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Daggers, swords, and greatswords exist that are made of Valyrian steel (I: 20, etc.)
So, here is the Ice concept art. Let me stress that this sword is not even close to being released, think late 2010 at the earliest. We have a whole bunch of Longclaws and Needles to sell first. And the Damascus Longclaw will come out before it.
As always, we worked closely with GRRM in creating this design. In fact, as has been true with all our blades, I tend to have a design in my mind and then I go to him and explain it and he tells me how wrong I am. For those who worry that perhaps we influence GRRMs design decisions a certain way, believe me, it doesn't happen.
So, anyways, for Ice we had a couple thing to consider. First, it was the ceremonial sword of a great house. Both tool of war, and symbolic scepter of power, as such, it is more ornamental than Longclaw is. Secondly, it is of course, big, and GRRM insisted we make it as large as is possible to mass produce. It should be the biggest sword any collector has hanging on their wall. The blade will be as wide as Longclaw's (itself a large sword) but longer, with less taper.
The blade will have a distressed white leather grip, and a central ring embossed with running wolves plated in genuine silver. We plan to make two concurrent versions, one stainless steel with a faux damascus finish, the other true damascus.
Oh please do want!
Lovely image! Can I ask about how long it'd be, both just the blade and total height?
Very cool!
Wow, amazing.
And since this won't be out until late 2010, I'll go ahead and buy Longclaw as soon as I get some money in.
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! I may have to build a new room for all these exquisite swords.
Looks great!!! And the true damascus one…even more!!!
Naturally, I've got to ask the general price on this. It seems like it'll cost a good bit more than Longclaw. Why are you releasing two concurrent versions, though? I take it the faux-damascus blade will be cheaper, then?
Yes, it will be more.
If I had go guess, the stainless version would be around $300, the damascus $800. But it is too far off to know for certain.
Alright. With the two different price ranges, it definitely makes sense to make two of them. I'll try to shoot for the Damascus version.
It looks wonderful. I cannot wait for this to come out.
What's planned for the next item after Ice?
i think i just died and went to heaven. looks amazing. now i need to save up enough for the damascus longclaw and damascuc Ice.
Ohhhh, wow, that is breathtaking. I'm not fond of the "Winter is Coming" engraved on the sword AND the plaque, but I'm sure it'll grow on me.
The husband and I were discussing this sword and where we were going to put it. Notice, no "if" we order it, but "when" we order it. (^_^)
Ice is the one that I have been waiting for and the concept looks excellent. My only suggestion would be to choose the lettering on the cross guard very carefully. If it is too scripty or gothicy it will look cheesy . . . something more runic in nature would be a much better fit. Looking forward to seeing the final design.
Becky: I'm doing the exact same thing. I've got a couple of blank walls to put stuff on, so I know where it's going.
For some very strange reason, I figured that, as long as Ice should be (based on the book's description), it would warrant a horizontal plaque. But with your most likely smaller design, I think the vertical one will work quite well. Longclaw's length was pretty accurate, but Ice being a greatsword I'd expect there would be some limitations. Hopefully it all works out for the best.
Like the many of the others, no pun intended, I'm very excited about the commission of this great-sword. I'm wondering if there isn't some "ancient" runes of the First Men that can be used for the the cross guard. Other than that I like what I see. When hanging next to Longclaw on the wall it should look like father and son.
I like the Concept Art very much. Only thing is the engraving, as mentioned by others… I'm not convinced of that design… But as it is a concept art, I think there will come a final version of it? =)
Sign me up for Damascus
Great Work!!! Can't wait!
Patrick, we actually ran that by GRRM. A non-English engraving, but he wanted english, and we ran through a few different fonts as well.
I would only suggest to make the crosspiece a bit wider to help even out the overall dimensions of the blade. But Ice is beautiful!
The pommel and grip look great, but I would have expected a much wider crossguard on a sword like this. The crossguard of this design just looks truncated somehow.
Still, nice design overall, I'm seriously considering the damascus version.
Looks Great!
Obviously GRRM has the final say on the crosspeice lettering, but runes would be cool as well.
If the crosspeice stays the same as in the concept art, could we see a change on the mounting plate wordings? "Winter is coming" twice seems a bit much. Perhaps "House Stark" or "King of the North"?
Either way, it looks great and i'll be pre-ordering as soon as it's available.
It looks lovely! I agree with the others that the English writing on the crossguard, but GRRM is the boss. If you keep it that way, then I think Adam's idea of changing the words on the mounting plate. Maybe even not having words on that one at all..
It looks lovely! I agree with the others about the English writing on the crossguard, but GRRM is the boss. If you keep it that way, then I think Adam's idea of changing the words on the mounting plate. Maybe even not having words on that one at all..
Only a word Beautiful!!
This gives me a years notice to save 800 dollars. Great work.
Did you guys finalize an official number of damascus for Longclaw? and do you expect a similar sized run for Ice?
Magnificent! Absolutely stunning!
That Damascus sounds tempting…we'll see if my finances can stand the extra $500.
a truly awesome piece, will get the damascus for sure.
just a question, could you post the measurements for the sword, both blade and total, if possible
Well okay, obviously GRRM has to decide how he would like ICE in the end. How about that: if you try to center the "IS" in "winter is coming", it would look way better…because it doesn't look that symetric to me the way it is on the concept art…but well, just my humble opinion =)
Honestly I pictured the handle to be black. I don't remember reading that it was white. Also agree witho thers. Greatsword should have a great hilt to match. But then again i didn't write the books. We will just have to wait to see what GRRM's final word is.
i am impressed again, didn't have plans of buying needle but if that would speed up the release of ice i definitely will. could someone please tell me one thing because i am not sure did i get it right, is damascus version a battle-ready sword?
Damascus is a higher carbon steel and is considered to be of "battle ready" quality.
Whether you'll want to take your $800 collectible out fighting will be your decision. The only sword truly impervious to damage is the kind Luke Skywalker uses.
Very impressive, though I imagined it darker all around. It is none the less very much Ice. I'm gonna have to start saving my sheckalls for the damascus one.
One thing I'm not a fan of, the writeing on the guard. And thats it, if the blade could be made darker that'd be cool but I imagine if you could do it you would. I like that it hass a smaller guard and that it's a longer sword.
All in all I can't wait.
It looks amazing, I have been waiting for this one for a long time. I too was wondering the size Ice, How big is a two handed great sword?
I wasn't planning on actually buying Ice until I saw the design for it. Now I pretty much have. Curse your epic desgins!
I always saw it having a weirwod handle carved with direwolves for sure gripping(ever tried to grip a smooth sword handle? not easy or comfortable) and certainly a bigger cross guard with the pommel and guard in bronze to kinda mimic the sword crown worn by the kings in the north plus when a sword hilt is open to the elements like the north steel guards and pommels would quickly rust, even under constant care(unless they are valyrian steel as well). This kinda reminds me of the witchking sword hilt from LOTR with a viking style blade, but the blade does look beautiful
I admit I did not read the little paragraph above the sword and see that you guys put leather on the handle(still imagine the weirwood), thought it looked like wood, it could use some bulking up though. maybe a more tapered grip staring wide at the guard and tapering toward the pommel? That just doesnt look like a martially sound grip, spacer looks sweet but generally doesnt look as though it would sit well in the hand. I apologize for the harshness of my comments. Figured you guys put the design up to get some input back.
Love the design. Not to fond of the words on the cross guard but that's just me, and a few others I guess. I also pictured the cross guard designed a little more historic like. But If thats what George envisioned, Its not far from what I imagined.
Would love to buy it. My thoughts lean to. "Damn, I would love that design in a slightly larger than usual letter opener version!"
Was this the final concept George Ok'd? Or is it still in the final decision stages of design?
The concept art is finalized unless George ends up seeing something in the prototype he dislikes.
You have to remember that style springs from purpose and not the other way around. I think I know of the big wide huge crossguards many of you are thinking of, that were put on swords used primarily by ground troops in the late middle ages because of the functional need of having a really wide crossguard to protect yourself as you swept the blade in front of you like a spear.
Ice is a ceremonial beheading sword. A crossguard that wide would have only interfered with the downstroke, making the executioner wish he was a woman. In the end it still is not that narrow of a guard, it is just the blade is so wide that it looks it.
There is also of course the issue of age, GRRM likes to somewhat mirror true medieval history. Crossguards started out nonexistant, and they gradually grew larger as time progressed. The Starks are an old house.
Maybe not a big huge wide guard just one thats 8 or 9 inches long and not at wide or chunky. A guards main purpose was not for protecting the hands but to keep them from sliding up the blade and mainly to use in binding and trapping your opponents sword or weapon or for striking an opponent. Guards also dont hamper downward strokes(student of HEMA for 15 years, not to sound snobby)proper technique simply does not alloow this to happen. I see the logic behing it being short due to the age of House Stark. But also historically as blades lengthened so did guards.
Was Ice meant to be only a beheading sword? If so it would have no tip and I dont think Eddard would have carried it to war, or any Stark for that matter. When GRRM said "greatsword" I always assumed he meant an epee de guerre or sword of war which is a 50 odd inch wider bladed sword with a handle that can accommodate two hands or one if need be and he says "longsword" (which is a typical two handed cut and thrust in HEMA) that he means a standard one handed sword.
Brett H. Eddard did carry Ice into battle, and used it in battle. It's a Valyrian sword. Legendary swords of awesomeness. He carried it into the Rebellion against Mad King Aerys. He carried Ice into Greyjoys rebellion. He also fought with it against Kings guard Arthur Dayne and his legendary sword, Dawn in the Roberts Rebellion. It's not only a symbol of the Lords of the North, But also used in battle and ceremony and handing out judgement. I don't know if this is canon. But from my readings of the books. It seems Aegon the 1st. Forged valyrian swords for each warden and major lord. I do believe also the books mentioning valyrian swords being lighter then they look. And hold their sharpness very well.
With Valyrians response. Yes, the crossguard makes more sense being its an the Starks are an old house. And its Georges vision.
Hey, as a collector, i have a few greatswords, claymores and such. I just want to repeat the question: about how long will Ice be? 60″? Just curious.
Also, which swords/versions of the swords count as battle-ready? Just the Damascus versions? What about Needle?
They all look great, by the way. I'm hoping I can scratch together enough for all three swords.
now please correct me if im wrong because i dont feel like skimming back through the book right now, but isnt ice red? I seem to remember it that way, and the swords that were reforged from it had red ripples a a result. Again i could be wrong maybe someone not as lazy as me could find a passage or two describing how it looks
Rick. here yah go
""Ice," that sword was called. It was as wide across as a man's hand, and taller even than Robb. The blade was Valyrian steel, spell-forged and dark as smoke."
read the books again.
Hi guys! Just a query question? I thought all valyrian steel swords were unique? The only common factor is 'weight'(comparison to size) and its undisputed color.(dark/smokey plus tinges of color). If I remember clearly, Longclaw was distinct for its claw markings in the blade. (why its named Longclaw). ICE had its own distinctions. Not only in size but in discription. (as mentioned by another fan 'Quoted from the book'.) To me! ICE is the North. Has the longest known recorded history. And is definately unique. But the 'Concept Art' depicts the same type of blade as Longclaw. Maybe a small delimma, but a delimma non the less. I hope George notices it too. To me -ICE- is 'a song of ice and fire'.
Longclaw did not have clawmarks it was named longclaw because wolves and bears both have claws.
Ice is definitely different from Longclaw. Longclaw is a hand a half sword, Ice is a two hander. Longclaw tapers for the entire length, Ice does not. Longclaw has 3 fullers, Ice has 1. Ice is also longer.
But in the end we're not making off the wall fantasy swords, they have to look functional, have to appear as if they could have existed, and indeed, roughly from the same time in history. So there will be similarities.
Also, the ONLY valyrian steel swords with color were Oathkeeper and Widow's Wail, which Tywin Lannister had made by melting down Ice, and which were colored by a dye during the melting process. The guy loved red so much he just had to have it in his sword.
Everything is great, I would have prefered a slightly larger crossgaurd but I see your reasoning. The only thing I don't agree with is the words 'winter is coming'. Since the sword was made in old Valaria probably before the starks were even in westeros. Did the words even exist? I just think it's unnecessary when you already have the words on the holder. I just think the words make the sword (which is beautiful) look a little cheesy.
im not so fond of the witer is coming engravings but besides that its great
Longclaw was not made in old Valyria.
Valyrian steel, originally smelted, was made only by the Valyrians, but Westerosi can obviously reforge it, fit on new handle parts, etc. They reforge Ice and retrofit Longclaw remember.
We actually went over this exact topic (age of ice, artifact of valyria vs. custom sword made by Starks) with GRRM. The sword then is an explicit statement that Ice was made by or for the Starks way back when.
Withy a blade that long a bit more distal taper will be well worth it or push the major rounding part an inch or so further from the tip proper – As it stands the blade almost looks like it was a long rectangular piece with the tip rounded enough to know it was the tip. A bit more taper will give the sword a slightly more fluid look, grant it some grace.
Size of the guard is alright, but it would look better if it and the pommel were a few shades darker.
And the handle itself, I love the riser. I'm with some of the other comments thought with expecting wierwood though. I think the best combination would to have the portion between riser and guard to be leather (black or brown) with the portion between pommel and riser be the natural wierwood. That would be absolutely stellar.
I think slightly more flared shoulders would be a nice addition also.. and I like "winter is coming" on the guard. just needs the "is" to be centered – as mentioned earlier – to give it more symmetry. Perhaps decrease the size of the font as well, just a little.
Zak the taper, as is, was a feature GRRM requested specifically.
Sign me up for the damascus version
do u think needle will be ready for christmas?
Excellent design!!!
I really don't like the letters on the sword. I think that must be like 80% of the comments on here state that they dont like it, HOWEVER:
It occurs to me that if you dont like the lettering, couldn't you just turn the sword around? I doubt there will be lettering on Both Sides…
But seriously, I'm not 100% sure I will buy Ice, the only reason being the lettering. No Lettering, and I would buy it instantly.
Just sayin.
Is the grip thick enough? it seems pencil thin from the pic(pic can be decieving)..it would be hard to hold on to with a super thin grip as oposed to something thicker…
I agree with the comments on the lettering. If the words are going to stay, so be it. Just please do something about that font. It needs something…else.
But I'm probably too late on the bandwagon, huh?
This is the one i'm gonna buy,no matter what:)
absolutely amazing concept! the only grievance i have is the crossguard.(i know everybody has something to say about it) the only thought i have on this is that rather than "winter is coming" i would suggest "the king in the north" rather than previous accounts of "the king of the north" (just seems more traditional in keeping with the citings of GRRM
One thing about the supposed "Winter is Coming" redundancy.
The Starks didn't have a silkscreend MDF sword plaque to hang Ice on a wall with. Designing the sword based around our made-up plaque wouldn't be appropriate.
We could remove the words on the plaque, but every other plaque for every other sword we make will have words, and so if you have a full collection this will look odd.
So perhaps I've missed this from elsewhere in the site but have there been any updates as to the expected release time for this sword?
I am certainly impatient but please don't take that to mean that I want you to rush the process. I want this sword to be just right, I'm just a little anxious for any bit of updated info I can get.
Also, something else I may have missed, is there any sort of pre-order for this yet?
Thanks for any updates you can give!
[...] it here. Ice will be done next, it is not yet available for preorder. You can however view a sketch here. Robert's War Hammer will be done after that, and that just started the design [...]
Quick question? Is the sword "as wide across as a man's hand, and taller even than Robb."?
How tall is Robb?
Believe me, we went through all of this with GRRM in the design process. In the end, we're making Ice as big as we possibly can.
I Don't Like it at all…
It just doesn't stand out for me it looks like every other sword you see.
Ice should be a sword that you can pick outta a hundred.
Was hoping it would resemble more towards the art piece by Dabel Bro of Eddard with Ice , know that looked bad ass.
If you're talking about the picture of Ned in the godswood polishing Ice…
The artist used Anduril from Lord of the Rings for that picture, or there is an amazing coincidence at work. For obvious reasons we cannot just take a sword design from a feature film.
If you want Anduril, you can purchase it here.
Oh is it, didn't no that. I just like how the blade gets wider near the cross guard.
The concept of Ice here just seems like it's
missing something. I guess you can't take the same idea but it kinda needs its own signature to distinguish itself from every other blade out there.
It just my Two cents about it…
That flare at the base of the blade is the only thing the artist did, otherwise, pretty much straight Anduril.
GRRM actually specified wanting a straight wide blade as shown here, with very little taper.
I think you'll find ice very distinguished, both because of the size of the blade (usually such long blades are going to be narrower) but perhaps the most striking feature, or unique, will be the distressed white leather grip. That was GRRM's idea straight up and it is fairly unique, I know I've not seen a white leather grip on a sword.
Additionally there will be a high level of detail. The mid-grip cuff is actually embossed with running wolves.
But in the end, Ice is just a sword. GRRM's flavor of fantasy is not over the top, not really. He has always said he wants the creations to appear as if they could have actually existed, and not being mere fantasy constructs. No off-the-wall fantasy designs.
OK,looking at it that way know I get the concept. I see what your striving for which is more of a true looking blade.
I guess I was thinking to over the top and you've helped me see it in a different light. Thanks, I appreciate the quick response's.
This is a REALLY good looking blade, but will it be the one used in the HBO series this fall of 2010.?? And I also always imagined ICE as being a darker damascus blade… But in my opinion its a fine piece of work. I have looked over it many times and the more I do the more I like the look of it, did an incredible job on Longclaw too, thats what I half expected ICE to look like till I scrolled down, but again, its a fine piece. Winter Is Coming…..
I just asked George RR Martin himself at C2E2 in Chicago this past weekend whether the Valyrian Steel sword designs would be used in the HBO series and he said they would not be. I guess the sword guy for the series didn't want to use someone else's designs. I own Longclaw and will be getting Needle in the near future It seems to me that the Valyrian Steel guys really, really care about the swords and have put a fantastic amount of research into them and have quizzed Martin every step of the way. For my money, their swords are the ones used in the books. And at the end of the day, the books are what counts. Even if the HBO series turns out amazing.
HBO has no agreement with us to use our designs.
However, our designs are made in close concert with GRRM, thus giving them officiality (is that a word?) and we can hope that existing as prior art, as they do, they influence the HBO designers. For instance I happen to know our Longclaw is hanging on the walls of their LA production office.
Thank you for responding to my question, I'am highly greatful for you to take your time and answer it. And thank you Josh for also answerinng.
I love everything about the sword i hope i can buy it.
Any update on when we'll there will be pre-orders for Ice?
Hey, Timmy here again… How is the 'faux damascus' design made compared to just pattern-welding designed? (I dont know if I quite stated the question right but I hope you get what I mean to say.) Please respond to my question.
This sword in my humble opinion, is exactly what I would have expected the Lord of Winterfell to wear on his hip. Remember, this is a Stark sword, not something carried by the Lannister House. It is like the dire wolf, huge, hard and deadly. Its all business here.
If you dislike the redundancy of the sword/plaque combination then just don't use the plaques. I plan on purchasing all three and hanging them horizontally on the wall with Ice in the middle, thus, making the plaques unnecessary. Like other posters, I do hope the final template addresses the need for the "is" to be centered, fix that small detail, and I'll be even more ecstatic.
I would still really like to know the exact (or even aproximate) measurements. More than a few people have asked this question, and a response to it would be apreciated.
I thought we had posted them, in anycase it is no secret. The sword will be 55″. The longest we could make it without going over 60″ for total packaging length (which would have put it out of reach for most of the world, what with dimensional shipping limitations). If anyone has the Witchking Sword from Lord of the Rings it will be just under one inch longer. But of course wider. Picture the width of longclaw's blade and the length of that witchking sword.
The cross guard is 8 and a quarter inches wide.
Are these swords "battle ready?"
I thought the great swords were supposed to be thicker than the others, including bastard blades. if i remember correctly Ice is supposed to be as thick as a mans hand. I agree with the others, not too fond of the Winter is Coming on the cross guard, or the white on the grip.
Personally, I love the design. From the large, straight blade, the smaller crossguard, and the white leather grip, this sword looks amazing. If this template is used for the final product, I'll gladly purchase this as my next sword.
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And the nutwads in Raleigh are trying to pass laws to ignore what is happening and use a historical average instead…. If...
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Take notes ladies. Kim from Eat Sleep Wear gives a tutorial in how to rock a white blazer in NOLA
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ghostly runway shot taken by the blog shoedazzle
annabelle and her lace top beat the california heat. see more on her blog here. shop the top here
nanette lepore's wedding dress and more advice to girls getting married this summer
spring nanette lepore campaign, japan
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This blog is dedicated to the most colorful commentator in the history of the beautiful game. Whether he's waxing poetic over Messi or berating his co-commentator for rambling about Tom Cruise, Ray Hudson always has something noteworthy to say.
"Victor again does his impersonation of the Exxon and spills it."
"[Pogba]'s proven one thing: he can get a job in a butcher's shop any time he wants if this football thing doesn't work out."
"Braver than a matador in a pink tutu he was."
"Oh my sweet lord. What a ball. What a pass! The ball is magisterial. The finish is nothing less than stupefying."
"Llorente has an absolutely impossible task to hit that first time. Well, he just threw a pint glass into a shot glass. Astonishing."
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"On to this one quicker than a jackrabbit on a hot date. Look at this finish! That is beyond world class."
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I know that this is old news (this happened at the beginning of June, but I didn't have a Tumblr then and well why not talk about it now?) but emergency contraception AKA "Plan B" or the morning-after pill is now available to girls and women of all ages without a prescription in the United States.
I think this is incredible news. Not just because I believe in the right of individuals to access contraception and that includes emergency contraception, but because I was once in a position that I felt I needed Plan B.
I was 16 and I lost my virginity to my boyfriend, also 16. It was unprotected and occurred in a moment of, frankly, bad judgment. I was terrified that I might be pregnant. I called the pharmacy at the local grocery store and was told I would need to be 17 or else I'd have to have a prescription. I felt I couldn't tell anyone, not my parents, not my friends, so many of whom were under 17 as well.
Still emotionally reeling from what had happened, I ended up not doing anything, figuring my chances of becoming pregnant were low because he did not ejaculate inside of me (but let me just remind that the withdrawal method is still not 100% effective, and pre-cum can contain sperm, so there was still a chance). I still cannot believe how stupid I was.
I just waited it out.
Thankfully, I was not pregnant. But I could have been. My story could be anyone else's. This ruling that Plan B is more available means that people in my position who are of any age will be able to access Plan B more readily. Yes, there can still be a hefty price tag depending on where you go (Planned Parenthood I'm sure has it at a free or reduced price, but the pharmacy I called told me $60 plus tax—outrageous) but the fact remains that age will not be a barrier. So that's why I celebrate this ruling.
(And to those who look down on this ruling claiming that access to contraception will make teens more likely to be sexually active, I leave you with this quote: "Contraceptives no more cause sex than umbrellas cause rain." —Nick Kristof. Research supports this!)
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Opinion Shop
Backstories, insights and unofficial musings fromthe Chronicle's opinion pages.
Posts filtered on Category
A new day in America: Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage redefines culture
The long-awaited rulings on California's Prop. 8, voters' ban on same-sex marriage, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which denies marriage benefits to same-sex couples, finally came June 26. The Supreme Court's decisions remade the law of the land in a large yet very personal way. Proponents of marriage equality, including the newly won-over […] [Read More]
The Supreme Court's marriage problem
Is same-sex marriage "newer than cellphones and the Internet?" Does approving it send the nation into "uncharted waters?" That's what several Supreme Court justices are thinking as they ponder a pair of gay rights cases. One involves overturning Prop. 8, the California initiative banning same-sex marriage. The other focuses on the Defense of Marriage Act […] [Read More]
Supremes take up same-sex marriage this week
Public opinion on same-sex marriage has made almost a 180-degree turn since 1996 when President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which upheld the idea that marriage is reserved for heterosexual couples. Since Vice President Joe Biden announced his support for same-sex marriage a year ago, other national politicians have come on board too […] [Read More]


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Marc Abbott,
02 December 2011 14:44
We've just seen the new Alpinestars Tech Air Race airbag one-piece suit in action; here's a short video clip showing our senior road tester Michael Neeves wearing the suit during a test inflation at the MCN offices. The suit, which contains sensors, inflators and shoulder airbags, wirelessly activated in the event of a crash on track, is available in the ...
20 July 2010 22:56
My wee grandson having a quick nap on my Honda Pan European. Then wondering who woke him up!
Samuel Pinney,
19 April 2010 14:04
Motorcycle News is looking for bike riding iphone owners to help us test our new app before it goes on sale. All you have to do is use the app while riding your bike anywhere in the UK this week - then let us know by email how you got on. THE BETA TEST HAS BEEN CLOSED NOW NameDaytime emailDaytime phoneYour phone's UDID* ...
27 August 2009 01:28
I liked the look of the Honda Varadero 1000 so I'm trying to give my Varadero 125 the 1000cc appearance. 150cc motorcycles is the maximum allowed on Bermuda roads and I have added many available accessories as well. I am a big guy (6'4") so I need a big looking bike!
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Mr. Brownlow
|This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2008)
Mr. Brownlow is a character from the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. He is later revealed to be Oliver's great uncle.
Dickens describes Brownlow's first appearance:
It is very possible that he fancied himself there, indeed; for it was plain, from his abstraction, that he saw not the book-stall, nor the street, nor the boys, nor, in short, anything but the book itself: which he was reading straight through: turning over the leaf when he got to the bottom of a page, beginning at the top line of the next one, and going regularly on, with the greatest interest and eagerness.
The novel[edit]
Mr. Brownlow is introduced when the Artful Dodger and his companion Charley Bates pick his pocket and Oliver Twist is arrested simply for "looking guilty". Later, in court, Brownlow discovers Oliver is completely innocent and, after dealing with the extremely agitated magistrate, Mr. Fang, he takes him home fearing the boy to be very ill, which he is. He calls on a doctor, who after making frequent incorrect guesses to Oliver's condition, simply concludes the boy is recovering from a fever.
Brownlow's maid, Mrs. Bedwin, is a kind old lady who immediately takes to Oliver upon his arrival. Later when Grimwig, an old friend of Brownlow's, evaluates the boy and his condition, a boy arrives from the book shop but fails to take some other books that needed to be returned. Oliver volunteers to return them and takes off, much to the chagrin and doubt of Mr. Grimwig, who is revealed to be cynical in nature, expecting the boy to return to his old life among the lower class and promises to "eat his head" should the boy return in 10 minutes. A watch is set down and the waiting begins. Later, after Oliver is captured by Nancy and Bill Sikes, it is revealed that much later, close to midnight, the two men are still waiting in the dark. (In the 1997 film version of the novel, Mr Brownlow asks Oliver to take a couple of books and some money and asks him to be back in half an hour, although Oliver says he will be back in 20 minutes.)
The next mention of Brownlow occurs when Mr. Bumble rears him after he sees a notice in a newspaper that offers five guineas for any knowledge about Oliver's past or whereabouts it was a sticky encounter. Mr. Bumble at once tells Brownlow that Oliver was born from deplorable lineage and ever since birth, Oliver has done nothing but display ingratitude and malice. He also mentions Oliver had attacked another boy without provocation and shows Brownlow reports to prove it. Brownlow doesn't want to believe it at first, but gradually comes to conclusion that Oliver had been playing him for a fool and requests Oliver's name should not be invoked in his household ever again. His housekeeper Mrs. Bedwin, however, feels that Oliver was truly a good child and not a criminal.
When Oliver is taken in by the Maylies, and asks the kind Dr. Losberne to take him to Brownlow's home in London, only to find the house is "FOR LEASE". The only clue to his whereabouts are from his neighbours mentioning the West Indies, saying he was looking for someone.
When Mr. Brownlow returns to London, Oliver by chance spots him and can clear his name. Mr. Brownlow is very happy about that and takes Oliver in once again, taking part in Rose's plot to save Oliver from Fagin. Later, his true role in the story is revealed: he was the best friend of Oliver's true father, the deceased Edwin Leeford, and has vital information regarding Oliver's origins as well as those of his evil half-brother, Mr. Monks. At the end of the book, Brownlow officially adopts Oliver as his son.
The musical[edit]
In the stage musical Oliver! Mr. Brownlow is found to be Oliver's grandfather, and after retrieving him from London Bridge, where Nancy is murdered while trying to return the boy to Brownlow, it is assumed that Oliver goes to live with him. However, this may vary between productions as in the latest revival, as in the 1968 film Oliver is taken hostage and subsequently saved when Bill is shot during his escape attempt.
In the film version of Oliver!, Brownlow is made into Oliver's great-uncle, and the boy is saved, not at London Bridge, but from the rooftops of London, where Bill Sikes, who has murdered Nancy and taken Oliver as a hostage, has forced him to crawl out on a wooden hoist in order to loop a rope that Sikes intends to use in his escape. However, Sikes is shot by a member of the crowd below, and Oliver is saved.
The 1948 David Lean film[edit]
As in the stage version of Oliver!, Brownlow is Oliver's grandfather in David Lean's 1948 film version of the novel.


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Cisco, EMC and VMware Announcement – My Thoughts
By now I'm sure you've read, heard or seen Tweeted the announcement that Cisco, EMC and VMware have come together and created the Virtual Computing Environment coalition . So what does this announcement really mean? Here are my thoughts:
Greater Cooperation and Compatibility
Since these 3 top IT giants are working together, I expect to see greater cooperation between all three vendors, which will lead to understanding between what each vendor is offering. More important, though, is we'll be able to have reference architecturethat can be a starting point to designing a robust datacenter. This will help to validate that an "optimized datacenter" is a solution that every customer should consider.
Technology Validation
With the introduction of the Xeon 5500 processor from Intel earlier this year and the announcement of the Nehalem EX coming early in Q1 2010, the ability to add more and more virtual machines onto a single host server is becoming more prevalent. No longer is the processor or memory the bottleneck – now it's the I/O. With the introduction of Converged Network Adapters (CNAs), servers now have access to Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) or DataCenter Ethernet (DCE) providing up to 10Gb of bandwidth running at 80% efficiency with lossless packets. With this lossless ethernet, I/O is no longer the bottleneck.
VMware offers the top selling virtualization software, so it makes sense they would be a good fit for this solution.
Cisco has a Unified Computing System that offers up the ability to combine a server running a CNA to a Interconnect switch that allows the data to be split out into ethernet and storage traffic. It also has a building block design to allow for ease of adding new servers – a key messaging in the Coalition announcement.
EMCoffers a storage platform that will enable the storage traffic from the Cisco UCS 6120XP Interconnect Switch and they have a vested interest in VMware and Cisco, so this marriage of the 3 top IT vendors is a great fit.
Announcement of Vblock™ Infrastructure Packages
According to the announcement, the Vblock Infrastructure Package "will provide customers with a fundamentally better approach to streamlining and optimizing IT strategies around private clouds." The packages will be fully integrated, tested, validated, and that combine best-in-class virtualization, networking, computing, storage, security, and management technologies from Cisco, EMC and VMware with end-to-end vendor accountability. My thought on these packages is that they are really nothing new. Cisco's UCS has been around, VMware vSphere has been around and EMC's storage has been around. The biggest message from this announcement is that there will soon be "bundles" that will simplify customers solutions. Will that take away from Solution Providers' abilities to implement unique solutions? I don't think so. Although this new announcement does not provide any new product, it does mark the beginning of an interesting relationship between 3 top IT giants and I think this announcement will definitely be an industry change – it will be interesting to see what follows.
UPDATE – click here check out a 3D model of the vBlocks Architecture.
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Please sign the petition to bring the Yamuna River back to Vrindavan!
Radhe Radhe
It is true that only sewage flows in Vrindavan, Gokul, Mathura, but that is still on the bed of Shri Yamuna River and flows in Vraj-Vrindavan Dham. It is important that to maintain spiritual honer of Shri Yamuna Maharaani, we should sprinkle a few drops over ourselves and pay spiritual tributes to her.
Radhe Radhe
Comment Posted By Brajraj Sharan On 09.03.2012 @ 06:42
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Help! My Debt Snowball Is Melting!
Published on - September 2nd, 2010 (by Sierra Black)
This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com.
The summer heat has taken a toll on my debt snowball. Two months ago, I paid off the last of my credit card debt, but I still have thousands of dollars in loans. I started the summer with over $10,000 in my savings account, no credit card debt, and a solid plan to pay off my remaining loans within the next few years.
Then life happened. I've been living out of suitcases for the past two months, traveling to New York, Buenos Aires, and Bangor. (I've blogged quite a bit about how travel is one of my budget weak spots.) So I spent some money. Not as much as I was afraid I might, but more than I probably should have.
Also, I have kids. Those of you with children may have noticed that they're expensive. There are a thousand articles out there on how to keep the cost of having children to a minimum. I've written some of those myself. But I'm here to tell you that whether you do your back-to-school shopping at Bloomingdale's or Goodwill, kids will add to your monthly expenses.
So here I am. Summer's ending. I'm writing from the lake house in northern Maine where I've been holed up for much of the past few months. In the peaceful quiet hour around sunset, I finally steeled myself and looked at my bank balance.
Resting on my laurels
It's not as bad as I'd feared. The numbers are still solidly in the black. My savings have a dent in them, but a smaller one than I expected. My checking account is in good shape. My bills are paid.
The shadow in this rosy picture: I haven't made any extra debt payments all summer. The hot weather arrived, my credit cards were paid off, and instead of rolling that debt snowball right into my car loan, I sat back on my laurels. No wonder I have more money than I expected: I've been letting all my debt snowball money (which adds up to almost $2000 a month) sluice around in my regular budget for two months!
I was going to try to slide this under the radar. I figured I'd turn a new leaf when the leaves changed colors, keep paying my debts off as quick as I can, and no one needed to be the wiser.
But then J.D. pointed out that my recent posts here haven't had a lot of "me" in them. That's not just because I'm focused on other things. It's because I don't want anyone looking too closely at me. I'm a little ashamed of where my finances are.
Not that there's anything wrong with taking a few months off from my debt snowball. I wanted to do something indulgent and special to celebrate being out of credit card debt. Taking a summer off would have been an expensive but reasonable choice.
The problem is that I didn't choose it. It just sort of happened. I let things slide. I put "set up increased loan payments" at the top of my financial to-do list in June. (A to-do list I literally left sitting on my desk when I packed my bags and left for the summer.) But I neglected to do set up those payments, or to do any other active management of my household finances for months. There was money in my checking account, and that was good enough for me.
Now there's a familiar sinking feeling in my stomach as I look at my bank balance and have no idea where my money has gone or what the numbers mean.
Failing forward
I'm not actually in any financial trouble. But my timeline for being out of debt has slipped, and it's slipped through some of the same cracks that led me into debt in the first place. I don't know where all that extra money went. Some of it went into preschool tuition and plane tickets and new shoes for the kids. Sure. But I was also careless budgeting for groceries and any number of small purchases. Those add up to a lot of dollars.
My shame isn't about my bottom line. It's about my bad habits. I'm making some of the same mistakes I made for years. The mistakes I'm prone to making with money when I don't pay attention. That's embarrassing, no matter what my bank balance is.
Of course, shame and fear about money was what led me into this debt trap. I didn't want to look. For years, I simply refused to know what my spending habits were, or even what my regular bills added up to. By the time I turned 30, that head-in-the-sand approach had saddled me more debt than the total income I'd earned in my life. I've spent the past two years digging myself out, and I'm starting to see a light at the end of that tunnel.
I've been living on a skinny budget for years. I've paid off a mountain of credit cards. But even though I had a lot of credit card debt, the credit cards were still the low-hanging fruit.
Now I have to pay off loans. They have lower interest rates and higher balances than my credit cards did. The bills just come quietly every month and I pay them. The balances only move down, but they move down slowly.
There's no exciting struggle. No relearning old habits to keep the plastic in my wallet and out of my hand when I'm standing in line at the checkout. No lifestyle changes that will suddenly free up hundreds of dollars to wipe out the debt.
I just need to roll that snowball over and keep paying it. I suspect that even being very aggressive about my debt payments, it will be two years before I hit another financial milestone worth throwing a party about. This approach is effective — but boring. That's what getting rich slowly is all about.
It's the beginning of September. The beginning of fall, and of a new school year. A great time for new beginnings. I'm back on the wagon with my budget, and making those extra loan payments this month.
I'm writing about all this publicly in the hopes that it's a teachable moment. The lesson I've learned so far: Sometimes we all slip. The key is to fall back on the skills and strengths you know you have, and start over from wherever you are.
What else can I learn here? You're a bunch of extremely smart readers. What do you do to stay motivated while paying down debt or saving towards a goal? What helps you keep your good financial habits going?
I think when you decided to do a lot of traveling this summer, you had to put the debt repayment on the shelf. I believe you said that in your article where you announced your big trip.
You can't do everything.
At this point, forget about it and just move forward with the debt repayment plans.
The fact the you did everything from savings, and after a short break are back on track is a good sign. It was a 2 month break not a 2 year break.
I find reading and writing blogs helps keep me motivated. Hearing other stories and sharing mine works for me.
As Techbud said reading finance blogs (and now writing one) has certainly helped. Our budget also helps to keep us in line, for the most part.
Recently I added all of my loan balances to the category name to remind us that we need to get things paid off as soon as we can. It is certainly going to be a long road but it will be worth it.
I find Ramit Sethi financial automation information to be invaluable. Kind of like cranking widgets! I have automated savings going into multiple ING sub accounts including Emergency (we used $400 on a repair, once we are back up these payments stop); Pet fund; Martial Art yearly tuition and competition fee fund, Vacation, Kids clothing, etc. This helps greatly! We are debt free, except for the home and have one in college and one in a private school. I kind of like looking at finances as dirty work or blue collar…roll your sleeves up and get to it. To me it takes the mystery out of it. It's one of the reasons I like GRS and Dave Ramsey, no theory or complicated formulas, just follow these steps, work hard, repeat.
Is this a situation where automating things may help? (e.g. set up an auto-transfer for the extra money with your bank)
It sounds like paying the debts down isn't where you're struggling, it's remembering/getting round to do it.
And don't beat yourself up. You didn't slide further into debt, you just didn't pay back quite so fast. So, you're still winning, just a bit more slowly.
One of my friends created a debt spreadsheet that he updated and posted graphs from on his blog regularly. One of the graphs showed his current progress at paying off debt (time on the bottom, debt on the side), and then 2 projected lines: one showing what would happen if he just paid the minimum/normal monthly amount, and one showing his planned (higher) payments. Over time, you could really see the difference, and by blogging it, he got regular comments to congratulate/motivate him.
This is a great post! It is nice to see a bit more substance from guest writers… recently some (but not all) of the posts have been pretty light and generic. I'm glad JD suggested putting more real stuff in.
One thing I notice is that there's a whole lot of "I" when you're talking about finances. Since you have a family, it would be interesting to hear what the "we" part of the equation thinks if they're willing to be mentioned. Are they on board? Do they keep the family accountable? What kinds of things do they do to help keep on track?
We don't have debt- but we have always saved. That has slipped terribly in the last few months.
Thanks for the kick start.
I did my accountability budget yesterday (the 1st)- today is the day to start again.
Try not to look back- but look forward!
Thank you! This was a fantastic post to read. You are completely right – people are human and sometimes we slip. But the thing to do is get back up, dust yourself off and start all over again! It's really great to get reminded of that once in a while.
I don't think you should be ashamed. You created fantastic memories, don't taint them with guilt. Summer is difficult because there is so much temptation to spend. I have 3 kids, and I am the first one to say 'yes' to playing putt putt golf or whatever. I only have them in my house for 18 years, so I try and make the most of it. Sure a lot of activities are free and we do a lot of those too. But, variety is the spice of life!
My finances slipped a little this summer too. Sometimes I underestimate the cost of vacation. (Zip lining in the mountains really cost us this year, but I couldn't resist!) For me, it is about balance. I don't spend money on electronics or whatever, but I do spend on experiences. Our only debt is our house though, however, I know I could be saving more towards college.
I generally spend minimally in the first place, so it is hard for me to really cut a lot of spending. (Outside of putt putt and such!) However, what I try to do is focus more on making money. I am a stay at home mom, but I have my blog and I also sell books on the side. When I am frustrated with my funds, I put more time into both. Given the blog isn't a huge money generator by any means, but the more I build it, the greater the payoff (hopefully) will be down the road.
I have trouble staying on the wagon consistently due to a variety of factors. My girlfriend is on board with the end goals but has trouble getting started moving in the right direction (which is to say, she's paralyzed by the big picture and can't get started at all).
When I need to focus on staying within my budget, I remind myself of all of the stupid purchases I have made in the past, and how much money I need to save (or extra money I need to earn) every day (~$15) to have the $5k I want to move across the country next year. Every time I refrain from making a purchase I could afford but don't need, I add it to the moving fund.
Mint.com also helps me track my progress, and the red lines for going over a budget line item evokes enough guilt for me to take action to fix it.
Two things I've found keep me on track. First, my wife is a spreadsheet nerd and has some kind of alarm implanted in her brain that usually goes off before I do something stupid, or right after when she can call me on it. Being accountable to someone else is a huge help.
Second is paying more attention. We have a spreadsheet where we track every penny we spend. If I don't look at it for a few days, I forget where everything is and make a mistake. Taking a look every day at where you are will constantly remind you where you are and motivate you to not mess up.
If I find myself slipping, I do the "Track every penny you spend" for a week thing. That usually helps.
Like yourself, I've only got the big loans left staring me in the face. I'm in a different situation – married, but no kids. So I've made the decision to get a part time job to get rid of those loans, hopefully paying them off in 3 years instead of 6.
I gather from this post you have a lot of guilt that you aren't paying down your debt as fast as you know you could. There's always ways to pay down debt faster if you make that a priority. You have written all summer long about how you purposefully changed your priorities and budget in order to travel. Now you're back and about to pick back up on the debt snowball. I don't quite understand where this guilt is coming from? YOu made choices for your life and it's working nicely from what I can tell. I hope you can relax and get back on your track and feel better about the whole thing soon.
It is harder once you get down to the loans. Paying off credit cards only took a year of obsessively frugal living and budgeting, and it felt amazing.
The loans on the other hand… even an extra $2k payment last December didn't make much of a dent. It can't be about the joy of being done, it's more about discipline and habit.
And yes, I think it's okay and even good to take a break from that. You got to relax AND remind yourself why you live the way you do most of the time.
I stayed very focused when we were paying down our debt, but I have found that my focus has decreased this year for personal finances in general and our savings plan specifically.
What helped me to pay down debt was to live my budget and plan almost every day, reviewing our accounts, updating our excel charts, making payments, etc. We were living so close to the budget edge required us to stay focused or we would toppel over.
These days we are more comfortable so it seems harder to focus on personal finances, savings, etc. So I need help myself.
Hi Sierra
One of the things that has helped me tremendously is having 1 night per week where I review all of my accounts and pay my bills. For me, it's Wednesday at 9PM. I do this almost religously. Prior to forming this habit, I paid bills when I got around to it, which also meant late at times.
What this has also allowed me to do is keep track of my spending habits and patterns. I have a budget and savings goal every time I am paid. Just pick a day and try it.
You really aren't that far off track and I think you are ready to get back and focused. Great article by the way. Take Care, Mike
I had noticed in your prior postings, especially those about travel, that you were making lots of justifications for your spending. Those justifications are in this posting, too. Kids need not be expensive, and given that they are in your budget with the snowball, they need not have anything to do with slowing down the snowball. Travel, especially for an entire summer, is a huge luxury and not something I'd do until I cleaned up a debt mess from years of over-indulging. Good luck turning this around. I'm guessing it will help to stop finding justifications for spending money on anything outside of necessities for a bit.
Today is a new day! Today, we can all change one thing…a bad habit, adding to our debt snowball, or choosing an apple over a twinkie.
Never beat yourself up…just know that today is the day to change!
Remember how great it felt to get the CC debt out of the way? It's the same when you get the student loan done, or the car loan, or the home equity loan all paid off. We've been chipping away at debts over the years…$60,000 in hubby's grad school debt (paid in 5 years)house debt (paid in full this April.11 years..we now have th big screen tv, and a great vacation under our belts),have paid CC in full for years (I hate the idea of any of our $$ going to make a banker rich!). I too, feel it's time to tackle the next debt…we still have 2 car loans left. We have one of our CDs coming due in 3 weeks. We can pay one of them off in full, if we want. I think we will, and that will keep the cash flow streaming along.
Today is the day! You've had your summer fun…back to school!
This article mirrors exactly how I feel about my current situation. My savings over the course of the summer have slipped and I'm feeling pretty guilty about it. Time to get back on track…
Ha! You're doing what I do: you're blogging about it! Kudos to you for being so honest and forthright. Just getting it out there will be cathartic and act as a catalyst to get you back in the debt-paying saddle.
I'm also a sucker for travel. I'm not so sure that a couple months off the debt-paying focus isn't worth it…
Nothing wrong with making choices, just accept that Buenos Aires and Bangor don't count as "life happening". Don't try to find false excuses ("whether you do your back-to-school shopping at Bloomingdale's or Goodwill, kids will add to your monthly expenses" – I've done my back to school shopping at Goodwill and Walmart, and it cost $25, or 1% of your monthly snowball downfall).
Nothing wrong with a break from rice and beans, you've done well, just accept you took it and now you are done.
And be careful with the "I'm not actually in any financial trouble" talk. The reason why debt snowballs are so important is because anyone who doesnt have the savings to pay off their debt is never far from trouble, b/c sometimes life really does just "happen" (health insurance doesnt cover accident, job loss, etc.)
You have kids? Big deal, so does 90% of the world's adult population. And life is happening? I'll give you a tip — that's true for every single person who's not dead.
These aren't good excuses. Especially since you've spent the whole summer at "the lake house", which is presumably not the most affordable place you could have been. Your kids aren't the ones breaking your budget here, so don't blame them.
Just the other day J.D. was talking about "Talkers vs. Doers". If you want to be a doer, you have to show results. Show us compelling results, or suck it up, say "Sir, no excuse, sir!" and try harder next time.
What do I do to stay motivated? It's easy to stay motivated if you're working towards your *real* goals. It's a lot harder when you're working towards manufactured goals based on what you think other people want to see in you. Maybe your real priority is to stay at the lake house and write, not to accelerate your loan payments? This is a good article on a similar topic that's worth reading: http://www.43folders.com/2009/04/28/priorities .
I'm inherently motivated to do the things I genuinely want to do. It's easy. It's only hard to do things I don't really want to be doing in the first place. In general, I either figure out how these things are pre-requisites for things I really *do* want to do, and therefore I get them done so that they're out of the way and I can focus on the interesting tasks that follow, OR I just stop doing them. No reason to waste time on things that I don't want to do and that don't lead me towards something I want to be doing.
I also want to say thank you for posting this – it's exactly what I needed to hear today. I have paid off my low-balance debts and have started on my student loans. It's a lot harder to get amped about my large student loan than it was for my smaller debts. I don't see many posts related to this part of the personal finance journey, so I appreciate your perspective. Slow and steady.
It's great to have a partner in this. My husband and I frequently congratulate ourselves on how far we've come, and list a few of the most recent achievements. Not just financial, but in all areas of our lives.
I did the same thing, more or less. I don't have any debt but I've been saving for a house, and I had to lower my savings amount for a 2nd dog, and to keep up with my summertime hobby.
So I too felt horrible and guilty when I noticed that my special event clothing was putting me "behind" (usually I have all the money for a month in the bank on the 1st, but now I have all the money for a month in the bank on the 30th… 2 paychecks behind!).
I took a very close look at where everything went, I'm having a low-spend September thanks in part to Amex rewards, and I've written off the one-time expenses as just that.
I'm "punishing" myself a little bit but I want to be back where I was. I too changed my priorities and then surprised myself when my money changed with them.
Don't worry too much, get your money priorities back, and keep on working.
Life always happens, disrupting budgets, and life always seems to happen in the summer. I have given up on trying to stick to any debt-paydown plan in the summer — it just doesn't work. I figure that if I come out of the summer and settle into the school year again with no increased debt, I am ahead of the game. Our life is governed by the school year, and it is far easier to plan around the regularities of its rhythms than the irregularities of summer.
Part of the reason that summer spending is so irregular is that it is during this time that we take care of all of the things that we had put off during the rest of the year — in our case, travel to see ailing family members and helping to deal with the estates of two parents. The events are irregular and so is the funding.
That being said, my husband wants a new computer and it is on our list of goals for the year. This summer I told him that it would help if he taught summer school and earned some money for it, rather than waiting for the money to appear in the odd parts of the budget, which would mean he wouldn't get it until after the car is paid off. He taught summer school and edited a text book, which put him a long way towards his goal. Not bad for someone who refuses to think about money at all.
Don't beat yourself up, just get back into the swing of things. Summer is over.
Thanks for sharing your personal situation. I've been putting off a review of the finances all week because I know we slipped on savings over the summer.
Sometimes I think it is healthy to take your foot off the gas when you have been pushing at your debt really hard for a really long time. Perhaps there is a balance that gives some more fun money while knocking down the debt (albeit slightly slower)?
Margot – very insightful!
I wondered how anyone can afford to just travel for months on end while working as a freelance writer and blogger. The answer, I guess, is you can't. Not if you have other responsiblities like debts to pay.
This seems like a timely post (at least it was for me)…maybe consumer spending was up over the summer because this is happening on a much larger scale! I moved accross the country in August, and although Ikea appreciates my increased spending, my savings account has not. Last night my partner and I sat down, went over our finances, and recommitted ourselves to our budget. Good luck, Sierra!
For me to stay on task with my financial goals, I have to remain extremely organized. I need to have at least three goals planned out beyond what I'm working for now. I also need to send my money where it belongs as soon as it reaches my hot little hands.
My husband's a very supportive and easy-going guy. If I want to pay down debt, he supports that. If I want to spring for a little indulgence, he supports that too. So one of the best ways I can keep on track is tell him over and over again how badly I want to reach our goals. That way, if I have a moment of weakness, all he has to do is ask, "Are you sure?" It's enough to set me right back on track.
The two biggest gym membership gains are in January and September.
Those are the self-improvement months.
"But then J.D. pointed out that my recent posts here haven't had a lot of "me" in them"
I noticed this as a common trend from the "staff writers". Seems like most the posts lately have been more like long articles than blog posts about how the personal finance topic relates to you. This is what I enjoy about JD's posts, is that they usually tie into his life somehow, which make them more engaging than the staff writer's posts (at least lately).
I'd rather no post than a lengthy boring post that I could find on a typical journalism site (CNN, MSN, etc…)
@32 I'm good with the lengthy informative posts, especially the Motley Fool guy (and I like CNN and MSNMoney articles too… especially Walter Updegrave, Liz Pulliam Weston, and Donna Freedman). Not so good with the brief obvious paragraphs that I could have read if I accidentally clicked on a "Real Simple" article off CNN.
I agree with the folks saying that your giving justifications/excuses for your spending, but disagree with their general sentiment.
This is your life. There is nothing wrong with simply saying, "This summer I chose to travel rather than contribute to my debt snowball." As long as you weren't taking on additional debt to travel (which you weren't), there is not a darn thing wrong with that. There are things more important than paying down your debt more quickly. Experiences can't be replaced and they can't necessarily be replicated at a later time when you're completely out of debt, either.
The only debt I have is student debt, which is paid almost 100% through LRAP. I could pay the debt down more quickly, but being 100% debt free as quickly as humanly possible is not my first priority in life. Even for someone blogging about finance, I think that's ok.
We all tumble periodically. It's the courage to get back up and start again that's important. Like dieting – it has its ups and downs. Summer time for me is also a bad time.
"The lesson I've learned so far: Sometimes we all slip. The key is to fall back on the skills and strengths you know you have, and start over from wherever you are."
I appreciate this post and particularly the quote above – I've had a bit of a slip these past few months, not intentional but a combination of life circumstances, priorities + choice. While it is annoying and a bit disheartening (I was SO close to reaching one of my financial goals when things shifted!), I know that the skills I employed to get "so close" are right there ready to flex and implement once again when I get back on track in the next month or two. I did it once and I'll do it again.
Thanks for the article.
At times like these, I remind myself that energy spent castigating myself for the past is energy not spent moving forward. Habits are hard to change, and the fact that you caught it, means that you have established a good habit…you just haven't completely expunged the bad habit, and you may never, but the point is to get it mostly right.
You know what I did when I planned out my debt repayment plan? I built in two months (one in June, one in December) where I only paid half of what I normally paid. Yeah, it meant longer, but it also meant that I got a chance to splurge, but in a controlled way.
My savings are down by $1000 this month because last month my cat needed dental work. I knew it was coming and had saved extra for it, which is what PF is all about.
My debt snowball will reach the bottom of its biggest hill at the end of October. I'm celebrating by taking November off, going out of town for Thanksgiving (which we haven't done for years) and buying a long-desired piece of furniture.
Then I'll be back on track in December on the next-smallest hill.
What keeps me motivated is mostly my increasingly detailed vision of the retirement property DH and I want. We've chosen our county and are always "looking." But this blog, and Unclutterer, are my two main online motivators.
I can feel your pain, just about literally. I recently quit my job, went to graduate school in another state from my husband, and I now live on my own till he moves down here. So needless to say our expenses went up considerably at the same time our income went down. We are being prudent in trying to keep each and every month in the black, but when we were used to saving 40% or more of our income each month, that "just staying in the black" goal seems like such a miniscule thing to do. I just have to realize that this will only be short term, and within a few months we will be in the same house again, so that means half the rent we are paying now, half the expenses for those houses, etc. Even with me in graduate school we are shooting for 25% or more of net income to be socked away. Maybe if the funding situation at the school turns around sometime soon, I will be getting some sort of paycheck again! It is good to recognize these bad habits sneaking back in, because I feel them too. The best thing you can do is realize that this is a long term process, and even if you slip for a few months, you are probably still FAR FAR FAR ahead of others in your community who live paycheck to paycheck or beyond their means and could never afford to take a few months off (or years in our case!). LOL.
congrats to you for realizing your weaknesses and addressing them! That's 75% of the battle, so you shouldn't feel ashamed at all!
First – I think it's fantastic that you managed to pay off the cards! Hurrah! Celebrate!
Maybe you didn't celebrate enough?
My point being – you accomplished something big and wonderful, and maybe if you had stopped to acknowledge the accomplishment, perhaps even – GASP – spend some money and definitely some time and mental energy to recognize yourself, you'd feel more satisfied with the outcome – and also ready to tackle the next big financial goal.
We had a similar experience with paying off debt. We paid off a LOT of consumer credit and student loans. It was really hard – and pretty stressful – especially at the beginning when our outstanding balances seemed so big. It felt good to get the debt down to $0. We didn't celebrate AND (perhaps more importantly) we didn't (haven't) immediately create a plan for the next stage. We're still frugal – but we are nowhere near as focused on our financial goals as we used to be – and our overall status is not improving as quickly as it used to. Time to re-focus!
I actually like it when people share their personal stories of how they deal with finances,its nothing shameful you know,it lets your readers get that personal touch which is something that you can't get with Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey. So don't be ashamed, you'll get there.
Gosh is there something in the water? While we have not done stellar previously, the last 2 months have been bad regarding lapses in our budget and losing momentum of saving money regularly. Basically our goal was to increase the emergency fund. We started out at 4K, and if we are lucky we will end at yep 4k. It's true we had (over)6K worth of unexpected expenses, but I reviewed our outgos and we also had so far this year over 5K of discretionary expenses (remodeling, clothes, trips, gifts, yummy food etc). Looking over it there were very few things on that list that I regret spending the money on, many things I enjoy every day. So, if I'm going to enjoy the fruits of spending that money, I can't complain on my lack of progress either. I'm going to own it, and move on.
Thanks for the post! I'm really happy to hear about "you"! The last one I read was really BORING!
I'm going to review my spending over August. I've been putting it off and this is just the push I need to get to it! We're going on a small trip next week (DH 1/2 paid for work) and I need to know our true situation.
I'm at my seasonal job right now so it'd be awesome if this would cover our expenses!
We didn't have any debt after our minor CC blips were paid off, but I too relaxed! I'm frustrated by it now, I think of all the money we could have just "saved". At the time it was a relief to do something fun though.
My MIL is just getting on track. She did great paying off cc and student loans. Then she took 6 mos off and had to scramble to pay her property tax. Now that it's accomplished we're getting that money in savings for next year!
Sierra, stand up and start over, don't get too depressed! I liked the idea of one reader who took 2 mos and saved 1/2 of the snowball payment. You don't have to spend it that month, but you could put it in a separate ING fund and use it for next summer.
Well, J.D. was right on the money when he said you hadn't been writing from a personal level lately – this is the first of your posts in a while that I haven't wound up skimming! (which says more about my interest in personal stories than it does about your other posts)
I think that at some level you DID decide to take a break from debt repayment, but perhaps you didn't want to articulate it. But now summer is over and it's back to school time. Even though I've been out of school almost as long as I was in it (!), this time of year brings about feelings of reflection and renewal for me. Perhaps you're feeling it too!
Yes, it's discouraging to have your next debt milestone so far into the future, but those milestones do have a way of moving in a positive direction sometimes. When I was paying off the last of my debt, I first thought I'd get it paid off by August 2011. That got moved forward to December 2010, and then I actually paid it off in April 2010. (Mostly because my estimated payments were conservative, and I wound up getting super motivated to pay it off as fast as I could.) But as you well know, that last payment day won't get any closer until you get your focus back. It sounds like you're just about there!
I know this sounds mean, callus and whatever but personally I don't care if your debt snowball is melting. You're traveling all over the world for crying out loud! Saving and being frugal takes work and sometimes you can't do everything you want.
You made a mistake. It stinks. Move on. Start fresh. The only thing you can change about the past is your present view of it.
I stay motivated by constantly (i'm a nerd) calculating when it will be paid and the "what if I changed our debt repayment by doing this"
Ugh I spent all my income last month for the first time since I started getting serious about my finances a few years ago. Not that I went into debt, and the things I bought are part of my budget, but I went over in other areas. That said, it's summer and it's worth it! You didn't take any debt on either, so no harm done. Buckle down in the fall and it's all good.
I find the same things happen to me with eating habits, exercise and getting decent sleep.
You're feeling guilty because somewhere, somehow you crossed YOUR line between a reasonable reward, and overspending.
Perhaps it was the unconscious spending that's eating away at you. And if you'd really THOUGHT about it you might even have spent MORE, and felt LESS guilty because it was a conscious decision.
Identifying what is making you guilty, and where that overspending line is, is a great exercise in life balance. Nobody's line is in the same place, and what is a justifiable, not worth any guilt, expense is completely different from person to person.
Good luck figuring out where your line is
It happens to all of us at some time or another. Just get back on track and start from scratch. It is very hard to break old habits.


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Fill in the Blank - What the World needs now is __________ ?
The World is shaped by our common aspirations and it is through our everyday actions that we provide tacit approval to our reality.
Try to answer this question objectively and share your thoughts to help co-create our Future.
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Jul 13 2012: What the world needs now is a new political movement that is not influenced by big corporations. As long as there are political parties that are influenced by corporations that aim to make a profit by imposing their will on politicians there will be no hope, no peace, no openness and no unlimited innovation.
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Being married to a cinnamon lover means that I'm constantly on the lookout for both sweet and savory recipes that call for an abundance of the fragrant spice. When I stumbled upon Monkey Bread in this month's Cooking Light, I immediately ran into the kitchen to see if I had all the ingredients on hand. After baking my share of snickerdoodles and cinnamon rolls, I was excited to try a cinnamon-laced sweet that was completely out of the ordinary.
Whereas traditional Monkey Bread is made from canned biscuits, this healthier version builds a base from scratch using a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flours. Waiting for the dough to rise two times will test one's will and patience, but the end result is certain to make it all worth while.
Monkey Bread is an indulgent marriage of sticky buns and doughnut holes. Served hot out of the oven, it's a gooey, golden, and unabashedly sweet affair. While it may be civilized to eat it with a fork and knife, I prefer to monkey around with my fingers, pulling each nub apart, slowly and deliberately. Monkey Bread is the ultimate brunch time centerpiece.
- 13 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)
- 4 3/4 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 package quick-rise yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 1 cup very warm fat-free milk (120° to 130°)
- 1/4 cup very warm orange juice (120° to 130°)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- Cooking spray
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 1/2 tablespoons fat-free milk, divided
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached; mix until combined. With mixer on, slowly add 1 cup milk, juice, honey, and 2 tablespoons butter; mix dough at medium speed 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)