We finally did it – we ended our monthly dish/cable expense. With primetime television now showing reruns or crappy reality shows, we just don’t watch that much TV. It was time to drop Dish Network. Total savings: $65 a month.

Don’t worry, Manly Dad still has plenty of entertainment choices thanks to Netflix. The online offerings from Netflix has greatly improved over the last few months. I’ve added a few dozen shows to my online queue. I’m set for the summer. Right now I’m finishing off the original Battlestar Galactica series and BBC’s Wild China documentary series.

What am I doing with my $65 savings? Well, it’s going directly to my savings account. I increased my automatic savings account deposit by $100/month.

Rule 2: Don’t Forget Your Debts

Debt: the necessary evil of modern life. We take out loans for education, for cars, and homes. Some people even have tons of unsecured debt. Some people can handle the debt and some can’t. A manly man knows how to manage his debt. A manly man honors his debt.

I have a few acquaintances that failed to manage or honor their debt. One family racked up tons of credit card debt. At the height of the housing bubble, they sold their house to cash out. They took the money and blew it on new cars and frivolous spending. Then a few years later there were broke and bankrupt. Now they can barely qualify to lease a home. They didn’t know how to manage their debt.

Another friend of mine bought a house at the peak of the housing bubble. He had no problem making the payments. However, after the bubble burst he was upside down on his mortgage (house was worth much less than he owed). His solution? A strategic default. He walked away from his house even though he could make the payments. He did not honor his debt.

I strive to manage and honor my debts. It’s the manly way. Last week we made our last car payment, and now our mortgage is the only debt we have. We bought a home near the peak of the bubble in 2006. I’m upside down on my mortgage (not by as much as some of our friends). It’s not a great feeling knowing our house isn’t worth what we owe, but my wife and I love our home and neighborhood. We know that if we stick with it, we’ll be back on top in a few years.

This is part two (of four) of my thoughts about Genghis Khan’s four laws. Part one can be read here.

Dear Amazon.com,

Thanks.  Thanks a lot.  After carefully setting our Christmas budget with my wife months ago, you decided to email her with a few suggestions.  How did you know that “as someone who has shown interest in toys” that she might want to check out the savings available on Fisher-Price?  Thanks to you, we got click-happy on your site a few nights ago. Now Santa is getting my boys more than they deserve.

Sincerely,

Manly Dad

P.S.  Why couldn’t you send her an email that said something like, “As someone who has shown interest in photography, check out the special savings on Nikon gear and accessories.”?  That’s an email I can support.

Edit: Sorry about that P.S. I talked to my wife about that.  Apparently, she does get those emails about photography and video games…she just doesn’t share them with me.

Book orders are expensive.  All parents will experience this phenomenon.  Well, my son got his first book order last month at preschool.  Here’s how the the whole thing went down:

1. Teacher sent book order home with my son
2. My son found at least a dozen books he wanted
3. I complained that it would cost too much money (someone’s got to be the gatekeeper)
4. My wife helped him narrow it down to 3 or 4 books
5. $40 later, my son received the books he ordered
6. He’s read (or looked at) those books just about everyday since

I’m glad the kid wants to read (or have us read to him), I really am.  But am I $40 glad?  Last month I was.  My son got 4 cool books about planets and space.  He loves them.  Some nights he even takes a few of the books to bed with him.  On the other hand, we simply can’t do $40 book orders every month.

Well, this week my son got another book order.  Steps 1-3 were followed just like before.  This time my wife and I agreed that the selection of books just wasn’t as good.  So we let him pick out one book, but there were two books he really wanted.  One was a book of science experiments.  The other was a children’s “encyclopedia” – - basically a book that has cool facts for each letter.  My wife researched the books on Amazon.com and decided the encyclopedia book just wasn’t worth buying.  With her encouragement and influence, he picked a cool book about science experiments.  Overspending avoided.

We now have two experiences with book orders as a parent.  Sure, these book orders may seem trivial, but we did learn a few things from the process:

1. I’m happy that my son has an interest in reading, especially science books
2. We don’t want an expensive book order every month
3. We will the read the Amazon reviews for the books that are borderline purchases before making a decision
4. Guiding my son to the right answer was better than forcing him to the right answer

Now we just have to wait a few weeks to get the book…