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 22, 2008
I was just checking on some banking today when Citi’s teaser caught my eye.
The terms:
- A minimum opening deposit of $500 is required for CDs opened online.
- Interest is paid monthly or at maturity for all CDs with terms of one year or less.
- Interest is paid monthly for all CDs with terms greater than one year.
- CDs renew automatically at maturity for the same term at the rate in effect at the time. If you don’t want to renew, you have a 7-day grace period to let us know online, by phone or in writing.
This is a heck of a lot better than my current sub-2% savings rate with Citi’s “high-yield savings” accounts, or at least a bit better than ED’s 2.75% APY.
You can apply online or give them a call.
The timing belt for the family sedan broke last week:
$40, tow
$150, repair
Truck Registration, due June 30th:
$240
Sedan Registration, due August 20th:
$150
Pfoooo! As if gas prices weren’t bad enough, the cars themselves have to get in on the act. That’s going to make a hefty dent into the car maintenance fund, thank goodness I actually have it set up, though. I can’t even imagine pulling my hair out trying to make these bills fit into an already strained budget.
June 21, 2008
Of all the indignities. I’ve been trying to pay my Verizon bill for weeks now, after I changed the account to my name, and they simply won’t let me do it. I called a few times, and was left on hold for a full thirty minutes. No joke, thirty minutes.
When I finally got to someone, they told me that I didn’t have a new account number yet, and no bill either, so I couldn’t pay. But, I protested, I want to pay my OLD bill. Please?
No go. They put me on interminable hold, as well.
I even tried emailing them, pleading for them to let me pay my bill already. Four days later, I still haven’t received a response.
This is infuriating!
Edit (five minutes later): Oh. Duh. I could just write them a check. I’m so trained to pay everything online that I completely forgot that I can actually just …. pay the bill manually. Huh.
June 20, 2008
June 19, 2008
No sooner do I mostly clear up the bloggy debacle, I get an email from my cell phone company saying that access has temporarily been blocked from online access because someone repeatedly, unsuccessfully, tried to log onto my account.
What???
I called, and apparently at 12:28, today, someone was trying to access my accounts.
Either someone really has it in their head that they need to snoop, or Yodlee was trying to log on. I can’t tell which, but I’ve changed all my passwords again. *aigh*
Let this be a lesson to you, folks, protect your passwords and make them nonsensical to anyone but yourselves!
For $3.50, I got some real mileage out of my small pink messenger bag from Target. Gosh, I bought that bag years ago, though it was after college. Well, it’s on its last legs: when reaching for a cable in the side, cell phone pocket, my hand went right through into the main part of the bag.
Just in time, a colleague came to the rescue! We’d been talking about where she gets her bags (she has at least a dozen, probably more, good-sized tote bags) because I’ve just been keeping an eye out. She mentioned that she was planning to get new makeup from Lancome, and they had a free gift of a large bag, and makeup bag with purchase. Since she’s got so many (ahem, high priced) totes, she had no use for the free bag.
It’s absolutely no frills: canvas, with nylon lining inside. No pockets, just the two shoulder straps with a minimal drop. I like it! It’s not the dream bag, of course, but who cares? It’s colorful, it’s sturdy, it’s free!
This will get me through a few more months, and even beach days. With the temperature in the hundreds, I’m not really worried about needing a closed-top bag.
Walking out the door, I caught myself glancing at my closet and assessing what kind of day it would be, and what outfits I could put together for the rest of the week. It seems my lunch organization is bleeding into other areas of my life.
It also seems like after being on a spending and splurging cycle for the last three weeks where I couldn’t stop the budget bleeding out on little things I’d normally control very carefully, I’m back to being content with what I’ve got, and even in the mood to go through and clear things out. Thank goodness!! I’m not into self-flagellation over this stuff, but it’s such a relief to be back in the right mindset that doesn’t undermine my efforts to keep it together.
While my personal damages weren’t on a large scale, it definitely turned into a hefty bill when combined with the insane gas prices. I think the gas expenditures have gone up to about $300+/month! I’ve been diligently trying to reduce other fixed costs to compensate, but I’ve been spending like I have money: going out, the trench coat ($23), going out to lunch last weekend ($10), new shoes ($11), buying a graduation gift for a work friend ($24), and having to give my cousin a fat $50 check for graduation. In short, enjoying life a liiiiitle more than I can afford.
Ok, that last one was not negotiable, I’m the only cousin who came to the graduation and it’s only fair that I give him what I gave his sister. It’s a family tradition that at least one older cousin will gift the younger cousins a check for their graduations.
It might not seem like much, but when the budget’s stretched tight, it makes a difference. The end of the splurge cycle comes none too soon, because I hate the feeling of treading to keep my head above water.
I had to wonder, why is it so hard for someone who is normally so at peace with being frugal to break out of a spending/splurging mentality? Sure, I figured it was temporary, but heck, I felt like I was in the grips of a six armed bear for a while! I knew I needed to NOT spend money, but there was always a reason that overrode my “Uh, well, you don’t have the budget for that …” hesitation.
And if it’s this hard for me? When I’m accustomed to self denial and maximizing returns and stretching every resource to cover the necessities? Heck, I spent half an hour deciding whether or not to get a haircut this week. Then I realized that after spending over a hundred dollars I shouldn’t have, I should pass on my $14 cut. *sigh* How incredibly hard must it be for people who haven’t had to practice this?
