October 28, 2008
About two weeks ago, I saved an acquaintance from getting a ticket. The metered spots only allow 4 hours of parking before a certain time in the evening, and she’d run out of meter time an hour before Free Time. As parking enforcement rolled up, glancing over at her car, I popped out and dropped some money in her meter.
When I drove into work last week, I used the meters because I normally commute by train and don’t have a long-term permit. Absentmindedly noted that I needed to move my car at 4:50 after parking …. then, I completely forgot until 5:50 pm. I was in agonies, sure I’d been ticketed.
Whether it be because I’d earned a little non-tickety-karma by helping someone else out or because there was construction on the street, there was no ticket on my windshield. Hallelujah for avoiding stupid-absentminded fees!
October 3, 2008
The long-awaited quarterly check has arrived and I am positively stoked.
I am so close to having six months of living expenses in the Emergency Fund!! As soon as I have at least $1000 in the mini E-fund, my plan is to [finally] close the real E-fund to all non-critical withdrawals.
All the bills for September have been paid and I still have $1300 in the Expenses fund. With the deposit from the quarterly, I have enough for October’s expenses on October 2nd. All paychecks earned in October will continue to add an allotted amount to the Exp. Fund, but I won’t be waiting on them to pay the bills. Holy cow, I could pay the entire month’s bills on October 1st. I won’t, of course, that’s not the point of the cushion. The point is that I could if I needed to. Whew!
So I discovered a few things wrong with my math. The quarterly is for the past three months of work [July 1st-Sept 30th], so plotting the total expenses against income through the end of December means I come up short, ie: depleting most of the expense fund by year’s end.
What I need to do is fund the supplemental portion ahead of the next three months. In other words, instead of taking July-Sept money, and only setting aside three months’ worth of income to make up shortfalls from July-Sept, I should set aside enough for July through December. Then, I’ll be covered and still have the cushion in place through the end of December. Then the last quarterly check of the year [Sept through Dec] funds the various accounts that I’d previously planned for this check: Savings, Insurance, Car Maintenance, Travel, Moving, etc. That means I’ll be funding it for 2009, at the end of 2008! This makes much more sense.
All OT can now go towards other sub-expense funds instead of just savings and expenses. I expect an insurance bill in November and I don’t quite have enough for that yet, so OT will fund savings and insurance for the next month and a half.
Also, I’d goofed on the October paychecks, so I have to rewrite the plans for 4 paychecks in the next two months, not three. And actually, now that I’ve fixed the above problem, that third paycheck can come at any time, it’s no big deal.
It’s very strange budgeting on a hybrid [half regular-half supplementary] income. The supplemental is scheduled and the amount is set, so it shouldn’t be difficult, but I haven’t done it so very well since this started. Might I now be starting to get the hang of it?
Perhaps I’ll even get my September snapshot in order now that I’ve reconfigured the economic landscape …
October 1, 2008
I’ve never been too fond of the cable company, and could quite easily do without, but for some time I was paying for cable so my mom could watch her movies when she was home, not feeling well.
As the prices went up, and it became clear that we (she) could really do without, I tried to cut the strings, but I couldn’t shake them loose.
Having agreed to a free six months of service, I noticed that instead of the zero balance CSR #1 had promised me, there was an additional, random $5 charge each month. Mmhm. I also noticed that from month to month, or week to week, their billing was inconsistent and didn’t make much sense. After a couple statements, and a couple calls telling them to take care of their business as promised I decided: to heck with this!
CSR #4 wanted to know why I wanted them to cancel my free subscription. Well, I said, because the outstanding balance on my account doesn’t look so “free,” does it? Instead of noting all the conversations I’ve had with them, and the fact that the last time I gave them money was July and therefore I couldn’t possibly be a very profitable customer, she apologizes for the inconveniences, gives me another six months free, credits the outstanding balance, and adjusts the scheduled credits to encompass the extra fee that had been erroneously tacked on. *sigh* Okaaaayy. Do these retention folks get extra credit for each customer they hold on to, despite the cost to the company? Because I’m not paying them another penny. As I’ve said before, I don’t need cable, I don’t care about cable, and I’m perfectly willing to cut them loose.
It’s like I’m in a weird dependent relationship with Dish and they keep rejecting my break-up, a la Natalie and Jeremy of Sports Night.
Anyway. There you have it, ‘nother free six months of cable.
September 26, 2008
If I were big money and already had up to my FDIC limit in Chase banks, I would be a little concerned because I’d have to find another home for my ex-Wamu money. But the grace period for separate deposit coverage for each bank lasts six months, so that’s not too shabby.
The good news is that the deliberate takeover means that JP Morgan has assumed the responsibilities for Wamu’s deposits so we won’t be taxing the limited resources of the FDIC reserve fund. I think it’s sad that everyone keeps referring to the fact that no one has lost their insured deposits since the FDIC was formed, and ignoring the fact that the fund isn’t a bottomless pool.
In the meantime, as a new Chase bank account holder, I can expect the following:
http://www.chase.com/welcomewamu/
What’s different?
* Your deposits at WaMu are now backed by the financial strength of Chase in addition to continuing to be insured by the FDIC.
* If you bank at both WaMu and Chase, your deposits continue to be insured separately today just as they were yesterday, and generally will be for another six months. At that time, your deposits will be insured by the FDIC for up to $100,000 per depositor (with an additional $250,000 for self-directed retirement accounts), and will continue to be backed by the strength and security of JPMorgan Chase.
* Learn more about the size and strength of our company.
What stays the same?
Continue to bank just as you usually do:
* same account numbers,
* same Washington Mutual name on your account,
* same checks, debit cards, credit cards, deposit slips,
* same online banking website and passwords,
* same branches & ATMs,
* same familiar bankers, and
* same great service!
What will change?
Soon
* You’ll be able to use over 9,300 Chase ATMs fee-free – jointly, that’s 14,000 ATMs for your banking convenience!
In the future
* You’ll begin to see the Chase name on your statements, online, and on your credit cards as they reissue.
* Your branch will be re-named Chase and you’ll be re-issued new debit cards with the Chase name. Until then, bank as you do today.
* As our systems merge, you’ll be able to use any of the Chase branches nationwide. This won’t take place this year, and we’ll let you know well in advance of any changes.
I get to keep my checks! And my money.
September 25, 2008
After the pleasantly sub-$100 electric bills of the past few months, I thought we’d finally nailed down some of the basics in reducing our energy usage. This past month should have been even better than the summer months because we didn’t use the air con once all month, and we were down to two people in the house for half the month while Mom was away visiting family. That should have made for a stellar-ly low bill, not a 120% increase!
Perhaps this is something electric companies just do, perhaps it’s something that I’ve simply failed to notice and is considered “best business practices.” Whatever the case may be, I’m fairly, oh, not ok with it. Our electric company has deemed it acceptable to send me a bill for more than twice the amount of last month’s, based on an estimated usage. An estimated 40% greater usage. What the heck is that all about?
You know what? It doesn’t matter what they think that’s all about it, because that’s completely out of the question. I sent in a request for a meter re-read because if they think I’m just forking over nearly $200 because they think I used that many kilowatts when I know I didn’t …. !! Hmph. The nerve of some people.
As I scroll down my usage history of the past few years, I see that there’s a spike every September billing period, and wonder if I foolishly missed the part of the bill where it states “Estimated read” every year before. Then again, I do have bills from November of last year, and it couldn’t have been that hard to miss. I suppose it doesn’t matter now, it’s too late to go back to last year and 2006. For now, though, I’m going to make sure that darned meter is actually read.
Note: They initially refused to come out saying that it was “in line” was previous billing history and that a re-read was “not justified.” Uh-uh! A firm note telling them exactly what I’d do if they continued to balk convinced them of the error of their ways. Guess what? The re-read of the meter two days ago resulted in a total read of 100 kW LESS (halfway through the next month) than their estimated amount for the last billing month. See?? Jerks.
September 24, 2008
Wow, it’s amazing how much brighter my outlook is now that I’m not in excruciating pain. I always forget how much pain, self inflicted or disease related, affects my mood.
In the interest of getting it off my chest, and thus (with any luck), off my mind: I’ve been eaten up by the gimmes. (It’s strange, confession really IS good for you.)
Not a surprise, really. I’ve been quite focused on purging, cleaning and organizing, which is great, but since it’s been rather intermittent, it creates a bit of mental vacuum.
Which leads me to ….
A new laptop. We knew this. I’ve wanted a new one since 2006, but have held off in part thanks to Kira’s post about saving old computers and knowing it’s not in the budget. If I were to give in, I’d still have to wait until Black Friday, so it’s really just best to get a replacement battery. It’s just a matter of finding a reputable place to buy from. Decision: Get a new battery. Hold for another 3 years.
A new business/interview suit. Because I want to look snappy. (Uh- huh. That’s the whole of it.) Not a good enough reason, when the suit fund’s still a fledgling. Decision: on hold.
A cruise. HS friends and I have been talking about going on a little 3-4 day cruise to Mexico together for years. It’s been about six years now. Girlfriend and I were on the phone yesterday and she’s determined that we’re really going to do it!! And she wants to go in November. Lordy. Well, I have $268 in the travel fund. This could be a birthday gift for BF, since he was just complaining that we *never* travel together because of my schedule. I’d have to scare up another $300. Decision: maybe, because it’s a potential birthday gift and right now I just have a cute toy for him.
Pretty shoes. I don’t actually want to own more shoes. I don’t even want to store the ones I DO have, so this is just a symptom of mouse+cookie=craving. Also, I’m supposed to buy real quality when I buy from now on. Right.
September 2, 2008
This weekend, I tried every which way to put together an outfit appropriate for making an excellent first impression in a business-casual encounter. Not for quite a formal Interview, call it a prelude to an interview sort of dealie. I wanted to establish a (preferably black) trouser, crisp button down shirt and belt combination as a go-to staple in my wardrobe.
Unfortunately, my attempts to look sharper at work on a daily basis have reduced my best black pants to second-best. They’re still nice, but they’ve lost that sharp, crisp look that gives off *professional* so well. Alas, they’re a bit worn. That’s what happen, y’understand, when you actually wear things on a regular basis and possibly also when you’re most frequently shopping bargain bin. At my size, bargain bin and quality don’t always go hand in hand.
In my frustration, I groused to a dude friend about the pants I didn’t think would be tailored quickly enough, and he convinced me to go shopping.
Macys, I decided. Macys would have a grand Labor Day Sale and I was armed with a coupon and gift card. To Macys!
To Macys we went, and seven pairs of trousers later, my attention span somewhere between my heel and the tiger bandaid on my foot to fend off a threatening blister, I was about to give up. I had, for once, been smart enough to wear heels of the approximately appropriate height that would normally be worn with the pants. Smart, I say! Except my feet were tired within twenty minutes and being somewhat less of a shopping maven as, say, my dude friend, I was ready to give up. He refused to hear anything of it, “we haven’t even gotten started!” and chivvied my lazy bum out to the next stores.
Le sigh.
It was a good job he did though because we hit the jackpot at Ann Taylor Loft. I only had a $30 gift card there, but I found three pairs of pants, all 00P, and promptly sent him to scour the sales racks while I found the dressing room. Had not yet gotten my hopes up since the price tag I saw was $79, when I tried on the first pair and my jaw dropped. They FIT. Perfectly. Seriously, they fit absolutely perfectly. Waist, length, tush, rise, everything. The only possible objection was that the fabric looked like a softer, heavier cottony material, instead of that more coarse, crisp polyester blend that’s commonly accepted as the more professional look. It also buttoned across the front, so it didn’t have belt loops. The next pair was the preferred material, and just about a perfect fit as well. It turned out they were the $79 pair, though, and for more than eighty dollars after tax, I’d like to see some lining in the pants. The first pair were *only* $60, machine washable, ever so comfortable and once again: fit perfectly.
I bought them immediately. So, chalk one up as a win for the wardrobe, and a $30 hit to the pocketbook. Overall? No blister = a good day.
Caveat: I would normally never advocate the immediate, impulse purchase of a nonsale item, but … it happens. And it happens more often because the good quality 00P sizes don’t occur very frequently in nature. This is an unfortunate, incontrovertible fact. I promise to take very good care of them.
P.S. I suck. There was a printable 20% coupon online valid this weekend. Drat. Should have checked before I left.
