April 24, 2008
My desk is about 15 years old, and it’s kind of falling apart. It’s a pretty decent size, something like 5′ across, and 3′ deep, with an equally large hutch sitting on top. I use every inch of space on my desk and hutch, but often get annoyed by the clutter. I spent over an hour clearing off just the top of the hutch. Things like old business cards, phone cards, eons-old lip balms, old medications from when I was trying different drug regimens for my various ailments, photos, Lone Wolf and Cub, envelopes, notebooks, pens, pencils and mailing supplies had all accumulated into an army perched atop my desk.
Bit by bit, things were tossed out, or cleaned up and replaced. I’d call it a 75% success. I might be able to get rid of a few more things, but only if I get even more organized. It could happen!
April 22, 2008
I know I haven’t said much about the impending move since my final decision earlier this month. Rest assured, I have not changed my mind. It’s simply been a very busy time getting used to the idea, dealing with work drama, not so incidentally trying to figure out if I’m going to have a job for much longer, etc. Lots of things going on all at once, lots to think about. But, I have not forgotten, nor changed my mind. More than ever, I understand the need to move out is valid, and my real problem is restraining myself from going buck-wild quitting my job, packing up the car and moving cross country in the middle of the night so no one can find me again. Yeah. Once you open the spigot, watch out!!
Anyway, I know that I need to save up money for first/last months’ rent, the security deposit, start up costs for utilities, and miscellaneous moving costs. The one thing I absolutely do not want to do is have to pay for storage because I have too much crap. Between that, and my need not to kill myself moving too much crap, I’ve begun taking one small area of my room a day, one day a week, and clearing it all out. Junk goes into the garbage, salvageable things that I don’t need or use regularly get donated. Items in really good or new shape (haven’t run into much of that yet) will either be eBayed or Craigslisted. That’s the plan, Stan.
My first step was the closet: the shelves, not the clothes on the bar. The upper shelves are set up with cubes for easier storage. And, of course, more convenient stashing of clutter. I worked my way through the excess Comfortable Clothing up there, jammies, sweats, old ratty jersey sweaters. How many sets of pajamas does one person need? Even better, I don’t even wear pajama sets anymore, a loose-fitting t-shirt and pajama pants or shorts are as fancy as I get. The cubes are still a little full because I was just getting started and haven’t gotten really ruthless yet, but I’ll come back to it again later.
October 31, 2007
Payday is no longer fun. Yep, that’s right, I said it. It’s not! My darned check is so tiny now that I can’t do anything but throw it into the Expenses fund. My transportation reimbursement goes into my auto insurance savings, and that’s the end of the story for another two weeks. *sigh* There are a lot of boring two-weekses in my future until the end of the year. Bringing home less than half of what I was making a couple months ago is NO thriller.
It’s all down to the bonus, really. It was a big chunk of cash that went directly into my Save-For-Taxes, Expenses and Savings accounts. That meant that not only did I not pay taxes on it yet (and will have to later), no retirement monies were deducted! My retirement funds aren’t having any of that neglect, so the paychecks are responsible for making up the shortfall. It’s sensible. I know it is. It’s just B-O-R-I-N-G!
In other news, I received a bill for $15 from Wamu Investments. *smack* goes my palm to my forehead. EVERY stinkin’ year I forget to roll over the IRA from my first long-term job to Vanguard where I will pay NO annual fees. *sigh* And every year I get this bill that reminds me that once again, I’ve been a fool by waiting too long to shift from Washington Mutual to Vanguard. Why not put all my eggs in one basket, hm? One small no-annual fee basket.
Even when I think there’s nothing to do, like a kid on summer vacation, there’s still something to do. My 4th Quarter resolution: Pick a fund in which to dump this small Rollover on the 2nd of the year. Because if I’m going to pay them $15 for the year anyway, they’re going to take care of the fund until the end of 2007! Or should I do that before the end of 2007 to avoid even a nominal 2008 fee?