September 17, 2009
In a way, it’s good that I’ve done this before. The vigil, the family meetings, the doctors meetings, the family-doctor meetings. It means that I viscerally understand that there’s a good time and not so good time to have visitors.
Friend asked me to be on call for my visit, so I’ve obliged. The original plan was to be there first thing this morning and take care of household stuff like laundry and cooking and cleaning. Stuff that their mom would feel compelled to do. But it turns out that it’d be easier for them if I were to be coming late this evening or early tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, I’ve done my deed for the day and emergency babysat for a girlfriend whose back has been bothering her. The timing was perfect: my day was opened up just a few minutes before she needed me. Now she’s been to the doctor and back, tended to, and is resting.
Now I’ve got to rest up, and then pack. And also locate new, cheaper auto insurance. And perhaps renters’ insurance as well. It’s what he would expect.
September 14, 2009
Being self-motivated while “between opportunities” has unique challenges; it’s a bit more complicated when health issues get a vote in what you do each day. As some of you know, I’ve been raring to move out, move on, and make serious career changes. All the get-up-and-go in the world doesn’t offset the physical considerations of an immune disease, though, so once again, I’ve had to make compromises.
When it’s too hot out, I just want to stay in a cool, slightly dark hole. With free wi-fi. Failing that, the library. When it cools down, I’m not as thrilled as I should be because the damp and chill get right into my bones. Still, it goes against the grain to let pain and grinding fatigue dictate my entire schedule, so I’m eating the ugliest frog today. For the next six hours, or as long as the energy lasts, this is the action plan.
We’ll start with discharging the internet obligations:
(while the laundry is in the wash)
1. Emails
2. Sign up for some courses online (anticipating huge reluctance here: it’s going to cost $1250 just for the classes.)
3. Finalizing a freelance contract.
All things I can do from the comfort of my desk, after which it’ll be on to the library to track down a textbook for that online class to save myself $26 (purchase) or $12 (renting from Chegg.com).
AND to make sure I don’t lose track of time again – every day feels like Saturday now – I’ve created a Google Calendar. It’s a departure from my usual obsessive pen-and-paper planner but it’s free, it’s lightweight š and it fits my newly evolving lifestyle.
Bonus tasks: pick up the dry cleaning, grocery shopping.
How’s that for a SMART goal?
September 12, 2009
These are permutations of this question: How do you help others help themselves? Turns out, the answer can be quite simple: identify the appropriate resources and let them help themselves.
With the wealth of information and financial knowledge available online, I don’t buy financial advice books. There are a few “classics” or commonly discussed books that are constantly referenced, but they’re available at the library or through Paperback Swap, so it seems pointless for me to pay money for basic financial wisdom.
(Ramit would dispute this vehemently. But that’s not the point. The point is here, I’m agreeing with his premise that sometimes you should spend money to save money. Point also made on Consumerism Commentary’s podcast. So I guess you could read his post, listen to his commentary and skip this post. But you shouldn’t! Embarassing story ensues.)
This (perpetual and time-consuming) willingness to root for information, however, isn’t for everyone.
For those who are only interested in avoiding the biggest potholes but don’t yet know how to identify them, the exhortations of an exasperated PF blogger to “know your budget, understand your spending, run your numbers!” just doesn’t translate as constructive advice.
To fill that need, those black and yellow Guides for Dummies are good resources. I spent last weekend previewing the Mortgage for Dummies book because as an English major, I was skeptical of what seemed to be the Cliff Notes to money. The alternative, if the book didn’t pass muster, was to go dredge up more mortgage advice links and posts which weren’t terribly appealing in the first place. Plan B wasn’t looking too hot.
Happily, I was impressed at the concise and engaging writing. It wasn’t just my natural nerdiness and affinity for the material, either. After a few chapters, my non-blogger friend was moved to ask me questions about concepts raised in the book! Normally, this friend’s eyes sort of glaze over a bit when I start in on my really involved financial diatribes. You know, the “I’m watching football lalalaaaaa” kind of look?
For the record: I got to explain why people pay for points when shopping for a loan. In some situations, if you’re staying in the house long enough that your total interest paid is less than without paying for points (after factoring in the point cost) it’s worth it. That summary is pretty ok, but my original example didn’t clear things up, so I explained how I used the concept in a totally wrong and financially detrimental way.
When I bought my car *cringe* I made just about every mistake. I did negotiate and worked with the Fleet salesman instead of the floor salesman but that was about the only thing I did right.
Sensing blood, they presented a “pay for percentage” situation that only a total newb would fall for, and I did. *more cringe* They offered to knock a full percentage point off my interest rate, financed through a credit union they worked with, if I would pay an additional $1000 for GAP insurance. Since the car purchase was under duress (see Mistake #7) I wasn’t prepared for the cash expenditure, thus, easily freaked out about the prospect of having to make up the difference between my drive off the lot value and appraised value if anything happened to the car early on.
They preyed on my ignorance and created fear of a situation that actually isn’t impossible to bear. (Which is, btw, how most of them sell extended warranties and such.)
I should have considered the time horizon. The loan was written for 60 months even though I had no intention of taking that long. On the other hand, with all the financial turmoil at home, I also didn’t know how long I’d stay in that loan. Predictions would have been wild guesses. I signed the paperwork, went home, and privately committed to paying $500/month instead of $370. It was PIF in 3 years – that reduced one percent was not worth it. I don’t have the paperwork anymore, but roughly speaking, because I was dumb enough to roll that 1k into the loan, I paid 1k for the privilege of saving about $200. Yay me!
Back to the point: it’s good to know that there are smarter folks than I out there writing guides to help those who just don’t have the time for this kind of obsession. Simple writing is often the smartest writing.
There’s something to be learned there.
August 15, 2009
Intervention: A gathering of longtime friends and their spouses turned into a dogpile of “you need to go to the doctor!” Our “target” was a lovely new mother who seemed to think that seeing objects plus an extra aura-like outline was negligible, and her increasingly painful joints just part of new, busy, motherhood. I didn’t hesitate for a second to whip out the guilt trip: “my mother refused to take care of herself for months, years, decades even. And look at the results of that decision! Think of your daughter!” She agreed to start scheduling appointments this week.
Promos: I’ve earned both my Electric Orange promotion, having finally reached the $250 spending requirement on the Citibank offer. I’m still waiting on my referral money from opening my TradeKing account.
Electric Orange and checks: While I still have a box of checks, I thought I’d try out the Electric Orange Mail a Check service. They foot the bill for the postage, but it looks like you have to transfer the money to ING at least seven days before the check is due. Remember to account for non-business days! A check cannot be dated for a non-business mailing date.
If it needs to be there on the 15th, the money transfer needs to be iniated on the 6th, the money will be available on either the 7th or 10th, and then it takes 5 business days to arrive via first class mail.
Food: Clementines are back on sale for $5/3 pound box. Not the best deal ever, but affordable, so huzzah! Y’all know how I feel about my Vit C. Also scored great deals on fresh whole chicken (it’s cheaper to butcher on your own, and by on “your own” I mean have my dad do it), yummy pears, pasta, and bell peppers. They sort of make a meal, together, too.
Kitchen: Tinkering with recipes is fun, but I’m a bit of a kitchen hog. If you’re not there to play sous chef/food taster, I don’t want you in the kitchen “helping” me. It’s annoying. Go cook somewhere else, this was my idea!
A few links: Madame X’s long-awaited summer vacation (post) sounds a-ma-zing!
Frugal Trenches has a great series on Getting Rid of Your Sense of Entitlement.
MoneyDummy made me smile as she discovers that laying in a large supply of an addict’s habit = higher consumption.
July 30, 2009
Would you rather spend $250 for two nights in a standard hotel, or redeem (all) 60,000 Hilton points and save the cash?
The points took six years to accumulate because I’m not focused on collecting hotel points right now, but it’s currently only enough to only pay for, say, half a room in a desirable location like NYC or San Diego. In another six, assuming no difference in spending patterns, I could maybe get one room in a nice hotel, for a single night.
I was in a total bind for my interview yesterday, I needed a black bag and haven’t had time this month to find and buy a good one.
Pros: 1. It was only $30. On an unemployed budget, that’s doable.
2. It’s not as shiny as in the picture, so less cheap looking.
3. It’s very lightweight.
4. It’s soft. Not Super Soft, but soft.
5. It’s the right size for basic interview essentials with room left over for the suit jacket in hundred degree weather.
6. I already have it: I hate bag shopping so this could save me a lot of time and money.
Cons: 1. It’s polyurethane so it’s going to have a slightly plastic look on the handles and that looks disgusting when it breaks down
2. The front side zip pocket is surprisingly shallow
3. The bag is a little on the thing side (3 inches wide?)
4. It’s very slouchy. Seems like the slouchiness would be less professional looking.
5. It’s a mag-closure. I want my bags to be all things in all situations, and mag closure means it’s not waterproof.
6. But still, quality is a question. [companion to Pro #6]
June 27, 2009
Griping on the phone about a recent Walgreen’s gift card purchase, I couldn’t understand why they actually require you to use either a debit card or cash. “Lucky I actually had some cash on me,” I grumbled, “what a waste of time that would have been to have to go home and come back again!”
The 4-minute drive distance aside because, yes, I am that lazy and gas conservative, I hate hate hate purchasing anything with cash. We know how cash disappears from my wallet; it’s my biggest PF blind spot in budget tracking. And using cash means no 5% cash back on drugstore purchases on the Chase CC. Boo and boo.
More griping ensued along the lines of “and they only offer a $50 GC option online. What is this? Do they just NOT want you to spend money there??” Given some of the attitudes encountered by fellow couponers and bloggers, this isn’t a totally unjustified question.
Then, “Ugh, I probably would have just called it a day, since I wasn’t going back to the bank to withdraw more cash so I could buy the darn thing. I never use debit cards, I don’t even know my PIN!”
“…… Didn’t you say you went to the bank?”
“Yes.”
“……. ??”
“What?”
“Isn’t that the same PIN?”
“As the what? …. oh. OH. *sigh* I’m an idiot.”
In my defense, for some reason I was thinking of my credit card cash advance PIN. I have no idea what those are because I never use them. Can I be forgiven for completing forgetting that I can use my bank card as a debit card because I never ever do? No, because I constantly see people using their debit cards and think to myself, “I don’t like debit!”
Had a stupid moment lately? Please do share! š
June 9, 2009
J. Money’s having a giveaway at Budgets are Sexy for three Amazon gift cards ($50, $30, and $20). I’d like y’all to head on over there and cast your votes for me.
Really.
I need a win here, people.
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