February 18, 2008 by Dave.

As an adoptive parent, I know firsthand how expensive adoption can be but also how rewarding it can be.  My wife and I would like to adopt a little brother or sister for Joshua, but quite frankly we just can’t afford it right now.  But at least we have him.  I can’t imagine my life without our son and feel the frustration of prospective parents that can’t adopt due to the expense involved. So when I was watching the Dave Ramsey Show last night on Fox Business, Dave mentioned about the Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman and his mission entitled Shaohannah’s Hope.  Being curious, I checked out Steven’s website and it had a link to the Shaohanna’s Hope website. The story started when Steven’s 11 year old daugher Emily returned from a trip to Haiti wanted to help the orphans that she saw on the trip. Emily already knew that God wanted her family to adopt, but her parents resisted.  Emily’s mother Mary Beth was concerned about raising another child, especially since Steven was on the road performing for most of the year.  But Emily persisted and prayed.  Her prayers were answered as the Chapmans adopted Shaohanna Hope, the first of 3 daughters they would adopt. 

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February 17, 2008 by Dave.

My wife and I recently upgraded our cellphones with Verizon to the LG VX8550 (new Chocolate). After 3+ years, it was time to upgrade; I had already went through 2 used phones after losing my LG VX6000 and my wife had no reception inside our house. Which is why we are with Verizon…T-Mobile and Sprint don’t work in our house and Nextel phones just annoy me. That being said, reception is much better in our house with both phones; rarely do our calls go right to voice mail without ringing and I don’t get that “Warning-No Service Available” when I make a call.  Plus, with my new every two plan and a buy one get one deal, the phones were free, which is the right price for me.

So, here’s my I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to just disconnecting our home line altogether, which would save us between $35-$40/month. The base rate for my package is $32.99/month. I have a bundle package through Verizon so I would lose some discounts but also wouldn’t have to pay the 15 different types of taxes and fees either. In addition, most people call my wife and I on our cellphones anyway (at least anyone we actually want to talk to and some we don’t). My concern would be going over my minutes; we have a shared plan with 1400 minutes and come pretty close to that number, mainly because of my job. I do have a Skype phone, but need to renew my SkypeOut plan. $36 per year isn’t bad to save about the same amount per month. I think it’s just an emotional thing at this point. Having a landline for all my life, I just can’t “cut the wires” so to speak.

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February 17, 2008 by Dave.

If elected President, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee would try to eliminate the IRS by implementing the “Fair Tax”, a national retail sales tax that has a number of supporters. Neil Boortz, who co-wrote the New York Times best seller, “The Fair Tax Book”, with Congressman John Linder, has made this a grass roots campaign, but Huckabee has brought it to the nation’s consciousness. If you don’t know what the “Fair Tax” is, this article from CNN Money gives a good summary of it. You can also go to www.fairtax.org for information. I have read “The Fair Tax Book” and personally support the concept. You have to be an accountant to understand the current tax code and I’m sure there are accountants that don’t completely understand it. I think our current system isn’t working and while the Fair Tax act isn’t perfect, it is much more simple than what we have now.

Here are some pros and cons as I see them: There are potential issues with tax evasion by retailers and potential lost revenues due to retail theft by cashiers. In addition, adoption of the Fair Tax could potentially hurt the economy as items like new cars and new construction would be taxed, but resales of these items wouldn’t. As such, this would encourage many to “buy used”. However, one thing I see as being a huge plus is that not only would foreign travelers and illegal immigrants be taxed on items, but members of the underground economy (drug dealers, prostitutes, bookies, etc.) that exist now would be taxed, providing billions of dollars to the tax base that don’t go there now. In addition, companies that are going overseas due to the cost of doing business here would come back when corporate income taxes are eliminated.

While Huckabee is all but mathematically eliminated from presidential contention, it is rumored that he may be John McCain’s running mate; as such his “Fair Tax” proposal would hopefully survive (or maybe he can plant a seed in Obama’s ear). We went to war with England over unfair taxation over 200 years ago. I’m sure the forefathers that fought for our nation’s independence would concur, it is clear that our current system is broken and needs to be fixed.

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February 15, 2008 by Dave.

Recently, eBay announced several changes that affect sellers greatly. The main changes include lower insertion fees and free gallery. In addition, buyers will only be able to receive positive feedback.

While many fees on the front end have decreased, the final value fees have increased dramatically, going from 5.25% to 8.75% (on the first $25), and from 3.25% to 3.5% from $25.01-$1,000. For eBay store sellers, the increase goes from 10% to 12% on the first $25, and 7% to 8% on the sale total from $25.01 to $1,000. This benefits powersellers that list a lot of items, but ultimately items costs more to sell. See this example below, courtesy of www.auctionbytes.com:

Powersellers will most likely benefit, or at least break even with the changes. The real winner, of course, is eBay. They will make more money in fees, while being the good guys lowering insertion fees and making gallery free.  Of course, the big loser is the average ebay seller that will have to pay 15% more on average in fees. As far as the feedback goes, my feedback is at 100% and I have always tried to provide exemplary customer service as a seller, so this change doesn’t concern me.  I guess it is good because it will level the playing field.  It ensures that buyers are not being held hostage by sellers threatening to leave negative feedback if they are left negative feedback. 

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