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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May 1, 2008
It’s Thursday. Just one more day, and I’ll have made it through the week without buying lunch! Well, there was that roll I bought yesterday to create a sandwich, but that was because I didn’t know PaDucky neglected the carb portion of my meal.
Monday: The larger half of my burrito from Friday. It only made it to Monday because I forgot it here. But it was still delicious! Probably because our mini-fridge is much like a freezer.
Tuesday: PaDucky’d wanted to make my lunch, but assumed that my grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s on Monday meant I didn’t want it. Unfortunately, he didn’t ask or tell me, so I got an unpleasant surprise leaving for train this morning that I had no lunch. Grabbed a Jeno’s pizza and had a very junior high-esque lunch.
Wednesday: Got the promised beef’n’onions stir fry with a tupperware of broccoli, but no carbs! Had to pick up a roll, and sliced tomatoes, from the local grill to make a fake tri-tip steak sandwich: $1. Packed up the remaining for next day’s lunch.
Thursday: Brought an enormous container of rice to go with my leftovers from yesterday …. am seriously craving the cafeteria’s macaroni and cheese. Have been craving mac’n’cheese all week, but resisted. I can practically taste it. Resisted limply, resisted on principle, almost broke down based on having spent only a dollar all week, but ultimately resisted.
How to deal? I think I’m going to make some Kraft mac when I get home tonight, and pack it up for tomorrow. It’s nothing like the cafeteria’s hot, fresh, gooey, crusty cheese completely smothering penne pasta, but it’s in the pantry, and it’ll keep me from spending $2.17 on a side order.
I have no idea why I’ve decided to make a stand on this particular issue, right now, but hey. Gas prices being what they are, I might as well save whatever I can, whenever I can.
In fond remembrance of my own money and sleep related goof up, I thought I’d share my coworker’s sleep-related angst. Neither she nor I are coffee drinkers, she goes for a hot cup of tea when in need of a hot bev, but this morning, it took her three tries to get it together enough to figure out which hot beverage carafe contained NOT COFFEE with which to steep her tea bag(s):
April 30, 2008
If I’d read this post yesterday, and known to fill out Form PD F 5374 yesterday, I could have sent PaDucky to the bank to purchase paper bonds for me. Instead, I banked on getting my Access card in the mail by today, which I miraculously did, and proceeded to input my password incorrectly at the website, and lock myself out of my brand new account.
Argh!
No savings bonds with a decent interest rate for Ms. Miniducky. Boo.
Called Treasury Direct and left them a message in a futile gesture, hoping that thye really would call me back tonight and that the recording “Please leave your information, the customer service representatives are all busy now but they will call you back.” wasn’t just a cruel cruel tease. Yay.
It wasn’t. Yay.
I missed the call. Boo.
I called back, and they actually picked up! Yay.
I managed to reset the account. Yay.
I started my transaction, and the confirmation page said, “We may have moved your purchase date to the following business day.
May 1, 2008.” Boo!
So, in the end, still nada.
And just to rub a little NaCL in that wound, it turns out you can only convert paper bonds when they send you an invitation to do so!
Boooo!
What do you guys think of this one? It’s $24, at Ebags, with a $5.50 shipping charge.
The dimensions are 14″ x 6″ x 9″ but I’m not entirely sure what the material is … it’s listed as croc embossed PVC.
Features:
Flap top open with magnetic closures
Cotton twill lining
Interior includes back wall zippered pocket as well as two front wall open top pockets
Croc wrapped handles
Exterior front wall pocket with magnetic snap closure and buckle
Drawstring side ties allowing for expansion if needed
Silver hardware accenting and bottom feet to protect from wear
Strap drop 4″
While I’d much prefer not spend real money, the stores I’m looking at simply don’t have the selection and this is pretty close to what I want. I can’t be sure without actually touching it, but that’s not an option 😛 They do have free returns though …
| Retirement Savings |
Rollover IRA: $1,357
Roth IRA: $3,669
401(a): $3,742
403(b): $16,129
Total: $24,897
|
| Emergency Savings |
15,004
|
| Goal Oriented Savings |
Car Maintenance: $21
Savings for taxes: $4,800
Total: $4,821
|
| Investment Loans |
Prosper-ish: $12,630
Personal Loan: $5,000
Total: $17,630
|
| Total Assets |
Non-Liquid: $24,897
Semi-Liquid: $17,630
Liquid: $19,825
Expense Acct: $3,691
Total: $66,043
|
| Debt and Liabilities |
Truck: $5,847
Citi: $2229
American Express: $153
Chase: $358
Rent: $1,360
Total: $9,589
|
| Net Worth |
$56,454
|
Most of my gains were due to retirement contributions during the two months between this and the last snapshot I put together. I’m surprised that I, at least, kept the amounts I contributed, considering the market’s performance. Still need to re-examine my allocations, using Moom‘s Madame X series as a guide.
I’ve paid my tax bill, which was offset by a state refund, so the cash situation is half settled. I haven’t received my rebate yet. At that point, I think I’ll decide what to do with the lump sum of tax savings money. It’s mainly going to be divvying it up between the other smaller savings/expense accounts that have been neglected until now: auto maintenance was drained, insurance is perpetually lonely, the intermediate emergency fund has been languishing, and a little has to be set aside for upcoming Con. If there’s anything left after those are taken care of, I’d love to open a vacation/fun fund. That’ll be a first!!
Oh, and I need a moving out fund. I vaguely envisioned funding that from paychecks and miscellaneous income through the rest of this year, since the other major savings goals may be set. Regardless of the source, I need to set an actual number for that.
After confessing to carrying around a bright pink mini-messenger bag, I’ve shamed myself into admitting that it’s time to find a grown up bag. The problem is that I want to find The Perfect Bag that will suit every need and circumstance, and thereby prevent me from having to buy another bag for at least five or ten years. Not too big, not too soft, but juuuust right.
This could take a while. I spent an hour looking at bags at Macys.com to get an idea of the shapes and sizes I like. While I knew there were a few features that I liked, I haven’t ever committed to an actual list of requirements, and keep ending up with a variety of low-end, good-enough-for-now bags.
Loves
1. A flap, or zip top to ensure the safety of the contents, from thieves and the rain. I hate it when my planner gets soaked because I’ve got an “open face” bag.
2. An outside zipper pocket for keys, iPod, lip balm or phone. Whatever I happen to want easy access to at the moment. Preferably not completely flat against the side so that the item doesn’t have to be forcibly stuffed into the pocket, nor will it create an unsightly bulge.
3. A wide bottom. Preferably at least 5″, if not a little more.
4. Lightweight. I’m already going to be lugging a bunch of stuff around IN the bag, I don’t need to start off tipping the scales with the bag alone.
5. Of course, this is contradicting the previous item, but I’d like the material to be leather, or something that looks very much like it. I know leather’s not the only quality material, but a nice leather will wear well through the years.
6. Between 13-16″ in length, and at least 8″ in height. I should to be able to fit a folder in there to keep my paperwork from getting beat up.
7. Sleek lines.
8. Longer straps so the bag can go on my shoulder.
Hates
1. A ton of buckles, chains, trendy little clip ons, prints, or any other faddish sort of thing. I want this to be a classy timeless bag.
2. Hard straps with an inflexible material inside. I had a really nice leather bag a few years ago, but the materials used inside the straps were hard which made them look nice, but they cut into my shoulders horribly, until they gave into the constant use and just broke. Then the straps looked awful because the leather bent and creased around the broken bits. It looked like chunks of pipe inside a sock.
3. Easily damaged material, inside or out. I’m hard on my things, and expect them to stand up under heavy use and travel. It also drives me nuts when they use a really cheap poly/nylon fabric inside, either as lining or for the pockets, and it frays or spontaneously develops holes.
4. Center divider pocket. Can’t stand ’em.
So what might this most awesome of bags look like? I really like the Diane Von Furstenberg shape and size, from the Runway Luggage Collection, but can’t see spending $100 on a nylon tote bag. On the other hand, is it unlikely that I’ll find a bag that’s light enough for my taste (no more than a pound), in the size I want, in leather?
These models from Talene Reilly are very close to what I’m looking for, but I think they all have that center protective pocket that I don’t like. Oh, and they’re 4x as much as I’m willing to spend.
The first one is Sydney. She’s 15″ x 14″ x 4.5″ with a 9.5″ handle drop. The second one is Reese. She’s 16″ x 13″ x 5″ with a 10.5″ handle drop. Actually, I think Reese may not qualify because I can’t tell if the top closes securely.
And this is what their interiors look like.
Edit: Since I wrote this post, the Diane von Furstenberg bag has been reduced to $45. I think it’s still a bit pricey. I’d use a gift card, am I setting my standards too high and price point too low?
April 29, 2008
Continuing the spending trend, I ordered a universal car charger for my phone from Meritline yesterday using the coupon code: NSUCT4OFF.
Originally priced at $6.99 with the $4 off, it came to $3.24, and I’ll get 1% Fatcash and 2% Citi TY points on the transaction. I went with the cheaper universal charger even though it requires me to supply the data cable connection to the phone because the more convenient charger was $11.
I wish I had waited, though, because that one went on sale today for $10.99 with a 60% off. All of 40 cents more, but I would only have to carry the single charger, and not the charger plus the data cable. Hrm. Should I exchange it?
Oh well. I’m not willing to pay more [postage plus restocking fee (15%) plus difference in price] for convenience.
On a happier note, I bought myself a lovely treat at Trader Joe’s last night. In addition to the usual half gallon of milk and a dozen eggs ($1.99, $1.49), I picked up a package of sweet pork italian sausage and a package of fresh pesto tortellini ($2.99, $1.99) to make sausage and onion pasta for my lunch tomorrow. The fresh, refrigerated pastas are a bit pricey, but it’s still cheaper than the sausage and pepper pasta I was craving from Macaroni Grill ($11?). I’ll let you know how it turns out!
