November 29, 2008

From the desk of …..

Had a nice long horrors-of-the-economy chat with a good friend, and absentmindedly cleared up a lot of paperwork on my desk. Not that I usually mind tidying, I just never do it when I’m sick, so the distraction made it painless. She was telling me about her latest call from their financial adviser and that they were told to Stop Spending. It wasn’t meant to target them specifically for overspending, it was just a report on the state of their portfolios and their immediate advice to all retirees were to batten down the hatches and preserve principal. That’s probably good advice for any of us. 😛

Have two offers (low, of course) on the table for the truck and will need to work out a plan to get the paperwork done on Monday. Should I go to the dealer in the morning and go to work late? Go to work early and leave early?

I went out for the first time today, and saw the corner gas station listing Unleaded for $1.87!! That is amazing! What has been going on out there this week? However long the lower gas prices last, I’m loving it and the corresponding lightened load on my monthly gas bills.
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Also, I don’t think I’m buying a laptop for nearly $700. Got news of two more friends who were laid off today and tales of misfortune make me more hyper-aware of the need to batten down MY hatches. Which, of course, always puts me in mind of the irony that the economy is suffering in some part because consumers aren’t consuming. Happily, today’s well-timed guest post by Carson Brackney over at Consumerism Commentary discusses this very phenomenon:

We’re actively engaging in the very behavior that encourages a larger financial crisis in order to protect ourselves from that very same financial crisis.

On pulling back spending and the perceived effect on the economy of not spending a short time ago – I still can’t find it in my heart to disagree that while mindful or needful spending is fine, this entire popping bubble situation is born of the mentality that our only weapon, tool or coping mechanism is to spend. It’s going to continue to be a painful time, and I feel for every one of us who will have to weather this storm, but I have hopes that our continued good stewardship of our resources and good money management will bring us through safely in the end. Maybe that’s too PollyAnna for some, but I’m still feeling positive from Deepali’s thankfulness reminder.

November 14, 2008

Lower gas prices regarded as temporary reprieve

It seems that the average consumers interviewed for this NY Times article, Lower Gas Prices Don’t Make Americans Feel Rich, aren’t taking the relief at the pump for granted. With the increasingly bad economy, and fearful outlook for the future, it relieves me that people aren’t simply reacting to the lowered prices with the same exuberance as we’ve seen in the volatile stock market.

I’m glad. It’s time we were more cautious, paid down debt, and made plans for a rainy tomorrow because I’m afraid that many people are already headed for a rough time of it without such back-ups. Even with all my preparations, saving, and thinking ahead, I don’t feel quite as prepared for a downturn of the proportions that are likely to come. No, the sky isn’t falling, but some days it feels like the ceiling might start caving in, and the floorboards have a decidedly creaky feel to them.

Speaking of temporary reprieves, we just got news of a reorganization in our office, effective Monday. The manner in which this decision was made and the suddenness with which it came to pass took everyone aback, and I’m not convinced that they’re not planning to reorganize us right out the door. Might not happen Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of next week, but it could happen the day after. Or the week after. Nothing’s certain but at least I have an e-fund. And I haven’t tempted Murphy, thank goodness. Either way, it’s not exactly the Christmas present I was hoping for from Santa!

June 4, 2008

“Thrifty” gas most expensive in town

Ironic? I’d say so. While grocery shopping on Sunday, the Shell station near my house was $4.15, the Chevron was $4.18 (for the cheap stuff), and Safeway was $4.21 (with a 3 cent discount if you’re a Safeway member).

The Thrifty gas stations were a cool $4.41/gallon for the cheap gas.

Holy. Mackeral.

Now that the other prices have gone up another ten cents, I wonder how much Thrifty costs today?

July 23, 2007

My Biggest Comic Con expense prediction: It won’t be the fun stuff

It won’t be the toys, gifts, comics, parking, or even the food. Especially not the food because my friend’s unspeakably awesome mother has not only offered to put us up, a veritable swarm of her children and their associates, she’s even planning to cook breakfasts and dinners, and provide lunch fixings so that we don’t have to spend any of our money on food. Seriously. She’s awesome. And not a little crazy, because there will be 6-8 of us, on any given day.

It’ll be the gas. I’m going to have to drive to work (90 miles, round trip), and then come home in time, just after noon, to go pick up BoyDucky for our long haul down to San Diego (+120 miles). Then of course, I have to come home on Sunday (+120). Or I could leave Sunday morning, drive up to Long Beach for BoyDucky’s tournament, and drive back from that (+170, +50 miles).

All told, I could be driving about 330-440 miles this coming week. That’ll be a nice chunk of change.

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