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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June 15, 2009
Overspending at the pump: $50. Oww-www!! Gas was $2.95-2.97 this weekend, up about 20-25 cents from 10 days ago. True to form, I didn’t need my car, or to fill up, until after it made the stag-like leap to nearly-unaffordable heights. C’mon folks, about to be unemployed here, can the rising prices be abated even just a little??
I did bring it upon myself, though, making myself available to chaffeur out of towner friends and then visiting Housebound Friend on Crutches 50 miles away all in the same weekend. And there was the bach’ette party that I completely skipped since it both required much more spending on the drinks and clubs, and was located in the desert, 60 miles in the opposite direction. Honestly, I was so tired by Sunday night that I couldn’t remember what day it was, never mind when and where the party was!
Saving at the (Red)box: In an almost laughable attempt to save money, we skipped renting from Blockbuster and the local shop, opting for the Redbox at the grocery store and a free rental coupon emailed to my phone. Savings? $1.08.
Microscopic savings led to more spending: Tricksy! Those Redboxes are inside grocery stores! And they had those Walker shortbread cookies I so love on sale for less than $4 a box. Mmhmm, ten dollars of groceries later, the brilliance of grocery store + Redbox’s marketing plan was another little thorn in my side. Grawr!
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In other news, this LA Times “
Girls’ Guide to Comic Con 2009” is simultaneously patronizing and frou-frou Entertainment Weekly Lite. Wait, those are the same.
I’m not a rabid fan, but I am a fan and reader enough of comics to see that the reviews of possible reasons for “female fandemonium” are based on Hollywoodisms. For example, why girls might swoon over the upcoming Whiteout?
Alex O’Loughlin for ‘Whiteout’
What more do you need than the hunkiest Aussie to ever play the undead … alive and in the flesh? And as long as he uses his real accent, he can talk all about this murder mystery set in Antarctica. Male lead Gabriel Macht isn’t too shabby either.
Really? Aussie Alex and Gorgeous Gabe?? That’s why gals should be intrigued by Whiteout?
Lemme tell you a little something about Whiteout, the comic. It’s a great cop story written by Greg Rucka, illustrated by Steve Lieber, about a woman named Carrie Stetko. She’s the protagonist of the tale, a U.S. Marshal deeply troubled by her past, who has been exiled to Antarctica and become a rare female year-round resident. The story opens as the peace of her retreat is shattered by murders, and a deeper mystery, which she has to investigate amidst suspicions that there is far more to these murders than simple homicide.
Can’t speak for the movie, or the acting, but I can say that the original story is an excellent read, and, if they actually write the script well, a strong, intelligent, complex female lead would be a great reason to be excited about seeing the promotion for this at Con.
NOT because of two possibly passibly pretty faces.
And, how webcomics facilitate learning. Or making of connections: Today’s Questionable Content is both funny, and led me to research the Bechdel Test. Which led me to this post about women in film that totally reflects the attitude I ranted about above.
June 11, 2009
Here’s a new one on me. I slipped on scheduling my Chase credit card payment due to a number of excuses that just don’t matter. The due date was the 9th, and it wasn’t until a day later that I realized that I couldn’t remember paying the bill! I went back and forth with myself, checking banking and bill pay records to make sure it wasn’t just a glitch in my mental matrix.
*ugh* Nope, no record of paying it.
I quickly hopped online, made the necessary transfers to my checking account, and paid the bill, all the while, kicking myself and muttering under my breath about fools being parted from their planners.
In the follow-up phone call to the company to check the potential late fee and finance charge damage, I recalled that the balance due had never showed up in Yodlee. [Full disclosure, I’d been mucking about with my Chase account online and had signed on a number of times in the last two weeks so I knew the due date, it just got lost amidst the meetings, conference calls, and job applications.] I mentioned that I didn’t recall seeing any minimum payment amount listed online, was that just a glitch?
The customer service rep said that for some accounts, they weren’t requiring a minimum payment and that meant there’d be no late fee. [That’s really odd.] He also said that there would only be finance charges for the time elapsed between the due and payment dates, but he was sure that it’d be waived because of my activity history.
Chase was roundly berated earlier this year for charging $10 monthly service fees, and had to refund millions, but I had no idea that this other practice of not charging minimums even existed. Of course, the rep said not to count on it because he didn’t know what the rules were regulating the exceptions. That just makes me think he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Has anyone else seen this before? Heard of it?
June 9, 2009
It’s June 9th.
I still haven’t gotten feedback or follow-up from the place I really really want to hear from, and I have a couple anemic freelance options to consider.
One is a lock but it’s just a favor for a family friend, a one-off deal that I could probably complete in a solid week.
The other is something I really don’t want because it’s going to a huge mess to navigate (workload + politics — TONS of politics) but it may come down to that or unemployment. I’d rather put off the latter for a while longer if there’s a solid financial advantage to making this commitment. We’re in talks this week. A very “we’ll see” situation.
I’ve done my best to keep maintain Zen-mode since the end of last month but it’s slipping from my grasp like a wiggly water toy you play with at the Discovery Channel Store.
The delicate fabric of that calm is revealed when those closest to me ask the most innocent questions about my plans or job situation. It feels something like a vise of atmospheric pressure closing in, reminding me that I still haven’t got my life ordered properly and by the way, young lady, what do you intend to do with your life when you grow up? I’m not sure which movie character menacingly delivers that line, but I’m properly chastised/chagrined every time.
No answer, I’m afraid. But I’ll repair the bastions of calm and move along my day. Trying not to fret too much about the terrifying maw of a completely unscheduled life after a date three weeks into the future.
Strange. Writing about it is rather calming.
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.
🙂
June 4, 2009
Every time I get set in my financial plan, I turn my mind one-quarter turn to the right and find myself seeing it in a slightly, or wholly, different way. That change of focus is, in many cases, a good thing.
So … I thought I had too much cash? No, not really, it was more like I finally realized that my previous worrying was excessive. Not unjustified, just rather obsessive. I am a slightly obsessive personality. Normally, I vent, develop a game plan, set the course and go! This time, I tinkered with the game plan, started off and kept second, third, and fiftieth guessing myself. For months. No wonder I was going slightly mad.
No small part of that is that there’s enough uncertainty in the job market, aside from the rather certain rejections I’ve had, to keep me guessing about how confident I should be.
More, reading articles about folks who planned well, saved, and still couldn’t find a job after months and even years of pounding the pavement catalyzed panic mode. I could literally taste my every fear coming to life: of following my family’s footsteps into unemployment and drudgery, of being the last bastion of support, and spiraling into financial and health failures … just like they did.
That’s one reason I haven’t even mentioned the layoff date to my family. I have no answers for them, other than unemployment +savings, and I can’t even mention the savings because my lousy brother will take that as an excuse to coast even more. The irony, of course, is that I’m hiding a major life event from my family that I support and still live with, yet I still haven’t forgiven my dad for lying to me about his job losses and indebtedness.
After spinning my mental wheels for a while, that steam wears out and leads to more productive thinking like, I can probably take a little of that stash and start investing now. I know that I haven’t maxed out either of my retirement vehicles yet, but with a dwindling income stream, I’d prefer not to lock up any more cash in the 403(b)/401(a)/Roth.
I’ve been wanting to buy some dividend stocks for years. Not on a grand scale. But what am I waiting for? Someone to take my hand and lead me through it? That’s not how I operate and that’s definitely not how I learn. I can read all I want about the schools of thought behind investing, but what I want is basic: to create income and protect assets. I’m looking for dividends and lower prices for companies that are basic and sound.
The temptation is to do it up big: throw five grand in the pot and create a diversified portfolio right from the get-go. But that dips far too heavily into the emergency pot for something that is essentially a business venture, non-essential, and a bit of an analgesic for the financial fear that swamps my common sense every so often.
So! The plan: open up an account with TradeKing using a referral from Sun at The Sun’s Financial Diary, deposit $1000, and buy some stocks. And hold them. No day trader am I.
Simple. Quick, except for setting up the ACH transfer capability which has always seemed rather primitive to me. Easy.
It’s all about finding the comfortable zone between being ultra-safe and taking some risks. I’m not going to get anywhere by stashing all my money in retirement accounts and CDs, nor will I throw caution to the wind. It’s just time to get in the game. More importantly, it’s time to work on things I can do.
June 3, 2009
Remember how happy I was when I finally rolled over my Rollover IRA?
The pure joy may perhaps be less than obvious, but it was there, I promise. About three weeks after that happy occasion, I received Another Statement from my former brokerage. Wha?
Two cents. A dividend of two cents paid out into the account that was safely and finally closed, keeping it open. Then Chase, in their ongoing brand conversion, opened up a brokerage account for me funded by those two cents. I could just imagine trying to do something with that two cents and being charged another annual service fee. AUGH.
Grumpiness and inertia kept me from doing a darn thing about it until I received a Welcome to Our Brokerage Services! letter yesterday, complete with account number and phone number.
A few minutes later, a friendly fellow with Chase Brokerage services ran a solution by me: write off the two cents and close the account. Yes!! Thank you. They can have that two cents if it means one less account for me to deal with.
June 2, 2009
Blissfully Domestic is giving away one lovely Vivianne Tam HP Mini from Intel.
I hadn’t admitted it here yet, but I’ve been ogling Minis wherever I see them, and have firmly slapped my own wrist a number of times for wanting to pet them … and then own one! Especially since my new laptop from December would be decidedly jealous if I actually went out and purchased a travel sized. But winning one in a contest would be A-ok!
The contest ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, June 8, 2009. One winner will be chosen via Random.org. Please read the official contest rules here.