May 23, 2007
Happily, BoyDucky and I simultaneously reached the conclusion that $650 each in traveling expenses is too much for a Friday destination wedding. Vancouver would have been beautiful, I’m sure, but having to take two days off in a month I’m already taking three days off makes my skin crawl, and the costliness of the trip topped up my apathy. Thankfully, he’s not extremely close to his brother’s friend, the groom, so he doesn’t feel bad about sending a gift and regrets.
So my awards points and miles are safe, for now. 🙂
May 21, 2007
BoyDucky asked me to go to a wedding with him and his brother/sis-in-law in Vancouver this July. A looksee on Farecompare.com, Orbitz.com, AA.com and United.com later, it seems that the airfare is not just ‘spensive, it’s pretty ridiculous.
I went through the whole process of agonizing over whether I can really afford to spend $450 on airfare and another $200 on the hotel. You can, however, can skip the agonizing: that’s a no. Or at least I couldn’t possibly justify it. And then the epiphany hit me: If I had just held off on redeeming all those points for another week, redeeming them for gift cards I won’t need anytime soon after all, I could have my ticket! And I could have probably redeemed more points for the hotel stay! *groan* Now how am I supposed to learn my lesson about the evils of hoarding when this sort of coincidence occurs?
I feel like a prize just slipped through my fingers.
I’m still 3k United Miles shy of the required 25k, or 6k Thank You points short, looking over all my rewards accounts. I suppose I could look into converting some Starwood points (20k points –> 25k miles) into United miles, if I want to give up on my Starwood points for now.
Right about now I’m not sure if it would have been better to consolidate and focus my rewards earning on just one or two accounts, or if I should be grateful that there may still be some point gyrations that would save me $450-650.
Yar, I say! Thar be fist-shakin’ in the Ducky household tonight. (There also be some consideration of asking Big Boss if he couldn’t spare a few, oh, say, 25k miles. What? It could be a “creative” perk!)
Ah well. I could always not go.
Edit: Holy cow! The only award flights available are 50k miles!
May 17, 2007
I’m so excited, my first requested Paperback Swap book came in today, and I’ve sent two out! Practically free books in the mail, what could be better? (Well, you know, other than checks and great coupons, of course 😛 )
May 16, 2007
Q: Shall I buy your Comic-Con tickets when I buy mine?
A: Sure, "or I could just buy 'em myself but I know how it pains you to know that
I'd be purchasing them with my debit card. Might as well let you
get some points outta it."
BoyDucky gets it! He DOES see me wince/twitch/grimace horribly EVERY time he
buys something with a debit card! I'll have him converted yet, my pretties ....
=D
May 10, 2007
Though I rarely get to watch television, I’ve been known to enjoy tidbits of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, on occasion. I happened across this hilarious little segment of last night’s Colbert Report. THE most important segment, really:
And the best comment posted has to be:
“Well, Evelyn [Mrs. Colbert] ought to be okay with it. She just won every fight for the rest of their lives, with a handy visual aid. “Oh, really, Stephen? [Flips on large screen tv with freeze frame of appropriate moment.] Fonda. Take out the damn garbage.”
May 3, 2007
What a silly question. Yes, yes, yes, I want to! It’s not just that I’ve been itching to ditch work and home and all the attendant concerns. It’s trekking carefree across the plains (er, metaphorically, of course), eating my way through the gastronomical delights that are suppli, potato pizza, boundless pasta (carbs, carbs and more carbs), the orzo, the lamb, the calamari …. Yes, I want to go!
But that just awakens my ever-lurking conscience: When is it justifiable to spend money for pleasure, when (as evidenced by the yawning goal meters to the left) every penny is spoken for? Where is the line drawn between respecting the greater goals, and refusing to live life?
Everyday, we make these choices as we navigate our consumer-driven society. Every possible need and want that you can imagine, and a few that you couldn’t, are marketed based on the ad agency’s ability to convince you that you need their product. Not based on your needs and definitely not on your budget, remember, but based on what they can get you to spend. As consumer-captains of our personal finances, we have to make spending decisions based on our priorities, and our actual budgets.
I thought I had this figured out, but this isn’t a static decision. If it were, I wouldn’t need to reevaluate my budget every six to twelve months. I wouldn’t bother to adjust my goals, nor would I waver from the prescribed course: Eat your fruits and veggies, contribute 15% to your retirement plan, save 10% of your budget, etc., etc., etc. What I’m trying to say is that Life tends to get in the way of these things.
It’s pretty easy, at first, to cut out the fat. After all, I know how to tell the difference between a “need” and “want” at the most basic level (for America, anyway. Most bets are off once you leave the country). Food: Need. Roof over head: Need. Running water, electricity: Need. And so on.
Occasionally, one needs (or wants) clothing, a meal out with friends who are in town but once or twice a year. (See the results of No-Spend Month, April). Yes, the odd movie out, when the movie ticket is quite cheap, is permissible. And yes, much has been made of the Latte Factor; the small purchases do indeed add up very quickly. Especially on a small budget: $3 here and there doesn’t sound much until you realize that your spending allowance was only $25 to begin with!
But again, there’re the easy decisions like idle spending because you’re online and bored? Bad. Spending because you’re bored and near a mall? No! Vacation travel? Going somewhere fun that costs money to get there, to stay there and to eat there? Just for fun? That’s not a need. That is most assuredly a want. How quickly a pleasurable and educational activity that can be done on a budget gets demonized!
Inevitably, I’ll remember those MSN Money-type surveys that “analyze” your spending habits, and it always asks some variation of the “If your friend asked you to go on a trip of a lifetime but it’ll cost $2000 that you don’t have right now, what would you say?” Of course, I always answer “C: tell your friend you would love to go, but don’t have the money right now. Then start saving for the next trip of a lifetime.” I’m such a liar. I always pass on the trips, but never can find the gumption to divert funds from the more realistic needs like funds for car maintenance or insurance or other expenses.
See, here’s the thing: most times I think, “it’s not going to kill me to give up this movie or that outing.” But that’s not the point, is it? It’s not that it’s going to kill me. It’s that I’m not experiencing life, just the view from my bedroom window. Which is basically the lackluster little sister version of “it’ll kill you.”
By placing what I see as realities of life, such as emergencies that require readily available cash (within a few days or weeks) and the demands of the future like planning and funding my retirement, ahead of immediate gratification, protecting the tomorrows at the expense of the todays, am I defeating the purpose of all these efforts? Am I failing to live life?
Conversely, deciding the priorities of a thoroughly-lived life is all very well in theory, but when does that start becoming reality? And is now, at 24, far too soon to expect to really live life? Is this the hallmark “me me me, now now now” instant gratification expectation that seems to exemplify Generation Y?
April 23, 2007
Excerpts from a Sunday afternoon:
Friend 1: Are you wearing eyeliner?
Friend 2: No.
Friend 1: Are you wearing fake eyelashes?
Friend 2: Yes.
Friend 1: Are you wearing blush?
Friend 2: Yes.
Friend 1: You’re so rosy! Mine’s just eczema.
Friend 1: Uh, that’s not how you dance to Cheap Trick. I don’t know how you dance to them, but that’s not it.
Friend 1: Are you coming to the mall with me?
Friend 2: When will we be back?
Friend 3: Can we get back by 6?
Friend 1: Well, I’m just returning something …. I could be back by 4.
Friend 3: I never return stuff.
Friend 1&2: That’s why we shop from your closet.
Friend 3: Oh. Man.
Friend 1: Michael’s not a bad guy, he’s just REALLY into finance so sometimes he doesn’t have anything to talk about. We talk about clothes. He … made a joke about the Exponential Curve. Once in a while, we’ll throw something about interest out there and he gets all excited.
Me (wasn’t listening until “finances”): Ooh! Interest rates!! Uh, oh. Hi, I’m Michael.