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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July 16, 2008
*arms raised in victory* I have reached my first milestone: my first hundred dollars earned for my House Down Payment Fund! The money hasn’t quite reached my account yet, so I’m pre-celebrating but I’m really really excited. These haven’t been easy months, and it’s so nice to be able to have reached one goal without sacrificing another one.
It actually feels like I’ve made progress despite all the other obstacles in way, nibbling away bits and edges of my salary, and that’s always good for morale around here.
The next hundred will now be cycled to my Travel Fund, and the next fifty after that will be for the Suit/Clothing Fund. I might add a Laptop Fund, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, and I don’t want to dilute this source too much. Obviously, as Blunt Money just pointed out, saving IS addicting.
I’m on check number 861. That’ll be the rent check, looks like. I had to refresh my checks today, and realized that I still have my very first check register from my very first checking account opened three days after my 18th birthday back in 2000. I’m almost positive that I only waited three days because my birthday was on a Friday and I couldn’t go to the bank until Monday. I was THAT excited to open my very own checking (and savings) accounts.
First transaction: Deposit, $200
First finance-related post it note to self: NO MORE PERSONAL SPENDING! (Even back then ….)
First purchase: Checks, $11.50 (These must have been the bank checks you get when you don’t know better, because on the last page of this register, one year later, I bought checks for $16.50. I’m still using checks from that purchase, 7.5 years later.)
Flipping through that register, I sure did keep meticulous records. They’re even highlighted in some color coding scheme that, I’m sure, meant something very particular back in the day. Have no clue what it means now. I also wrote a whole lot of checks for bills that weren’t my own. Hm.
This is probably going to stay on the protected list when I go through and discard all my old paperwork.
July 15, 2008
Thanks to Karen for this tip:
The Hotels.com “welcomerewards program” is simple. After you use the site to book 10 reservations over the course of a year, you’ll get a free night’s stay at your choice of one of 45,000 hotels. What’s simple is that there are no blackout dates and no restrictions on the type of properties, either for earning a chance at a free night’s stay or for redeeming a reward for a free night’s stay.
Sounds pretty cool! I’ve never used Hotels.com myself, but I may look into this when I need more travel booking options.
Brooke’s post on holding onto old things reminded me that I’d never checked on the pricing of a replacement battery for my old Sony Vaio. (I’d been having new-tech cravings, and had been contemplating getting a new lappie. I was all set to justify it, except that it’s not really justifiable. I want a new laptop that runs perfectly, I don’t need it. Even if I did need it, I don’t have the spare cash for it anyway! So there.) Even though I feel like I can’t trust eBay for something like this, I checked there first, and found nothing.
I Googled it, and found one laptop battery site that lists it for $99. It comes with a 30 day money back guarantee, and a 1 year warranty, shipped new.
Other sites don’t even list the battery needed for this model. (It’s times like this I’m glad that I’m so ridiculously Asian that I left the information stickers on my computer. Quick and easy model reference right under my left wrist!)
Sony doesn’t even have the model number in their database anymore, or at least I can’t find it on their site anywhere.
So how much is too much for a replacement battery? In comparison to the original purchase price, it’s no more than ten percent of the cost of the notebook, but I doubt that the computer’s worth half that price now.
At this point, it’s likely to be more a matter of what’s more worth it: paying $100 for a battery or $XXX for a new computer. Drat. I know that Option A is the most frugal because there’s nothing major wrong with the computer … but I still covet a new lappy. š
July 14, 2008
The total quantity of matter and energy available in the universe is a fixed amount and never any more or less.
Accordingly, the total quantity of clothing available in my closet is also a fixed amount. It might not always happen in the same day or even involve the same type of clothing like this instance, but the total will generally stay constant despite my efforts to pare down.
I went home on Friday feeling *quite* guilty about spending thirty dollars on a basic, white, short sleeved button down shirt, and a cap sleeved shirt for work from Martin+Osa (thanks StackingPennies! :P). I justified, and rationalized, all the way up to hitting the “Order” button, and then felt bad for spending money. Later that night, my friends pointed out that my careless laundering had ruined yet another one of my semi-casual work tees.
Perfect.
Two weeks ago, my white kitten heel sandals broke, and I nearly broke my neck slipping on a sidewalk. A month before that, I’d bought those metallic sandals.
Either there’s really something to this theory, or I’m self sabotaging/selecting, and I can’t tell which is better.
After a few unanswered emails inquiring about the local Toastmasters meetings, I was advised to just go.
Ugh. Really? I have a thing about showing up to events uninvited, unexpected, and uncomfortable. It’s part of my whole thing about talking to people I don’t know.
My friend said “grow a spine, and just go.” With that encouraging push, I screwed up the courage, and drove myself over to the restaurant where I was directed to the back room.
Oy. I dragged my feet a bit, and came home feeling emotionally exhausted from the likely misplaced nervosity, but I’m glad I went. If only so I could come back and tell you that I did grow a spine and went!
They threatened to make me participate in the Table Topics, and gently ribbed me when I said that I couldn’t guarantee that I would not pass out if forced to speak at my very first meeting, and generally welcomed me to observe and explained each part of the meeting so I wouldn’t be too lost. Apparently it was a smaller than usual gathering, which was really nice for my first visit. I’m going to visit their meeting again in a few weeks, as well as some Wednesday night meetings to get a feel for the different clubs and find the one that fits me best.
So far, so good.
July 12, 2008
Ho boy. If this is how tired I am after a night and afternoon of socializing, I’m going to be in trouble at the end of this month when I’m going to be on the road for 8 days. I’m an inveterate correspondent, and I don’t even want to look at emails I intended to respond to, today. That’s how tired I am. My brain is *done* with talking to people. Well, why are you posting? you ask? Because you’re not just any people, you’re MY people. š
A girlfriend was back in town last night, and I haven’t seen her since the wedding in January when we certainly didn’t get a chance to really socialize at all. She invited everyone over to dinner, and five of us sat down to the most amazing home cooked dinner ever. When did we grow up and when did she learn to set a table like that??? It was in-cred-i-ble!!!
Picture this:
A platter of sliced beef, brisket style.
Baked beans in lightly spiced barbeque sauce.
Perfectly crisp green beans.
Fresh, crisp, sliced cucumbers, with a squeeze of lemon and dash of salt.
Ripe, red, succulent tomatoes.
Roasted baby potatoes.
Freshly baked, made from scratch, apple tart, with homemade bechamel sauce.
Heaven. Sheer gastronomic heaven. Everything was fresh, picked from the garden or from the farmer’s market. I made a total pig of myself, and doubled up on helpings of everything. And there were still leftovers! We had a red wine from Paso Robles, and an Australian white. Seriously, it’s one thing to pretend I’m an adult and drink wine with the grown-ups at work functions, but there’s something strikingly poignant about realizing that we were staging our very own dinner party. Nothing so formal and constrained as one with place cards and hostess gifts and such, but still the real deal. Conversation went ’round and ’round the table, taking everyone in turn, telling our stories, catching up on lives. There was a lot of love and a whole lot more laughter as everyone gave everyone else a hard time. It’s comforting to know that there are still relationships that are just easy after so many years.
Then, today, we had our little college reunion lunch. The college pal that I kept in touch with and I were kicking around ideas a few months ago and I proposed that we get the old gang together. It took a lot of coordination and calls, but we pulled it together and got six of our nine intended guests to show up for lunch today. Actually, that sounds like they weren’t interested, but I think everyone was happy that we’d put this together. I think it was quite a success: we laughed and talked for FOUR HOURS. We never even got around to catching up, we were just enjoying each others’ company and telling funny stories and picking on one another like the old days. It felt like hardly a day had passed since we graduated four years ago. Everyone’s changed a little. I could see it. We aren’t those gangly 20-year-olds anymore, and there was some complexity in their eyes, some sadness that wasn’t shared, and a little tentativeness that was only mostly covered up by banter. I think we’d all forgotten what it was like to have fun, just stupid, loud, dumb, funny, gratuitous fun. That might be why we were just happy to be together, and we’ll be doing it again.
If only I weren’t so busy for the next several weeks…. but I’m going to be out of town or otherwise engaged every weekend from next weekend through the end of August. Eeep! My schedule is actually pretty daunting, but I plan to milk it for all I can. Who knows how much longer I’ll be in the area or have a stable income from this job! Oh, don’t worry, I’m not trying to spend it all now or anything, I just want to reconnect to people and remember what it’s like to have a life. It’s going to be important to find that confidence again for interviews and finding a new job!
Anyway, I found myself unable to keep my eyes open after I finally got home after 4 pm. Eventually I caved to the inevitable and just napped. Mmmm…sleep….
