July 11, 2008
FB’s post on her list of shopping wants and Penny’s post on buying a new suit restoked my internal suit debate. (Thanks to Paranoid Asteroid for the link to Penny!)
Just last night, the black pinstriped suit came out of the dress bag so that I’ll remember to drop it off for dry cleaning this Saturday.
It struck me that I’ve been wearing this suit since …. October 2005. I’ve worn it to 2-4 professional meetings a year, where I usually see at least some of the same people. Obviously, my colleagues are usually the same. I’ve supplemented with nice, basic skirts and blazers. I’ve got three basic black skirts, one black 3/4 sleeve less structured jacket that passes for a blazer, and a brown checked blazer.
I usually rotate several tops through to make various combinations of business dress.
The real question is: at what point does it become just plain tacky that I don’t have another suit in the rotation?
Yes, new suit!: It’s been four years. Enough already.
No new suit: I’m the mouse that wants more than just a cookie. If I get another suit, wouldn’t it make sense to have a third? Most of our events require three days’ worth of business wear. Oh wait, I’m trying to leave this job.
Yes, new suit!: I’m trying to find a better environment. Need an interview suit.
No new suit: $400. (or $800. For two suits. 😛 )
Since we’re evenly tied at this point, I’m considering a minor amendment to the PPP money flow. After every $200 cycle, $50 will be diverted to a suit fund. That’s only going to take forever, though, and I’m hearing rumblings that lead me to believe I’m going to need an interview suit in the next three months, not three years.
I have got to stop thinking about clothes today!
July 1, 2008
(ie: Supplemental income)
Ahhh, yes. My second income “make-up” check has come in, and I’ve divvied it up.
Originally this was going to be the All Responsibility Check: 20% to savings and 30% for taxes. Since I’m struggling with cash flow, I took 5% of it from the savings allotment and put it that in the expense account. I might as well. If I run short and have to dip into the emergency fund, I’ll just be really annoyed and I have a policy against dipping anyway. As Sistah Ant and I discussed once, it seems like a slippery slope to tread, dipping into the e-fund for non-emergencies.
I’ve an abundance of Citi and ED savings accounts but they’re all being used for specific purposes (Travel, Car/House Maintenance, easier access E-fund, expenses, Car Insurance), so I’ve finally returned to my old ING Direct account to hold my tax savings. That money is just going to be sitting there until next April, so I want it out of sight. Even better, ING is offering a 3% APY rate, so it’s actually doing better than ED.
I’m considering moving my entire emergency fund over to ING, actually, since it’s a fairly substantial amount. I think the Car/House Maintenance and Car Insurance funds can also be moved because those expenses won’t crop up so suddenly that I can’t wait a few days to transfer the money from ING.
Oh, and I still need a Moving fund; it’d be nice to have most of the sub-accounts in one place.
*thinking ….*
June 30, 2008
Creative funding for the summer weekend trips are not, repeat not, going well at all.
1. BF’s free United ticket only lets me fly out of Portland on the worst Sunday flights (7-9 hours of travel for a 3 hour trip) for any weekend we’ve searched. Friday through Monday is not an option here, I don’t think.
2. I can do a Friday night-Monday night weekend for the Phoenix trip, but we’re rapidly running out of open weekends this year. I’ll push that to September, but work is going to be a major scheduling obstacle.
3. My one way SW voucher that expires 8/14/08 isn’t good enough to get any of my return flights from Portland, so that’s not an option, either, but it must be used soon. There’s always the revival fee option, but I don’t plan to pay $50 for that; it’s nearly the cost of a one way ticket!
So, sadly, the trips BF wants me to take are either set, or nearly so. The trips I wanted to take to visit friends and play? Not so much. There’s got to be a way to be more creative about these trips.
June 22, 2008
The timing belt for the family sedan broke last week:
$40, tow
$150, repair
Truck Registration, due June 30th:
$240
Sedan Registration, due August 20th:
$150
Pfoooo! As if gas prices weren’t bad enough, the cars themselves have to get in on the act. That’s going to make a hefty dent into the car maintenance fund, thank goodness I actually have it set up, though. I can’t even imagine pulling my hair out trying to make these bills fit into an already strained budget.
June 11, 2008
While exploring my points hoards further, I made the discovery that, by golly, Starpoints are actually quite nice! I wish there were a faster way to earn points than the standard 1 point per dollar on regular purchases, and 2 points per dollar for stays and SPG-related purchases.
The key (not the standard free hotel stays) awards that caught my fancy:
1. Nordstrom GC: 14,000 points for $150/9,500 points for $100/5,000 for $50
2. Banana Republic GC: 9,500 points for $100/5,000 points for $50/2,800 points for $50
3. For BD, Starbucks: 9,500 points for $100/5,000 points for $50/2,800 points for $50
4. Westin at home (if you want a Heavenly Bed): 14,000 points for $150/9,500 points for $100/5,000 for $50
5. 50% off rack rates (if you can’t get a deal at your popular destination): 1,000 points for 50% off rack rates for up to five nights. Good for up to Category 6 (read: most luxurious) hotels.
6. Nights and flights: 60,000 Starpoints for 50,000 airline miles and five free nights at a Category 3
7. Amtrak Guest Rewards: convert your points into train miles.
This makes me want to re-evaluate my credit cards portfolio and figure out where I can shoehorn in the Starwood card again. I’m content with my current mix, but I may want the flexibility of such rewards in the future.
June 10, 2008
This might be considered cheating because I’m not spending any less. But, if the end result is saving some cash by being creative about the spending, then it still counts.
My budget for Con is $300 from my travel fund, of which $92 is earmarked for reimbursing my friend via comics. That leaves me $208.
If I recall semi-accurately, I usually fill up once before I head out to San Diego, and once more when I come back. That includes the 100+ mile drive down there, 5 round trips between my housing and the convention center, and a trip back home. This year, I’m required to cut the trip short by a day because of a business trip, so I only have to account for 4 days of driving. But, I’ve factored in an extra trip to the airport to pick up BD who will be joining me for a day. Total, I’d say that’s just a shade under 400 miles. My car can, on a good day, make about 400-450 miles per tank, but I may be ferrying passengers on some days, I might be stuck in traffic for five hours coming or going, who knows?
I’m going to estimate the trip to require about 20 gallons of gas to be on the safe side.
By the end of July, $5.50/gal gas is probably not unthinkable, considering the Shell is at $4.45 right now. Conservatively, I now expect to spend more than half my budget on gas alone. That’s before I’ve factored in parking, food, or even a bit of shopping for gifts. Oh, and my ticket for next year. Oy, I thought my budget was HUGE a few months ago.
My brilliant idea? Gift cards! Browsing the Thank You points rewards the other night, I discovered that they have Shell gift cards. Sadly, they only offer the $50 for 6000 points exchange rate which I despise, but it’s still gas money that won’t come out of pocket. My ideal solution would be to earn another 2000 MyPoints and redeem 7350 points for a $50 GC, and redeem 12,000 Thank You points for another $100. It’s not likely that I’ll be able to get another 2000 points via MyPoints between now and Con, though, so I might have to bite the bullet and burn 18,000 points.
If I use no more than $150 on gas (dear Heavens I hope I don’t!) then I will have saved my Con cash stash entirely! That would be wonderful. The use of that many Thank You points and the lost opportunity to redeem for shopping GCs is sad, but I can repurpose any leftover Con cash to later travel, I can’t do that by hoarding TY points. Besides, I can always earn more points.
June 9, 2008
Southwest is running a promotion for a $25 discount when you purchase a $100 southwest gift card.
There are a handful of restrictions, so I would be very careful when deciding whether or not to purchase it.
Purchase dates (for the gift card): June 1st-30th (still have time.)
Requirement: must use Visa. It can be any cobrand as long as it’s US-issued. (Great, I carry one Visa and one Mastercard at all times. It’s not my preferred points rewards card, but it’s still a rewards card.)
Limit: one per Visa cardmember and/or e-mail address. Visa cardmember will earn one $25 fare discount on a $100 or more single card transaction. Shipping and handling fees do not qualify towards the total transaction amount. The $25 fare discount will be sent via e-mail to the Visa cardmember’s account. A valid e-mail address is required to receive the discount. Allow four weeks after the conclusion of the promotion to receive the discount. (Wait, shipping and handling? Just pop the thing into an envelope and throw it in the mail! 42 cents! And BD and I can each buy one, if I have need of two round trip tickets in the near future.)
Discount Valid: Purchase must be made between July 1, 2008 and August 30, 2008 for travel August 18, 2008 through November 19, 2008.
This promotion does not include Business Select, Anytime, or Senior Fares. (Does that mean it’s only good for the Wanna Get Away fares?)
Despite the numerous caveats, I think that I will pick one up because as I look at upcoming travel, I was unexpectedly invited to a wedding in August, and have got a sporting event to attend in October. It’s only good for the event in October, and I’m looking at paying $100 for $125 purchasing power. As long as the flight prices hold until July 1st, or whenever I get that discount, I’ll be able to purchase a $149 ticket for $75 now, and an additional $24 later. Not bad, I say!