on how to make sure you and your family have fun on Fourth of July and do it all on a budget:

Join the Rest of the Nation

Rather than hosting some big backyard barbecue, find out what city or state events will be in your area. From the tiny country town to the large metropolis areas, most places have Fourth of July events planned for everyone to enjoy. Some of my fondest Fourth of July memories come from picnicking on the Boston Esplande. However, you may find that fairs, fireworks, parades in your community are free. Find what local events will be happening and plan on enjoying your Fourth of July with everyone else.

Have a Block Party

If you live in a friendly neighborhood, consider having a block party. Even if you live in a tiny town on a small street, everyone can still get together making for a fun time. Everyone can pitch in on the cost of food and beverages. Or perhaps they each bring a dish for everyone to enjoy. Games can be planned for both the young and the old to enjoy that won’t cost any money. While sack races never get old, I prefer to take on someone in badminton. If you must have fireworks for your Fourth of July weekend, have everybody chip in and buy them together. Just make sure that it is legal in your area and you are safe with them. With everyone pitching their pennies together, you can get a pretty good amount of fireworks to set off that everyone can enjoy.

Head to the Water

Everyone loves the water, right? Beaches, lakes, rivers… it doesn’t matter. I think that’s one of the keys to the why the Boston fireworks work so well. If there is a body of water near by, chances are people are going to be flocking towards it on a holiday weekend. Most places will have a great deal of activity planned, including those necessary Fourth of July fireworks. You can spend the day, or camp out and spend the whole weekend. Not only will it save you a lot of money, but it’s sure to be a fun time that the whole family can enjoy. It may even become a family tradition.

Photo Credit: Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton

How I Invested My Roth IRA This Year

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About a month ago, I asked you to help me invest my money. I got a lot of great recommendations. As he did last year, Get Rich Slick had the most creative idea, involving options trading. Like last year, I’m sure it will do fantastic. I’m currently not entirely comfortable with options at this stage. I understand the basics of how they work, but I would essentially be putting my money in something that I don’t understand. Doesn’t Warren Buffett say that you should invest in what you know?

I looked at the other suggestions. A few people mentioned investing in gold. I simply hate gold as an investment. I don’t like how it’s not a basic necessity of life in today’s modern world. It makes as much sense to me as investing in tulips. I know it’s stood the test of time, but I think times were different before flat panel TVs and flashy cars. People would use their gold collection to show off their value in society. Today, people use other possessions. I don’t see a trend toward people selling their useful possessions for a hunk of gold. If anything it’s the other way around.

I do recognize that gold has become a way to hedge inflation and the falling dollar. However, there are other ways to do that with assets that are required in the modern world. The rising price of oil is one such example. If all the gold disappeared from the earth, we could likely make due with copper wiring. If oil disappeared, much of the modern society would have great difficulty recovering. Another example is the raising cost of food. Again, it’s a basic necessity that people are required to buy.

For the above two reasons, I heavily considered oil (Powershares DB Oil Fund – Ticker: DBO) and food ETFs (Powershares DB Agriculture – Ticker: DBA). However, in the end, I decided that they were too expensive for me at this stage. They’ve simply appreciated too much in a small timespan. DBO is up 80% in the last year while DBA is up 45%. So I went with expanding my international exposure. I purchased 75 shares of Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (Ticker: VEU), which is essentially unchanged over the last year. I felt I was underweight global stocks in what has increasingly become a global economy.

I want to thank everyone for their help. I found there was tremendous value in reading about different investment strategies.