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 23, 2008
If anyone in the Southern California area didn’t have the news on, they probably still realized that it was hot-hot-HOT this weekend.
The news reported on the heat every five minutes: Boy it’s hot out there. Let’s go out to so-and-so at [the beach, the beach or the beach] and report on exactly HOW hot it was. They’d throw a few international travelers on, who all say, of course, they’re here for the CA sun so they love the 104-107 degree weather, and then back to the studio to talk about how hot it still was.
That got old really quickly.
A couple nights ago, it was in the nineties at midnight. Tonight? There’s a coolness in the air I haven’t felt since I stood in front of the air conditioning unit at work. Since I was at a friend’s house, friendsitting all weekend, and basking in their 68 degree, air conditioned house. Since two weeks ago, before this insane heat wave.
Thank you, weather, for finally giving us a break from the constant, stifling heat.
We managed to survive without turning on the a/c once. Thank heavens, because the bills are already cripplingly high.
I don’t know if this is common, but I’m always MUCH slower to replace items that I’ve foolishly misplaced or lost. It’s a combination punishment/hope that it’ll turn up reaction.
I’ve been without my iPhone earphones with microphone set for about a week and a half now because I still can’t believe I was dumb enough to misplace them – I used them everyday! It’s sooo much more convenient than holding the big fat iPhone to my head, and I can much more easily multitask with them. Alas, they still haven’t turned up, so I finally decided that, despite the recent expenses, I need to spend five dollars and get another set.
Unfortunately, Meritline’s not having quite as good a sale on them as when I last looked, so now I’m going to have to wait even longer. Just so long as I get them before July 1st, when our new cell phone laws go into effect.
June 22, 2008
Not to steal Citibank’s thunder, but my curiosity got the better of me. Wamu’s offering an online CD for a slightly shorter term and lower rate. I’m not sure that there’s any real benefit to accepting the lower rate for a month less term, but here ’tis:
Minimum deposit to open and obtain APY is $1,000.00. To obtain the APY for the effective date on the day you apply, the Online CD account must be funded within seven (7) calendar days. If received on or after the eighth calendar day, the then effective date APY will be applied. Certificate of Deposit accounts earn a fixed interest rate and APY for the selected term. Fees may reduce earnings. Penalty for early withdrawals apply. Restrictions and limited servicing apply to Online CDs (See, details above). Programs (including, without limit, fees, rates and features) are subject to change without notice.
If you’re willing to take a much longer term, to the tune of 48 months, you could opt for their 4-year CD at a rate of 4% APY/3.93% APR.
These are online CDs only.
I did like their online savings rates, though. For accounts with less than $10,000, you earn 3.3% APY/3.25% APR. I suppose accounts with more than $10,000 earned more interest once upon a time, but the rates are the same for both categories right now.
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