About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
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August 19, 2009
They’re back, now.
As a former FatWallet Grocery Forum frequenter, and a fairly avid couponer for some years, I
know the value of a price point. Knowing the best price you should get for products keeps shopping levelheaded and budget-friendly. Even if the gimmes strike, the impulse buys are tempered by the internal price book. [Or the little black book where the best TP prices (after double coupon and sale) are recorded.]
For example, $3.99 is the usual price for a pound of asparagus: too much. When stores are motivated to move the asparagus, they’ll sell for as little as 99 cents per 1-lb bundle. That’s usually the lowest the supermarkets go around here, so $1.99 is an acceptable off-season price when the pantry is decidedly starch and protein-heavy.
For other products, clothing, accessories and the like: almost-broke student budgety price points. There are slight variations depending on the merchant, ie: Target versus department stores. Still, that doesn’t excuse the Macy’s version of merchandising where a junior’s day dress might be priced anywhere from $60-$100. In my book, page 4 of the Clothing section, that’s a no go since when the sales and coupons roll around? You can get those very same dresses, assuming your sizes are still available, for as low as $12-$16! Dresses are not a necessity, I’m willing to take the risk.
My few purchases before the layoff, though, whew! I upsold myself in Richter scale fashion.
- There was the much beloved bag purchase several months ago for 60% off = still above my price point by a factor of ten.
- There was the dress from Gilt.com [$150], plus the cost of tailoring [?].
- There was the bespoke dress from a dressmaker on Etsy [$192], which also required tailoring [$22].
And there’s the netbook I’ve been yearning after. Priced out at~$400, I’m still safe from that imprudent purchase, but all the travel of late had got me thinking that $200 was a reasonable price. [As my friend said about a shoulder bag, “if you like it.” Um, what?? It’s a purse!]
Granted, the netbook is a piece of technology so it’ll cost more than Payless shoes, but when on earth did my price points migrate to “$200 is an acceptable price” on more than just electronics?
(I can’t even blame it on the Recessionary Sales a la Free Money Finance.)
Well, I’m just glad they’re back now, I can’t afford that luxuriant lifestyle quite yet!
August 18, 2009
Has anyone out there got experience they’d like to share about their printer all-in-one favorites or least favs?
As much as I hate to add to my pile of Stuff here, an all-in-one printer is essential to prevent the stockpile of paper records from taking over my life again.
I started my reduction-of-paper quest some time ago, but there weren’t any good deals to be had at the time so a friend offered up her printer/scanner. I loved it, btw, but it’s more than time to get one of my own so I don’t have to keep bothering her as the inevitable paper mail trickles in.
Perusing the Staples ads, and Fatwallet of course, HP had some pretty good offers but a friend warned me off: his HP AIO, and a number of others according to the help forums, have problems with retaining wireless connectivity. Or working.
I liked the looks of a couple of the Lexmark and Brother models in terms of technical specs, not so much for aesthetic reasons, but the deals were lackluster.
My requirements are not many:
Flatbed scanner with an Auto Document Feeder
Wireless capability
Double sided printing (manual is fine)
Separate ink cartridges preferable
Less than $100
Lightweight: less than 18 lbs?
So far, the only AIO that looks remotely like matching the wish list is the Epson Workforce 310
available from Frys.com or Staples.com for $89.99 after coupon. Black ink carts run about $18, and color packs are $37 for all three colors (CMY), or about $13 per color.
I’d also heard good things about the Brother brand, and this Brother MFC-490CW model doesn’t look half bad, either. The printer is the same price, but the ink carts are a bit pricier. The auto feed capacity is only half that of the Epson at 15 pages, but that shouldn’t be a dealbreaker since the scanning pile is relatively controlled.
And what is this “cable NOT included business,” anyway?
Thoughts?
August 16, 2009
- I have comfortable shoes to wear when trying to run/jog/walk/gasp my frustration and claustrophobia off, so my feet don’t hurt. Just the rest of me.
- Vinegar seemed to make my laundry a bit brighter?
- Oiling the locks DID make my key work without the usual wrist-grinding, finger-jamming frustration and yelling at the door. And the occasional kick. Awesome.
- I am super out of shape.
- Considering internship + education route, something I’ve wanted for a long time but is now the right time? Can’t sit still for much longer, but it won’t be the massive change I crave.
August 14, 2009
FB’s post on keeping up with her credit card transactions explains a very similar technique I used when my family was still involved in my finances.
They had credit card debt, half of which had been balance-transferred to my name, they had regular rent/utilities bills which weren’t always covered by their income, they had loans from me, the list ran on for some length.
My finances became this huge non-linear web: income (mine) – outflow (mine) – income (parents) – outflow (theirs) + income (mine) to cover their outflow – outflow (brother’s) + income (mine) to cover his inadequate or non-existent income.
To make things even more complicated, there were debts I’d forgiven, there were new debts accumulated, there was irregular income, irregular overtime, and periods of non-payment. The budgeting calendar was a hot mess!
Eventually, the best way to coordinate things during the time before business credit cards (to divide and track our purchases by user) was to tally each deposit and outgoing check by highlighter and separate transactions.
Every single payment from the family was labeled by name (Dad), amount ($50), reason (loan), and type (cash). While the check ledger was never reconciled in the traditional sense, each outgoing cash loan was recorded, and later struck through once a payment was recorded and
color-coded.
Nowadays, payments are only bundled when I’m scheduling them for bills to be paid out within the same week, preferably in the same day.
As long as a quick glance shows that each transaction is accounted for, I don’t have to worry about running short on funds, overdrawing, or any such thing. Saves me time and fuss, it’s my form of automation.
Ms. Ginger touched on this yesterday in her combo confessional and fix-it post. She and I must be channeling each other this week. 😉
August 13, 2009
Aside from the spending reports from my recent travel, let’s just say I’ve … been paying so little attention to my cash flow that I have no idea how much I’ve spent this month. But that’s not the worst part – I’ve been going out sporadically, but no more than once or twice a week, and for pretty low-key stuff. Local burger joint, and suchlike.
No, my real stupidity is located in the travel reservation part of life. During my most hectic lead-up to two weekends ago, I made reservations at a Best Western for a single night stay in the middle of nowhere because that’s where an old friend was getting married. After days of squeezing in hotel and rental car research between other obligations, my travel companion and I came to the realization we just couldn’t afford it.
Cue: cancel the hotel reservation. Right? RIGHT???
Oh no. THIS idiot forgot about it completely.
Seriously. 100% completely forgot it until a note of the $98 transaction popped up on Yodlee charged to my trusty new credit card. When the truth dawned on me, I was as wordless as a much less cheerful Andy Runton’s Owly …..
“????” I said.
Then “!!!!!”
You may not think it’s physically possible to kick oneself and hang head in shame at the same time, but it is. Oh, it is. (“!!!!!”)
Now I’d better creatively replace that money. (“……”)
This is what happens when you stray from routine: mistakes that cost you big money. Normally everything that has a cancellation date is recorded meticulously on the day of the call, as well as on the day that I have to make the cancellation call by. My planner, however, has been languishing on my desk since July 1st, and that’s all my fault.
August 12, 2009
Evidently, according to reader K of Frugal Zeitgeist, only those unemployment claims filed before June 15th are eligible for the massively extended benefits.
Since K is in NYC, I figured I’d better check out the CA site to make sure I know what’s what. According to the informational PDF, Miss M is right that the claims balance is the amount I can claim before running out of money:
The maximum amount of a regular UI claim is either 26 times the claimant’s weekly benefi t amount or one-half of the claimant’s base period wages, whichever is less.
Both the Federal government and California have their own extended benefits programs that will kick in:
only when unemployment is very high. This program pays additional benefits to those who qualify and have collected all of the benefits on their regular claims and
who are not eligible for any other UI claims. The EDD will notify individuals by mail and/or through the media when they become potentially eligible for these benefits.
Under Fed-ED, claimants who have exhausted their regular UI claim may be eligible to collect up to 13 additional weeks of compensation if a Fed-ED period is in effect. Once activated, the Fed-ED period must continue in effect for at least 13 weeks. When the program is deactivated, it must remain inactive for at least 13 weeks.
And then for California:
California has its own state-financed extended benefits program. The benefits paid under this program are from the state UI fund. The trigger mechanism for the Cal-ED program is similar to Fed-ED. Under either Cal-ED or Fed-ED, an individual receives up to one-half of the regular UI base claim. Therefore, any claimant who has
received the full amount of extended benefits on a Fed-ED claim cannot qualify for a Cal-ED claim based on the same base claim.
Obviously I don’t PLAN to remain unemployed for so long that I need to use the extended benefits programs, but it’s best to be informed.
August 11, 2009
On the matter of delaying my COBRA coverage: I knew there was a reason I kept all the paperwork!
It turns out that I was just delaying the inevitable. According to page 7 of my rather fat stack of papers here, I am NOT (and I assume that includes you, Funny) exempt from making the retroactive payments on these intervening months since leaving my former place of employ.
As they say …
This initial payment premium is for the retroactive coverage period from the date of loss of coverage to the date you elect continuation coverage.
That’s disappointing.
