Nickel’s article, Economy Got You Down? Pig Out! made me laugh out loud. Just this weekend, I was taken to the grocery store for snacks for the week because, “food is the only thing that makes you happy, at work.”
Too right!!
Forget the whole losing-your-job bit, now I have to listen to coworkers scheming to move their cash out of accounts to “prove insolvency” so they can claim their bit from unemployment and food stamps. Yeah. They’re planning to really make the most of this situation by defrauding the system to the highest extent. Money, and keeping food on the table, is not the least of my worries, but this is just wrong.
Anyway, since there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it whilst they’re plotting, I’m preventing an irrational reaction by feeding my soul. And not incidentally, my mouth 🙂
So if Nickel’s citation is true, “The calmer you feel, the less likely you’ll do something irrational,” bring on the comfort food!
This week’s treats stashed in my “drawer of inappropriate starches” (Topher, Dollhouse):
Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Cookies Lemon Zest Luna Bars Middle Eastern flatbread, and tzatziki (which is actually quite good in a breakfast burrito!) Honey whole wheat pretzel sticks
Hmm…I’m lacking salty stuff. I’ve finally developed a taste for salt and vinegar chips which I used to hate! FB keeps talking about golden Oreos on Twitter, though, and that’s tilting the imbalance further in the direction of sweets.
I’ve also soothed my agitated soul by watching Psych and Burn Notice during my off hours. Friends with a ready supply of DVDs and comic books are great, I never watch TV in my normal life so this is like a free, at-home hiatus.
Of course, then I get to figure out how to repay friend for the loan and support. ’tis a cycle!
What nice things are you doing for yourselves these days?
MSN Money’s 6 financial milestones before 30 seem a little…. well …. blah. They really don’t light up the fire of my imagination, really.
1. Scale back the credit cards. 2. Own a home — or have a plan. 3. Have skills. 4. Give money away. 5. Know thyself. 6. Know smart people.
It’s not bad advice, it’s just kind of vague and run of the mill.
Then again, who am I to complain in this economy, right? Let’s see what we can do to personalize it a little, instead.
1. I don’t have credit card debt, and have canceled a number of cards that I don’t use. Where possible, the credit lines were transferred to the remaining cards to preserve the illusion of higher credit available. This inadvertently messed up my insurance premium refund, unfortunately, because they credited an account that no longer exists! We’ll see if I can get the insurance company to cut a check.
2. Um, I have a whole hundred dollars put away in lieu of a plan. So a plan might be a good idea. In fact, this will regain line item status on my next budget whenever I land a new job. More concretely, I would like to have my down payment (20% of course) and house maintenance saved, apart from my emergency fund. That’s a lot of cash!
3. Oh, I have skills. They’re good ones, too. But they could use some flair and I do have a plan for that. Girlfriend of mine has the Adobe Creative Suite with extra downloads and she offered one set to me when the new laptop was up and running. It is, now, so it’s time to take her up on that offer and start learning how to Photoshop and maybe even InDesign. And a friend’s friend is a web designer who might be willing to teach me some of his awesome designer skills; that would come in handy in any number of ways. Can you say (watch out, corporate speak!) value-add?
4. I’m guessing that giving money to the landlord, the electric company, the city, and gas companies don’t count, huh. Nor does feeding my family. I could and must do better here. In the past, the NYC medics were recipients of my generosity, as best as I could afford, as well as my extended family. My goal is to comfortably afford to give an average of $50/month. I know it’s not much, but it’s a start and y’know, family to feed and house. Another budgetary line item.
5. Ok, this one is a little tougher than it sounds. For me, anyway. It’s easier to know my goals, my challenges, and my shortcomings than myself as a whole person. It’s been years since I’ve asked myself what I wanted or dreamed, and I’ve only just begun to explore that area this year. Turns out that I’m a bit more complex than my finances: I am not my money, nor am I my family or my job. So what am I?? This could take a while ….
6. Yep, I know all of you smarties, and my high school friends are no mental slouches either. I like being surrounded by smart people, and sometimes even smart people who disagree with me. 😉 This is great advice because I firmly believe that you rise and fall to the levels of the people around you; so you can only rise naturally if you’re learning from wise people in a learning environment. It’s a tough climb, and lonely to boot, otherwise.
Items 3-6 are all actions I can begin now and should continue well past my thirties. I’d love to be well on my way to achieving Item 2 in the next three years, and have a more developed career plan on the table by that time as well.
Let’s not limit this to your thirties: what’s on the horizon for you? What does your five or ten year plan include?
It feels like I’ve been on a 12-step program for pending resignations and layoffs. Despite recession fatigue, and familynonsense, the following plan has kept me on track even while I internalized the news, and updates on a daily basis.
1. When signs point toward instability, tell no one connected to your current workplace that you’re looking unless you absolutely trust them and they’re a good resource. Commence resume polishing and editing.
2. Contact mentors and trusted colleagues for feedback on resume and verify that your previous references are still relevant and willing to serve.
3. Form a mental target: what are you looking for and why? It’s very important not to look at it as something you’re running to, in desperation, or a means of escape from something awful. It can be, there’s no doubt, just don’t let that be the motivation that fuels your search. Make it positive: make it about where you want to go next, what new challenges you’re looking for, what inspires you? This may not be concrete in your mind. It certainly wasn’t in mine three or four months ago, but it’s solidified as I’ve refined my search and dealt with the everyday challenges.
4. Speaking of everyday challenges, don’t forget to do your job to the best of your ability while you still have one! If you’re using this 12-step program, you’re still employed so you should stay that way until you are ready to move on. Give your employer no reason to target you for an early layoff and derail the plan. Paychecks are good.
5. Search relevant job boards, selecting possibilities that most closely match your new goals.
6. Refresh: take a few minutes a day, or a lot of minutes every couple of days to refresh yourself: take a walk, play with your pets, do anything that’s not work and job related. Juggling job hunting with maintaining your existing job and keeping everything together can be intense.
7. Cover letters! When you have a group of possible jobs that you’d like, write or edit your existing cover letters to address the requirements of each job. It took me about three months and several fresh starts to hit my stride. Templates are great, but only once you have a strong basic template to work from; some of those standard letters I’ve seen are weak sauce. You’re not weak sauce, don’t let your letter say otherwise!
8. Request recommendation letters. I prefer to keep hard copies with my resume in case of interview.
9. Prep your interview skills: review possible questions and answers with a friend. Mentors are wonderful people – if they’re able and willing, draw on this resource! This is great for your confidence in phone interviews which should then lead to face to face interviews.
10. Prep your interview wardrobe! I nearly had an aneurysm when I was asked to pick an interview date, and I still didn’t have a THING to wear. (I’ve outgrown the old suit.)
11. Repeat steps 4-7 until you have need of 9 and 10. Very importantly: keep on saving your pennies, nickels and dimes while working toward your next step. The healthier your emergency fund, and the safer you feel financially, the more confident you’ll be. That directly translates to better negotiations, and a more discerning job hunt. Remember, if employers can smell your fear or desperation, you’re either a less respected candidate or not a candidate at all. Either way, bad times for you!
12. Knock ’em dead!
Aside from some fretting, (or a LOT of fretting sometimes) it’s been slow but steady progress. I count my blessings where I can find them:
~ I’ve got strong recommendations ~ I’ve got great skills in my area, and a very strong work ethic ~ I’m setting up freelance work starting now to keep an income stream no matter what happens here. ~ I’ve got my readers and fellow bloggers for moral support and cheerleading – priceless!
If anyone has advice or stories to share, please feel free to do so!
I started blogging about money because no one in my real life would talk about it: as many people know, it’s historically one of the more taboo subjects, topping politics, religion and even sex. This blog was an escape as well, a means of venting when I couldn’t bring myself to air dirty laundry and “betray” my family. It grew to be a great sounding board/forum, a connection to the PF blogging community, and sparked real life friendships.  I’ve answered a lot of questions about myself over the years in comments and posts but this is the compendium of more than you ever wanted to know about who and what I am. If you still have questions, feel free to let me know!
Man doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and I certainly didn’t raise myself. My biggest life challenge and influencer of life decisions to date is my family. People keep askingwhy I support them, what happened to make me the primary breadwinner, and don’t I know that I’m crazy for doing it? Like most things in life, it’s not so simple and it didn’t happen overnight.  But to “sum up” as Ricky Ricardo would have you do: I always had an absolute horror that my parents would end up on the street, abandoned and ill, if I don’t/didn’t provide for them.
Here’s our story…..
In 1980, my parents escaped a war-torn homeland to give their kids a better chance in life. Like Warren Buffett, I won the genetic lottery – twice. I wasn’t born in a third world country, only because my parents chose to sacifice everything familiar for our sakes. They didn’t even know me yet! Dad spoke the language, but Mom started learning once she set foot on foreign soil, newborn baby in her arms, and not a change of clothing between them. They’d lost everything to pirates on their crossing.
In 1982, I was born. Best thing that ever happened to them. You know it’s true. 😉 Even if I did cry nonstop for 9 months.
In 1990, they’d scraped together starting capital to open their own businesses. The income went to keeping a roof over our heads, food on the table, and us in school. They even sent my brother to private school.
In 2000, they sold one business and the other failed, the bankruptcy hastened by a manager’s embezzlement during highly competive pricing wars. I had begun putting myself through college that year. Facing what I thought was a temporary rough patch, I amped up my working hours to fill in the gaps at home. That turned into a 80-work week + full course load situation for the next four years. “Just to get us through,” I thought.Â
In 2003, Grandma was diagnosed and bedridden with late-stage Alzheimers. She was no longer in touch with the same reality as the rest of us. Trapped in her own world, she often looked at us, and saw ghosts from her childhood. We took care of her until her death three years later. I bought a brand new car this year and paid more than I can ever admit out loud for individual car insurance. *tsk tsk* This was one of my more spectacularly poor money decisions. Refusing to stay on the family plan thinking that it made me more independent was just dumb.
In 2004, Mom was diagnosed with diabetes. After my graduation from college this year, I took a job locally instead of moving to the East Coast to pursue a career, and stayed to support them a little while longer. My new job paid for my train commute so my car essentially retired from work for the next 4.5 years.Â
In 2006, I started this blog under a different pseudonym. Debt repayment was a regular part of my life by this point. I was working on paying down the first $7000 of my parents’ credit card debt, and had purchased a new truck for my brother’s use. He had agreed to pay me back if I would finance it under my name. Big honkin’ HA! If that wasn’t enough, I was about to make a few more pretty big financial mistakes for my family’s sake after that.Â
By 2007, I had shouldered 99% of the financial responsibilities at home. I made the monumental error of lending them $20k as starting capital for a business. The bleakness in my dad’s eyes, as he reflected on his inability to earn a sufficient wage, when he asked me to make the loan was what pushed me to say yes. Around this time, I realized that 12-hour work days for the foreseeable future made zero sense considering my expertise and responsibility levels. I pushed for a major raise that my bosses agreed that I’d earned ten times over. 8 months later, my salary went up 70%.
Stress, anxiety, depression, uncontrolled diabetes + other unidentifiable health issues (like the stroke)sent Mom into a tailspin and she could no longer be left alone for fear she would hurt herself, inside or wandering outside, get horribly lost or set the house on fire. Dad served as a caretaker for Mom for the next four years, housekeeping and doing odd jobs to bring in some money while I remained responsible for bringing home the real bacon.Â
By 2008, I’d paid off the $20k folly, faced some hard facts about my family, and was well on my way to building a solid core of savings. I’d need it because this was the year my job became intolerable, and we were going to be laid off some time in the murky future. Job hunting began in earnest.
It’s a work in progress, and always will be because I do get the gimmes. Once upon a time I had to pinch pennies like a total Scrooge to make sure bills were paid in full, on time. Now, I’m allowed a few goodies, but I’m totally the mouse from If You Give a Mouse A Cookie so I believe in conscious spending. VERY conscious spending.
Careful money management and determination was absolutely key to maximizing my opportunities.
Now in my late 20s, I’m focused on making the best of what life serves up while building as secure a financial foundation as possible. Budgeting and maximizing income opportunities will always be part of my life because I want financial freedom.Â
I want to be free to make the right choices, not for the sake of money.Â
I had a financial conversation with a colleague recently. ’twas random, we don’t usually talk money. He was on his way to open a new account over at Wells Fargo so that he could move his money out of WAMU, and I dismissively joked that as long as he had less than $100k in there, he’d be fine. Stressed, he said that he DID have more than that in there.
Yipes! I immediately, reflexively, scolded him, and then asked, “why Wells?” After all, they’re the one bank I remember as consistently charging the most and highest fees of all the major banks. It turns out, he says, they’re one of the few banks doing relatively well.
We chatted for some time about banks, online and B&M, and I had a hard time believing that he knew nothing about online banks. He’s understandably nervous, since he apparently isn’t very financially involved, so he just wants protection for his money. I can understand wanting to protect yourself, but I cautioned him not to settle for the first thing that seems safe just because he’s desperate for safety. Also, that’s what causes bank runs!
I advised him to look at INGDirect, Emigrant Direct, HSBC Direct, and FBNO Direct to get an idea of what kinds of online banks and services are available to him.
He wanted to know how I know that ING is safe. Well, darlin’, no bank is ironclad safe, but I don’t see any evidence that ING was offering the kinds of creative, “exotic” mortgages that all the big (B&M) boys were. At least it appears they didn’t participate in the bad-debt-generating feeding frenzy, so we know that’s good. Their primary business seems to be savings vehicles like their Electric Orange and savings accounts, CDs, and basic mortgages.
After we hung up, I realized: what am I doing giving somewhat superficial financial advice to someone has actual money to worry about? My net worth is less than his small change in the bank! Good grief.
I know he started picking my brains, but I felt a tad irresponsible for not assessing the situation more properly, asking more questions, and working with some actual data before making suggestions. Who’s to say I’m ready to play with big boys’ money?
All of that got me thinking: What DO you do when you have that kind of money (in the six figures)? What should you do if you had upwards of $100k in cash at the bank? I wouldn’t imagine that it would all be cash sitting in a savings account, right? My immediate reaction would be that some of it should be locked up in some high-interest bearing CDs, and a certain amount would have to stay in liquid cash savings accounts, but what about the rest of it?
The main goals would be 1) maximizing interest earnings while 2) keeping the money as safe as possible. Both conditions would have to be fulfilled when picking banks. Part of keeping that money safe is diversifying banks so that if one fails, I still have access to money at another one that is (I hope!) still functioning. Another part of that is making sure that all assets are insured by the FDIC: this means keeping the balances below the 100k limit. Theoretically, this isn’t playing-with-stocks-money, this is all savings.
If you had $150,000 in cash, how would you divvy it up and where would it go?
I’d keep $30K in savings accounts, at ING, for emergencies. Next, ING has an 18-month CD at 4.5% APY so I’d take them up on that for $50k, leaving myself a $20k FDIC cushion. After that? I’m not sure. Another $50 would probably be stashed at ED, at 3% APY. That leaves me with $20k. Without doing more research, I’d be tempted to leave the remaining $20k at Emigrant, but I still don’t have a regular B&M in this plan. So I could leave most of that $20k at ED, and a few thousand in a checking account like my Citibank account for paying bills.
I would also consider the Charles Schwab Bank which seems to have solid financial footing right now, and very little credit losses.
If I wasn’t certain about the amounts I already had in the banks, if I wasn’t just-now divvying up and depositing my money which is a more likely scenario than suddenly finding a sack of hundreds of thousands of dollars, I would use EDIE the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator to determine how much I had in FDIC covered banks, and make my moves accordingly.
Whew! There’s a whole lot of work involved in managing wealth. I guess it might be true what they say: the more money you have, the more time you have to spend thinking about it. Or at least, you definitely have to have a plan if you want to protect that hard-earned money.
I was recipe hunting last night (with the help of blogging puppy) because I’ve been in the mood to cook. For the last two weeks, I’ve been all about the steak: ribeye, prime rib, Santa Maria style BBQ. That last has been on my mind ever since my dear friend surprised us with a dinner party. Yummm ….
After looking at the price of steak, however, and of the green veggies that I was craving (green beans and asparagus) I’m reconsidering the entree. I know that shrimp is just as costly per pound, but I can use less of it in each dish.
I found this positively luscious recipe over at Closet Cooking for Thai Lemon Shrimp.
Ingredients: 1 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined) 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce 1 lemon (juice and zest) 3 kaffir lime leaves (sliced, substitute lime zest) 1 teaspoon chili sauce 1 tablespoon fish sauce 3 cloves garlic (chopped) 1 teaspoon palm sugar (or brown sugar) 1/4 cup coconut milk 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
Directions: 1. Marinate the shrimp in the sweet chili sauce, lemon juice, lemon zest, kaffir lime leaves, chili sauce, fish sauce, garlic and sugar for 10 or more minutes. 2. Heat a pan. 3. Add the shrimp, the marinade and the coconut milk and simmer (not boil) until the shrimp are cooked, about 2-3 minutes. 4. Remove from heat and mix in the cilantro.
I swear Kevin has a positive genius for finding delectable recipes, and most helpfully suggests a substitution for the kaffir lime leaves which are a bit difficult for me to find. I think it’d be an awesome contender in the cook off in New Orleans. I love love love fresh seafood, and even more so when it’s been locally harvested in an ecologically sound manner. After all, as much as I love to feed my tummy, knowing that there will be enough for years to come is just as important.
Do you have a go-to seafood dish that you would suggest? Or have any variations on the theme that I could try? I’m open to all new ideas!
Feedburner revealed that I do not, in fact, only have five or six readers, I have a few more than that! Your secret is out, friends, you are there! And that makes me (even more) curious than I usually am about who might be reading this blog, and why I haven’t heard from many (?) of you. Even though I’ve been working at this blog for nearly two years now, I’m still excited about comments, and would like to know more about you.
If you’re lurking, please de-lurk and join the conversation!
Tell me, who are you, where are you from, why do you read this blog? What do you like about it? What would you like to see more of? What topics would engage you in conversation?
And a question that’s been on my mind: If you could give someone a windfall, funded entirely by yet another generous soul, who would you give it to? How much, and why? Would there be restrictions on the money or would it be a no-strings attached gift? Again, why?