An interesting development and Sportsmansguide

So I got my first paycheck since I took out the loan on my 401k. Surprise, surprise my takehome is now more than it was after the loan payment is taken out. All payments into the account are tax deferred so if after making your payment you end up in a lower tax bracket the amount that you're taxed is reduced. That could make your paycheck bigger than before even after you make your loan payment. Any payments made towards your 401k are taken out of your check by your employer before you get the income so you're not taxed on it. Oh and the interest rate on my loan is only 5.5%. If you have a 401k, lots of credit card bills and you don't foresee losing your job anytime soon then educate yourself. This could be a very good tool to get yourself out of debt. Technically, I only owe myself the money that I borrowed. If something happens and I can't pay myself back then I have to pay a 10% penalty on the amount that I borrowed and the amount of the loan counts as taxable income for that year.

So the way I understand it you could just sack away 10% of whatever you borrow just in case you can't pay the loan back. If you lose your job at some point (really the only way that I could see not being able to pay it back) then you could just pay the penalty. Whatever you paid back into your 401k up until that point will still be there. You'll still have the money that you borrowed (unless you spent it). It would just be like paying 10% interest on the loan all at once I suppose. Since I really don't know that much about this stuff and I'm only speaking from my extremely limited experience (in other words DON'T ACT ON MY ADVICE ALONE EDUCATE YOURSELF) I would appreciate it if anyone who's in the know could explain to me why this is not a good idea. FYI there's also a type of life insurance policy that you can buy that works on the same principle except that the payments aren't tax deferred. The payouts, however, aren't taxable because they're considered loans. The benefit over a 401k is that you don't incur any penalties if you don't pay it back. I have one of those as well but it doesn't grow anywhere near as quickly as my 401k.

Aside from managing my finances I've been prepping quite a bit. I may be getting my hands on a lot of 25lb bags of brown rice. Rawles recommends this stuff for very good reason. It's a lot healthier and tastier than white rice. I'll have to buy more than I can use to get in on the deal so if anyone is interested then please feel free to email me at artyboy@gmail.com and I'll get you a very good price with shipping included.

I also put together an order from sportsmansguide. I picked up a few wool watch caps, some Merrel shoes, a new coat and some boots for the wifey. The wife's boots were as could be expected. I could have bought her a pair of boots that everyone reviewing them claimed were still comfortable after walking 20 miles but I could carry her for 20 miles and she'd still complain. So I just went for something that would keep her feet dry when she's walking across the driveway to her car. She put them on, they fit and she was happy. I was pretty impressed with the quality for the price as well. Mission accomplished.

As for the wool watch caps, they were just too awesome. Try to find wool watch caps anywhere these days and you'll probably pay $30 a pop for them. Most of the crap you find for sale are some kind of acrylic blend that doesn't actually keep your head warm. It just keeps your head dry until the snow melts through or you start to sweat. Wool works wet or dry. As long as you can keep your head and your feet warm then the rest of your body doesn't have to work very hard at all to stay warm.

Speaking of feet I also picked up a pair of Merrels. I can't speak highly enough of this brand. A few years ago I picked up a pair on clearance at some big box store. They served me well until I walked outside one day to find my dog chewing on them. He'd been using them for a chew toy all night. They were still pretty rough around the edges but after putting in some new insoles and replacing the laces they were still usable and comfortable. I've been wearing that pair for 2 or 3 years since. I've gone on a lot of hikes and spent many nights in the woods with them. Even after being chewed up they were still waterproof. I can't tell you how many streams and creeks I've stepped into. Once my brother got stuck in a really deep creek and I was in water up to my knees. My feet never did get wet. Finally, sportsmansguide put a decent pair of Merrels on sale for $70. Thank you sportsmansguide! If it wasn't for my dog trying his best to rip them to shreds I wouldn't even need a new pair but sometimes crazy stuff happens.

You're probably wondering about the coat. It aint all that. It's a lot thinner and lighter than I expected. It'll do what I expected it to do. It just won't do it as well as I expected. You get what you pay for. In my experience, if you're buying from sportsmansguide then pay attention to name brands. If they're selling a name brand that you really trust and have experience with and the price is off the hook then jump on it. They'll come through for you. If you've never heard of the brand and the price is just "pretty good" then pass. If you see "guide gear" and they're not giving it away then wait for a sale. Eventually they'll put a price on it that you just can't pass on.