Off-Year Elections

Election week!  This past Tuesday, we had off-year elections.  Not presidential, not mid-term, but off-year.  Chances are you didn’t vote since about 40% of people actually vote in even midterm elections.  This isn’t so unusual and like many people I know (even my close friends), not knowing about local politics makes sense.  After all, not having kids going through public school, not using social services like medicare, and generally not seeing much local government in action makes people complacent.

Local issues may not seem worth your effort, except that low voter turnout misrepresents what people actually think.  A few couple of local election issues that you may care about:

• Same-sex marriage has been rejected in all 31 states where it’s been put up for vote.  Polls show that something like 40% of people think it should be legal and it was defeated most recently this past election in Maine.  So if you’re gay or lesbian or have any gay or lesbian friends and care about them maybe you’ll care to be acknowledged by your government to be equal to everyone else.
• Do you care that American education is so backwards that we still have people pushing to teach creationism as science in schools?  This is a local issue, that is decided by school boards and other local officials.  Quick aside – I recently heard a story of a friend of mine who was buying a drink from a concessions stand and the girl manning the cart had to go for a calculator when making change for a $20 on the $3 drink.  And apparently this girl was in high school.
• Taxes are frequently put up to vote.  And even if the tax measures themselves aren’t, anything that mandates a service provided by the government has tax implications.  A good example of this is New York’s $50 billion medicare tab (almost $8K per person) which comes from decades of local politics.

So it’s time to go all after school special on everyone and remind everyone to take some time out and vote.  In my case, I went after work on Tuesday after spending an hour reading about the candidates up for election in my city and listening to recordings of them speak from local meetings.  If any readers are from Sunnyvale, I recommend http://www.radiosunnyvale.com/ as a good local resource.  In general, http://www.smartvoter.org/ covers every election in the country.

Some good reasons not to vote:

• If you don’t care about what’s being put up for vote, don’t bother.  But like RT has said before, once you do this, you really have no right to complain about the outcome.
• If you don’t care enough to research what the pro and cons are of each item, don’t vote.  This one may be more controversial, but I think turnout for turnout’s sake is stupid.  It just perpetuates shallow, short advertising that either ignores issues and anything of substance or plays up a single emotional issue with no pretense of neutrality or nuance.  Youtube has plenty of examples of such sound-bite ads.

Some bad reasons not to vote:

• Too busy on election day.  This is a terrible excuse.  Many employers will give time off to let their employees vote.  And if you think that if we made the day a holiday so there was no dependence on a kind employer, check out this study that showed that making an Election Day holiday doesn’t really increase voter turnout.
• Didn’t register in advance.  This was almost my excuse this year since I recently moved into town and haven’t registered locally yet.  It turns out that you can vote provisionally even without previously being registered.  The only catch is that your vote isn’t counted till later.  One neat thing about this process is that you get a stub that lets you check if your vote counted (or if they caught you on fraud).

-Tim

California’s New Tax Withholding Scheme.. Part II.

At the heels of RT’s last post “California’s New Tax Withholding Scheme,” I wanted to chime in about a couple of other things I had learned.  I had watched a piece on it on the local news, but found the highlights I took away nicely summarized in this article from the LA times.  I’ll just mention a couple things from the article, and leave the rest of it up to you to take a look.

As RT mentioned, the withholding is basically serving as an interest free loan to the state.  As the LA Times puts it,

“Think of it as a forced, interest-free loan: You’ll be repaid any extra withholding in April. Those who would receive a refund anyway will receive a larger one, and those who owe taxes will owe less.”

While it certainly provides relief to some of us to know that we will probably get the money back in April, for others the extra withholding may be dipping into an already tight holiday budget, or extra money they were hoping to earn some interest on.  My guess is that even though RT has pointed out that the difference is probably hardly noticeable on the paycheck, people will still panic since most of the U.S. population is already actively cutting back on spending.  Knowing the state is holding onto more money probably won’t do much to encourage consumers to spend more, which is what businesses typically depend on as we approach the holiday season.  For those that, for whatever reason, would like to see their paychecks unaffected, the LA Times also suggests a workaround.

“Savvy taxpayers can get around the state’s maneuver by increasing the number of personal withholding allowances they claim on their employer tax forms, said Brenda Voet, a spokeswoman for the state’s Franchise Tax Board.

“People can get out of this,” she said, noting that most people would have to change their allowances through their employers. California’s budget leaders are banking on the hope that most won’t.”

Truth be told, I probably won’t take the time to file a new W-4 form at work but others may find this a good opportunity to hold onto more money per paycheck.  For those who tend to glaze over government related news (I’ll admit to being one of them sometimes.. trying to change that), hopefully this provided some good, easy to understand information for you!

-debs

The More You Know…About BEER!: Hofbrau Original

Hofbrau Original
By Staatliches Hofbrauhaus (Munchen, Germany)
1 pint 0.9 fl oz (500mL) x2
5.1% ABV

Hofbrau Original

Bottle Description:
The Hofbrauhaus am Platzl is a symbol for Munich’s hospitality, conviviality and sociableness. Guests from all over the world enjoy the famous specialties of Hofbrau Munchen there.

Hofbrau Original embodies the special atmosphere of the brewing metropolis Munich and carries this throughout the world. It’s full bodied, refreshing and its fine hard aroma have made it world famous. A Munich specialty with character!

Got this at BevMo! for $2.19, yet you can find this at any better beer store. Definitely a steal compared to other 500mL German beers. Poured out carefully into a 1L mug giving off a light sulfur aroma that fades into a soft floral yet spicy hop aroma with hints of corn and grainy malt sweetness in the background. The beer is golden in color and leaves a pretty resilient white head with brilliant clarity. I noticed some very small black specks on the head; I can’t tell if that came from the glass or the beer itself (yet its good to note in case). The clearness provides excellent viewing for its strong carbonation which almost rises up like soda bubbles (but smaller). A grainy pilsner malt taste dominates with a slight metallic taste on the back of the tongue. The malt profile is well supported by a moderate hop bitterness with a spicy hop flavor. The finish isn’t too dry but the malt kicks back in after the hops fade away. A medium bodied beer with moderate level of carbonation that provides a smooth mouthfeel. If you’re looking for a flavorful pale lager, this one is for you. Deliciously malty and supported by spicy hops which result in an excellent crafted commercial beer.

Category 1D: Munich Helles
Aroma: 11/12
Appearance: 3/3
Flavor: 17/20
Mouthfeel: 5/5
Overall: 7/10
Total: 43/50 — A-

-Ant

California’s New Tax Withholding Scheme

The Governator

Effective right after Halloween, November 1st, the citizens of California will be subject to a higher income tax withholding. This will last, at least, until the end of the year. Assuming we all file our taxes correctly (ha!) this will effectively serve as an interest-free loan to the state for the rest of the year. I suppose this is the state government’s alternative to raising taxes, knowing full well that they stand to rake in some money here if/when people get confused about how to file their taxes and subsequently receive less money back. Is that too cynical?

California is raising the withholding rate by 10% on your paycheck. What does this mean for you? The truth is you’ll hardly notice it. But let’s give an example just for fun!

Let’s say you’re single (or dual income married, or married with multiple employers) with zero withholding allowances and your biweekly salary is $1000. That’s equivalent to $52,000 per year. From January 1, 2009 to October 31, 2009 your biweekly paycheck would reflect the state withholding $20.63. From November 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009 your biweekly paychecks will now show the state gouging you out of $22.69!

I guess that’s relatively harmless, right? I guess things could be worse, but let’s just hope that the tax returns we’re expecting don’t come back in the form of IOUs. More food for thought: after three months, you’re out one footlong sandwich from Subway. Think about that…

The government site has a moderately useful FAQ and general 2009 Rates and Withholding details for you to peruse including PDFs of the actual withholding rates.

I think it was a John F. Kennedy that once said: Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for The Terminator.

-RT

Last Minute Halloween Costume Tips

In all fairness, these tips are only last minute because I’m posting them last minute. Many of them actually revolve around planning to make your own costume. These tips can (dare I say, should?) be used every year. There really is one overarching theme for these tips: Think outside of the Halloween store box.

Green Belt and Sewn Tunic-like shirt

Plan ahead.
The best part about planning ahead is that if you’re buying a costume you may well have more options to choose from. Also, Halloween stores will have sales toward the beginning of October every year and those stores will be jam packed with latecomers the closer you get to Halloween. That means you’ll waste a lot of time in line when you want to buy something. They also have huge sales right after Halloween. If you’re a perennial costume buyer and want a cheap one for next year you shoulder consider this option. If you’re building your own costume planning ahead will save you a lot of stress and probably time. There are invariably more things on store shelves at the beginning of October than at the end. Plus, if you can’t find what you need for your costume you have to time to go to plan B… or C… or D. Plan D being the plain white sheet ghost.

Build your own costume.
It’s really not that difficult. The first time you do it will probably be daunting, but with a little planning you can come out with a much better looking and more creative costume than you’ll find at your local Halloween store. And for less money! Full on costumes at stores will cost you at least $40-$50. That’s a lot of money considering they can be terribly uncomfortable and don’t look that great. You’re clearly paying a premium for convenience here.

Learn to sew or find a friend who does.
This directly follows-up on the “Build your own costume” idea. If you’re buying a costume, skip to the last item. Sewing really helps for building your own costume because then you don’t need to find the exact right piece of clothing for your outfit. For example, the tunic pictured above is a combination of two t-shirts; one of which is cut up to make the jagged ends. Amazingly, the t-shirts were the most expensive part of my costume aside from the shoes I bought, which can and already have been re-worn as real world shoes.

Look for costume items in smaller shops.
I needed a belt for my costume this year. Preferably a green belt. Do you know how much belts cost? In the tens of dollars, which doesn’t seem like a lot except depending on your fashion style the belt may or may not be re-wearable. On top of that, I’m trying to keep the cost of my costume under a retail store’s cost, so $10 would be a quarter of my imaginary budget. So where did I get the green belt in the picture? Daiso Marukai. For $1.69! Can you say, “WINNER?” Little shops can have surprising bargains and better selection for the more randomly colored and shaped items and accessories you might want to use this Halloween, so keep them in mind. I also recommend thrift stores, charity shops, and if you must shop in retail stores then Wal-Mart, Target, Marshall’s and Ross are good ideas. You know what you’re getting at the first two – namely, semi-cheap everyday stuff. At stores like Marshall’s and Ross it’s a complete toss up. You never know what you might find, like the women’s vest I turned inside out last year for my 80s Hair Band look because the inside of the too-tight vest had a leopard-ish print to it. And it was cheeeeap! (I forget the exact price, but I was pretty dang happy). So happy bargain hunting!

Your costume can be a take on a regular costume.
For example, almost any good character costume can be turned evil, and vice versa. Like an evil angel or evil [insert Disney character here]. Or you can be an off-color Where’s Waldo. This will allow you to pick different colors and kinds of clothing to still match what you want to be. For example, if your character normally wears bright colors, you can pick a darker shade that’s easier to find and then call that character Dark Halloween Character. It’s just that easy!

Lastly, and this is legitimately a last minute tip: Ask around and see if you can’t re-use a friend’s old costume, or even one of your own from 2+ years back. Who’s going to remember anyway?
If you’re really hard up for a costume at the last minute remember that this happens every year. Your friends must have dressed up in previous years and probably don’t want to dress up as the same thing again. So maybe you can borrow a costume or even swap old costumes with them.

Did I miss something? Have tips of your own? What ideas and tips do you have for buying or putting together your Halloween costumes? Happy All Hallow’s Eve!

-RT

Gardening Made Easy, in Any Space

One hobby I have taken up is gardening.  I live in a condo with no backyard so my “gardening” is limited to a small balcony.  Maintaining a garden may seem far from hassle free, however I have experimented with different ways to make it work, and have along the way learned some inexpensive ways to keep my plants healthy while helping the environment along the way.

Mint in the top left, Green Onion on the top right, Basil in the front

In the above picture I have mint, basil, and green onions; all of which are very easy to grow.  Here are some things I’ve learned about growing them.

1) On the bottom left corner you may see a basil stem in a jar.  That jar is filled with water, and since then has grown roots and I’ve successfully planted it as its own basil plant.  The cutting had originally come from the big plant and using cuttings is an easy way to grow basil.  I’ve also read you can do this with fresh basil bought from the store.

2) Pruning basil properly is essential to encourage growth.  Snipping basil leaves one by one will quickly diminish the basil plant to nothing.  Doing a little research on how to properly harvest basil goes a long way.

3) Mint grows like a weed.  Make sure to plant mint in a pot and not a backyard garden.  It is otherwise very easy to grow and it grows very plentifully.

4) Green onions are great plants.  After I used up a bunch of green onions I purchased for 50 cents at the grocery store, I stuck the ends in dirt and in the summer I watched it grow about an inch a day.  It grows so fast and it is so useful.  There are other things that can be planted using this method.  I believe chives are one of them.. anything that resembles scallions can probably be grown this way.  Leeks are another that comes to mind.

5) You may notice that the white containers that the green onions are in may not match the flower pots.  This is a great tip I learned.  Many bakeries, pool supply stores, restaurants, etc. often get various materials in these buckets and then throw them out.  All you have to do from saving them from going to waste is pop into your local bakery and ask them if they have any of these plastic buckets that they were going to otherwise throw out.  Oftentimes they have some to spare and it works great as a planter.  5 gallon buckets are perfect for tomatoes and if you want a fun DIY project,  you can make your own Self Watering Container out of some 5 gallon buckets.

6) Some of the best fertilizers for these plants are very accessible.  Coffee grounds, tea leaves, and egg shells are great fertilizers.  Starbucks is required to provide their used coffee grounds to anyone who asks for them, so it is easy to just pop into a Starbucks and get some (this comes in handy for me since I’m a non coffee drinker).

Arugula grown from seed

I have tried to take the easiest approach when it comes to gardening in my limited space.  If you have more time on your hands, you may find inspirations from things such as this “Salad Bar” or making your own self watering containers, both of which take a little more time but are good in small spaces.  Some have even taken on experimenting with maintaining a compost pile in their apartments.  I’m currently trying to grown a basil plant in a “Pop Bottle.”  Pop Bottles may be a quick and easy way to start up your herb plant.  Enjoy!

-Debs

Why I don’t like TIPS

One simple reason – when I’m buying a derivative, I don’t want the payer to be in control of the underlying.  IN ENGLISH:  The government gets to pick the formula for “inflation” when paying you for how much inflation has gone up.

In case you don’t know what TIPS are, in short, they’re a note or bond you buy from the US government whose payout goes up when inflation goes up.  So some advise owning some of these to protect yourself against inflation.  This sounds great in theory, except when you read about stories like the government counting the “price” of cars in the “cars for clunkers” program being $4500 less than than before. This is artificial deflation and screws over those with TIPS.

So back to the main point – no way I’m lending someone money and letting that person control the interest rate charged whenever they want.

-Tim

Hello Again!

Hi loyal followers and first-time visitors,

You may have noticed that we took a bit of an extended summer vacation with our postings being a bit sparse and limited.  To be sure, this wasn’t an entirely intentional move. Most of the Roaring twentySomethings staff is still relatively new to this whole blogging shtick and we stumbled on a few unexpected hurdles. Nevertheless, we’re back! And we come with a few (mostly internal) important changes.  Previously, the Roaring twentySomethings was dedicated to sharing and discussing personal finance news and information, but we found this singular focus to be too limiting.  There are quite a few more topics we feel are worth broaching and we intend to share them with you from here on out!

Additionally, we’re proud to welcome a new contributor, Tim, to our folds.  You can find out a bit about Tim in our About page.

Stay tuned for new topics, new ideas and new posts!

From Our Kitchen: Crispy Homestyle Potatoes

This past weekend I ran my second half marathon, the SF Marathon.  It was cold, but an absolutely amazing experience!  Prior to the race, of course I had to carb load so I had some potatoes the night before the race, and also for brunch after the race.  Potatoes are one of my favorite foods – whether it be mashed, fried, baked… I love potatoes.  I had a couple of sides of really great crispy potatoes and became inspired to recreate it at home.  I was on a mission to recreate the same crispy, yet soft side of potatoes I had at Crepevine and Park Chow (both excellent restaurants in SF and come highly recommended from me…. I especially enjoyed Park Chow) and this is what I came up with.  I think I was pretty successful :) Enjoy!  The secret is lots and lots of butter… however I did personally try and cut out as much as I could.

Finished Product

Ingredients:
Garlic (I used a lot… probably an entire head of garlic.  I like garlic!  I’d say about 3 cloves is good, but you can use as much as you enjoy)
Rosemary
1 tsp of salt
1-2 tbsp olive oil
Potatoes  (I used about 4 medium sized potatoes)
Butter
Water

1.  Pour the water in a pot and start boiling it.
2. While waiting for the pot of water to boil, dice the potatoes.
3. (Optional) Salt the boiling water if desired
4. Toss the diced potatoes in the boiling water, let it boil for 6-10 minutes (soft enough to eat, but not so soft that it’s about to become mushy)
5. While the potatoes are boiling, mix the garlic, rosemary, salt, and olive oil in a big bowl.  I actually added some basil and pepper in too.  Be creative!
6. When the potatoes are done, drain and let it cool.  I also poured some cold water on it to speed up this process.
7. Toss the potatoes in the big bowl with the olive oil mixture.  Make sure to coat the potatoes well.. if more olive oil or herbs are needed then add accordingly.
8. Heat up a pan and coat with butter (use lots of butter if you’re not scared of butter and you want really crispy potatoes…. I used only 1-2 tbsp, just enough to coat the pan).
9. Cover the pan with a layer of potatoes.  Try and distribute the potatoes as evenly as you can.

While the potatoes were cooking

10.  Let it fry for 5-10 minutes and then flip the potatoes and do the same.  Try not to stir too much so that the potatoes can crisp up… but repeat until you’ve got the potatoes as desired.

Enjoy!  I’m sorry if the recipe is confusing.. I’m not good at measuring things out when I cook and I cook tend to cook by common sense/instinct but if you have any questions, feel free to ask :)

-Debs

The More You Know…About BEER!: Wailua Wheat

Wailua (Wheat Ale brewed with Passion Fruit)
By Kona Brewery (Kona, Hawaii)
355mL (12 fl. oz.)
5.4% ABV

Wailua Wheat

Bottle Description:
Wailua is Hawaiian for two fresh water streams mingling. This was just the inspiration needed for our limited release Wheat Ale brewed with tropical passion fruit. A refreshing citrusy, sun-colored ale with the cool taste of Hawaii.

I forget when the official date for the “start of summer” is, but Wheat Ales are in season. Actually, Wheat Ales and DIPAs are the main styles brewed for summer. Don’t be surprised to see most breweries carrying these styles as their summer seasonal (Samuel Adams Summer, Anchor Summer, AleSmith YuleSmith, etc.) Kona Brewing Company, opened in 1994 brews delicious beers with a touch of Hawaiian culture blended in (or at least so I feel when I drink one). Bottled on 5/29/09. This beer is less than a month old; a very hard thing to acquire so young considering Kona Brewery is all the way in Hawaii.

Well-carbonated and not bottle-conditioned (no yeast sediments, soapy bubbles). This beer pours out dark gold in color with golden yellow hues with a bright white head that does not persist. Brilliant clarity. Smells of grainy wheat and light passion fruit flavors. No banana or clove aromas perceived (as those characteristics are more common with German Hefeweizens). Light bready malty sweetness carries into the background. The first taste is covered by a strong carbonic bite but fades into moderately wheaty flavors with passionfruit as a support to the malt/wheat. No hop aroma or hop flavors are present but there is an extremely low hop bitterness. The flavors are also reminiscent of pineapples. Light-medium bodied and quite refreshing with its high carbonation. Although I shouldn’t assume, I feel as if this beer benefits a lot from using an American ale yeast as opposed to the German Hefeweizen yeast since the banana/clove characteristics may have clashed with the aromas of the passion fruit and bready wheat. I can see myself enjoying this in someone’s backyard or next to a beach. A great summer beer. I’m a big fan of passion fruit and I think Kona Brewing Company did a great job pairing this flavor with a American Wheat Beer. However, I wish the passion fruit wasn’t as subtle (passion fruit has a light flavor that can be easily masked by more overwhelming flavors) and I hope to see a bottle-conditioned version.

Category 20: Fruit Beer
Aroma: 9/12
Appearance: 2/3
Flavor: 16/20
Mouthfeel: 5/5
Overall: 7/10
Total: 39/50 — B+

-Ant