Frugal Boy

An Easter Adventure

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Hoppy Easter, Somebunny loves you!

Easter

It was another beautiful Spring day and because we didn’t have any real plans we decided to go for an impromptu adventure.  We’ve been to Allerton Park before, but it had been awhile and I was hoping to see some flowers in the gardens.  If you’re interested in history, this page has some background on the park.

We struck out on flowers, but there was quite a bit to gaze upon in the formal gardens.

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It appears that they grow many of their own flowers on site in a greenhouse.

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The coniferous hedge maze provides some greenery year round.

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This life sized nude statue is a prime spot to people watch (and listen).

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The sunken garden at the end is an extremely popular wedding venue.  Maybe it was a good thing that we visited before wedding season starts.

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In addition to the formal gardens there is something like 14 miles of trails.  You should always take a trail map with you when you go hiking so you don’t get lost!  If there aren’t any paper maps available, I take a picture with my phone so I at least have something to refer to out in the ‘wilderness’.

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There wasn’t much wildlife visible on the trail and the numbers of people dropped off drastically.  The river was slow flowing and the trail was quite smooth.

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Anyone who hikes with little ones knows that the most important part of any hike is SNACK time!

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and with really little ones, snack time is usually immediately followed by potty time.

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We were at about the half way mark of our hike, so it was a good time to switch over to a different mode of travel.

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We were coming up to another mini garden / statue but there seemed to be a problem.  The map didn’t mention any stairs!

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Well, it isn’t called an adventure for just any old reason.

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With the stairs conquered, we were rewarded with the statue “The Death of the Last Centaur”.

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The walk back to the parking area was easy going.  It was nice to find some shade and a nice breeze outside of the mansion.  Allerton Park is considered one of the seven wonders of Illinois and is well worth a detour to see.

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Frugal Boy properly woke up once he was back in the car for the ride home.  He slept through almost the entire outing.  I guess that just means we’ll have to come back another day!

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Patching a Flat Tire

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Spring has finally arrived in full force and we have been taking full advantage of the warmer weather.  One of our favorite activities is going for walks with Frugal Boy and his nifty difty jogging stroller his Aunt gifted him.

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You can imagine our sadness when the front tire went flat.  Not to worry, patching an inter tube tire (the kind that most bicycles have) is a simple and cheap procedure.

There are only a couple of items needed to complete the repair.

  1. A patch kit (can be found in almost any big box store or your local bicycle shop will have dozens of different brands and styles)
  2. An air pump
  3. A pinch of perseverance.

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If you’ve never patched a tire before, just get on Youtube and search.  There are dozens of step by step videos that explain it way better than I ever could.

After filling up the inter tube with air, I heard the tell tale hissing sound of a leak.  Here it is all patched up.

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Before you reassemble the wheel, make sure the inter tube holds pressure.  I double checked and it turned out there was another puncture!  All in all, patching a tire is a simple and cheap DIY project for all experience levels.

The End!

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Saving for College

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Great news!  Frugal Boy’s social security card came in the mail today making him an official drone of the system.  His future earnings will power my retirement.  He doesn’t seem to like that concept much at the moment however.

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A big advantage of having a SSN is that all sorts of financial doors are now open to him.  He can now have a bank account to safely save money and even more importantly, he can now be listed as the beneficiary of a 529 college savings plan.

What is a 529 Plan?

SavingForCollege.com describes it as,

A 529 Plan is an education savings plan operated by a state or educational institution designed to help families set aside funds for future college costs. It is named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code which created these types of savings plans in 1996.

My own simplified explanation is that a 529 savings plan works in much the same way as a Roth retirement account.  You contribute post-tax money to the 529.  That money then grows through increases in the stock market until the beneficiary of the account withdraws the money for educational expenses.  If that was too confusing, think of it this way.  A 529 is a legal loophole that the IRS created to encourage parents to save money for their kids future without the normal taxation that would be applied.  The only condition that the IRS puts in place for not taxing the growth in the investments is that the money must be used towards education.

How do I setup a 529?

Start by finding who manages your state’s plan.  Vanguard has put together a handy state map that will make this and comparison shopping easy.  Each state offers a 529 plan.  You do not have to use your state’s plan.  For example, we live in Illinois, but we could enroll in the Nevada 529 plan.  It also does not matter where the college is located.  If you want your son or daughter to attend an Ivy League college, you do not have to use one of those state’s 529 plans.

We decided to use the Illinois 529 plan (Bright Start®; College Savings Program (Direct-sold)).  We can deduct our contributions on our state taxes and the minimum amount to open an account is astonishingly low (only $25).

Bright Start advertises that it only takes 15 minutes to enroll.  If Frugal Boy hadn’t been fussy, that might have been true.  I did like the fact that you can setup a monthly contribution from your checking account.  We started off with a small monthly contribution.  It is money that we have saved by being frugal and cutting costs elsewhere in our lives.  This is part of the reason why we lead a frugal lifestyle, so we can put money towards things that will make a meaningful impact.  Even with a small monthly contribution, the amount set aside by the time Frugal Boy starts college will have grown substantially.  Investing and savings favor the young.

IMG_3341Now that his 529 is set up, any gift money he receives will be put towards his education savings unless specified otherwise.  Thank you all of those who gifted money to Frugal Boy.  That money has been socked away for his noggin later in life!