Eric Holen

The other day, Yvette uttered the words I had been dreading.  She told me that I needed to start putting together my Christmas list.

This is something we and many in my family have been doing for the last several years. We prepare and share our own self serving Christmas lists.  The lists serve two purposes.  First, it helps the family with ideas for gifts.  Second, it helps avoid receiving something that came with a lot of thought and love, but still ends up as a future donation.

The lists are a great help for Yvette and I who don’t get to see family very often. We love being able to buy something that someone wants or needs, rather than racking our heads for a suitable gift.  If you don’t provide a list, you can expect a gift card.

The Christmas lists from my family cover the range from books to music, clothes for children, and family friendly movies and games.  Further, there are generally several items of different price ranges so that family can select what they want and can afford to give.  Once we select a give for someone, we share it with each other, excluding the recipient, to avoid duplicates.

For me, developing the list is somewhat difficult, because if I really needed or wanted it, I would have already bought it.

Interestingly, one Christmas gift that we didn’t ask for, I think it predates list, is one that we use almost every day.  Beth, my oldest sister, gave us matching Tupperware coffee canisters one year.  One holds the coffee and the other holds the filter and scoop.

So in the “spirit” of the upcoming season, here is my list.

Donate to one of the following organizations:

• American Diabetes Association – for Yvette
• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – for Michael
• ASPCA, Humane Society or your local animal shelter – for all of the animals who need our help

STOP:  If you are going to use a credit card to purchase any gift this season, then stop.  I don’t want a gift.  Instead, send me pictures of you and your family along with a brief letter about how you are doing and an offer that Yvette and I are welcome to visit and stay in your house anytime.

Otherwise, please feel free to choose from one or more of the following.  I included items of varying costs to fit everyone’s budget.

• Logo T-Shirt, large – under $10
• Streets of Fire DVD, used ­– under $10, and look for it at Half Price Books
• Stafford Performance Dress Shirt, White Broadcloth – $19 on sale, can never have too many white dress shirts
• Sneakers, size 9 ½  – $40, my primary pair is now two years old and ready to move to gym duty
• Portable Hard Drive, 1 TB – $70, but wait for the Christmas sales
• Dell XPS 15z Laptop – $1,499, I can use it to write a blog post thanking you for the gift
• Crossroads Zinger ZT25SB Travel Trailer – $20,531 approximately, I will let you sleep in it (once)
• 2011 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab LS – $27,235 approximately, I will take you for a ride (also once)

If you search carefully through our house, you may come across the secret craft room. This was the room, which up until a couple of years ago, was a spare bedroom. After we sold the furniture, it became Yvette’s “craft” room. A few months later, we picked up two IKEA table tops off Craig’s List, one for Yvette’s computer and another for her crafts.

This wonderful secret craft room has all sorts of items if you had the time and were so inclined to craft something. There are needlepoint projects, with enough thread to stretch from here to somewhere else. You can find some acrylic paints and construction paper. Looking a little deeper, you will find containers of foam shapes and letters, which she has used to decorate gift bags. She also has a Cricut personal cutting machine, which I gave her a Christmas present a couple years ago. She used the machine once to test it, after it sat unopened in the box for almost a year. Finally, she has stickers, lots of them.

So Saturday, we were in Hobby-Lobby buying some items to support a theme at an upcoming work-related conference. During our shopping, some obviously non-work related stickers ended up in the cart.

Yvette mom’s and I tried to convince Yvette not to buy the stickers and that she had enough at home, but it was a losing argument.

So, thinking Yvette had spent A LOT of money supporting a craft room that she doesn’t use, I fired up Quicken to report back on how much she had spent at Hobby-Lobby and Michaels over the past two years. To my disappointment, it totaled just a little over $300 or under $13 a month. I was sure it was going be in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. It just seemed like she bought a lot.

So then I took a look back and found that I spent almost $130 to maintain this blog, which even my mother admits she doesn’t read.

So she can have her craft room, where she doesn’t do crafts, and I can keep my blog, which seems that only you and Yvette read.

Yvette and I were in the middle of making breakfast when my cell phone rang. When I answered, an automated system identified itself as the “Fraud Department” from my bank.

I had received two or three of these calls in the past, and they had turned out to be false alarms either due to me traveling on business or because of a specific combination of charges. So when I heard the automated system, I wasn’t too concerned especially given our shopping over the last couple of days.

The system asked for my zip code for verification and then began reading off what should have been the first of three questionable charges. However, when it read the first charge, my heart stopped. It was to a Kroger store for approximately $20. I knew that neither Yvette nor I had made a charge to that grocery store chain over the last few days. In fact, I can’t ever recall shopping at a Kroger store and to the best of my knowledge there were none within 50 miles of us.

I pressed 2 to indicate that it wasn’t a valid charge and was placed into queue. After waiting 5 long minutes, and running to get my wallet, a very nice representative answered and, after verifying my identify again, walked me through several charges over the last few days. We were able to identify three fraudulent charges, the Kroger charge, $20 at a Valero (this and the Kroger were in Houston) and $2 (yes just two dollars) at a Toys R Us.

I had my debit card in my wallet and I had only used it at three places over the last several days, so somehow my number was skimmed either by a person or device at some point. I am generally very careful about protecting my card, so I am not sure when or how it occurred.

The fraud department representative stated that she was cancelling my debit card and then went on to explain that I needed to follow-up with my back on Monday. I will need to get a new card and number issued and then submit paperwork to dispute the charges.

It definitely put a damper on the morning, but it could have been worse. The experience did get me to thinking about how to better protect my account and money. Currently, I use the same account for bill pay activities as well as debit card charges, which means a lot more money could have been at risk. That will change on Monday.

For well over a year now, Yvette and I have been bouncing around the idea of purchasing a camping trailer. We love camping and are getting a little old for using a tent, so on the surface it seems like a good idea. We even rented a camper a couple of times and really enjoyed the comfort.

However, when I dig a little deeper into the financial side, I wonder if purchasing a camping trailer is the right decision. When we retire, we do plan on buying a trailer for traveling. My current thoughts are whether we should buy a trailer now just for camping.

We have been looking at camping trailers in the 18 – 21 foot range, which is small enough to be towed by our current SUV.

Assuming $17,000 for a new camping trailer at 10% interest for 10 years, Yvette and I would be paying out $225 a month or $2,696 annually just for the loan. On top of that, we would likely see another $100 monthly or $1200 annually for insurance, storage, maintenance, and the registration. Combined, those costs come out to $3,896 annually.

Now, after a little research, I found that I can rent comparable campers in Austin for under $125 per day. That means to just break even, I would have to use our camper for 31 days a year versus renting.

In the last 12 months, Yvette and I have rented a camping trailer for 7 days and tent camped for an additional 2 days. That’s only 9 days which is still way off from the 31 days needed to break even.

Granted, there may be conveniences to owning our own camping trailer, but financially, it doesn’t seem to make sense at least for now.

This month has been a little more difficult than normal with balancing finances.  It started with an unexpected $450 bill for Potter to have some surgery.  That followed with almost $160 for an air conditioner repair.  In addition to the unexpected expenses, Yvette and I were trying to set aside money for a short trip to El Paso.

All of these challenges reminded me of one of Yvette’s and my financial “backup plans”

It would have been very easy to have started hitting up a credit card when money started getting tight.  However, that would have hurt all of the work that Yvette and I have put into reducing our debt and not using credit.  Another option would have been to dip into our emergency savings account.  However, we have been reserving that for large unexpected expenses.  The solution, Wal-Mart gift cards.

A couple of years ago, Yvette and I started stocking up on Wal-Mart gift cards during the good times.  It started with one card that we received as a Christmas present.  We didn’t need anything at the time, so we stuck the gift card in a drawer.

Later we figured out that having Wal-Mart gift cards tucked away made a lot of sense.  While it would be better to have the money in a bank account, having the gift cards gave us another option for handling expenses without using credit during tight months.

How does it start?  First, during the good times, purchase a Wal-Mart gift card for $10, $20 or even $50 and then stick it in a drawer.  Repeat the process as needed to build an emergency stash.

Then when times are a little tight, pull out one of the gift cards.  Wal-Mart gift cards never expire.  In addition, they can be used for all of life’s little emergencies.  Need a tire for your vehicle?  Need milk, eggs or bread?  Need some medication?  All of those can be purchased at Wal-Mart.

Whatever situation you are in, make sure you have a “backup plan” for getting your through the month without depending on credit.