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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March 7, 2008
Apparently, the bad day wasn’t going to end with the overdraft fees.
Coworker 3 got really sick yesterday and didn’t have a ride home, so I left the office at the same time to give him a lift from the train station.
An hour after I’d dropped him off at home and my dad off at work, I headed to Wamu to deposit some checks that I’d just gotten. And I was using the additional ATM around a dark corner of the bank building, which is creepy enough, when some guy came and stood directly behind me where I couldn’t see him, instead of standing in line where you’re supposed to around the corner. And the Wamu card in my wallet was expired. I took that, and the creepy guy behind me, as a sign to just get out of there.
Only to discover that my mom had gotten another flat tire driving my car. This is the second one in two weeks, the SIXTH one in two years.
Had to go home, pick up the right card, and head back out to other Wamu in town.
And at the less creepy drive-up ATM, the first of my three checks were deposited, and the other two were rejected because I’d “reached my daily limit.” ???? There’s a limit on how many deposits I can make??? I got really hot, but it was almost 8 pm by then, and there was nothing I could do except yell at the machine. So I did. At least I’d deposited the checks in order from greatest to smallest amounts, so it covered the overdrafted amounts and then some.
Finally, upon getting home, I discovered that my old puppy is just failing. He’s not eating anymore, and I’m going to have to make the appointment to take him in to the vet. For you know what. Just thinking it is breaking my heart.
I know I’m not defeated, but it sure feels like it.
At least today’s another day.
March 6, 2008
Two overdraft charges! (I add that exclamation point because I would normally be outraged, but I’m just so tired that I feel utterly dragged down instead.) I just logged onto Yodlee and found one overdraft charge on my main WAMU account, and logged into WAMU to find the second one.
On Sunday, I logged into the car financing site to pay the car note, and even though I remember clicking on the dropdown menu to choose Checking Account #2, which had money in it, they withdrew the money out of Checking Account #1, which did not. I don’t have any way of proving this, and it’s possible I could have really made the mistake myself. The money was withdrawn two days ago, on a particularly trying day, so I hadn’t even logged into Yodlee to check on the status of my accounts. So, one $30 charge.
On top of that, the check I wrote for massage therapy over the weekend was deposited the next day, yesterday, and I missed that completely because there was more than enough money to cash that check. Just not the first, unexpected one. Another $30 charge.
Given the compound stresses of the past six months, and my only just now beginning to deal with them, I think my financial home is beginning to topple because I simply have not concentrated on the million and one things that need tending to. This could have just been a stupid error, but I don’t think I would have made that mistake if I weren’t so distracted by all the things going wrong.
It’s an indication of my fussed mental state that I’m just transferring a large chunk of money from the efund to the overdrawn account and not even dwelling on how to fight for that money back or even on the effects of that stupid mistake.
March 5, 2008
During Little Boss’s absence, I raised an insurrection.
Wait, no, I mean I instituted a fitness plan for the office to work off some of our stress and unhealthy, sedentary habits. We have a terrible habit of eating all day, all the time, at our desks or in the conference room, and just not getting any exercise in or out of the office.
Coworker 1 is the only one who goes to a yoga class regularly. The rest of us are out-of-shape slobs. For Coworkers 2 and 3, I’ve been manning the office while they play tennis in the courts behind our office building. They may not manage much of a rally, but definitely work up a sweat and felt great within a day or two of starting to play. Coworker 3 reports that his rocks of shoulder muscles are loosening up on their own!
Since I can’t play tennis (the arthritis objects), I’d been taking two or three very five-minute breaks throughout the day to do a little kung fu. My kicks were starting to go all over the place, though, and I think that I was starting to practice bad habits because my muscles are still sad and weak, so I stopped and tried something different last week: Monopolized the conference room for about 25 minutes, combining my two 15 minute breaks that I never take, put on some motivational music, and worked through the beginnings of a few forms. It doesn’t require anyone to hold a kicking pad for me, or any company except when I forget the next step in the form. To stave off that frustration, friend K provided some YouTube links of some classmates doing parts of the form, and I get wireless in the conference room, so voila! I have music, reminder video clips if necessary, and a little room to get my blood going. My back was sore for days afterward.
Today, I tried using the tennis courts behind the office building and I like that a little better. It’s a bit exposed, but I get lovely sunshine and more room. No more running into walls for me!
March 3, 2008
| Retirement Savings |
Rollover IRA: $1,395
Roth IRA: $3,743
401(a): $2,834
403(b): $13,773
Total: $21,745
|
| Emergency Savings |
14,132
|
| Goal Oriented Savings |
Car Maintenance: $520
Savings for taxes: $5,225
Total: $5,745
|
| Investment Loans |
Prosper-ish: $12,630
Personal Loan: $5,000
Total: $17,630
|
| Total Assets |
Non-Liquid: $21,745
Semi-Liquid: $17,630
Liquid: $19,877
Total: $59,252
|
| Debt and Liabilities |
Truck: $6,224
Citi – $860
American Express – $356
Chase – $690
Rent – $1,360
Total: $9,490
|
| Net Worth |
49,762
|
I was strongly tempted to skip this month’s roundup because the upcoming expenses listed in Yodlee are so depressingly high that it almost makes the savings above seem inconsequential.
I’ve an upcoming charge for the $500 deductible for the sedan’s repairs due at the end of this week. Argh! This doesn’t even include the other $500 deductible for getting my car fixed before I sell the danged ole truck.
But that would be cheating. And I’m no cheater! I’m facing up to the fact that the bills are far greater than they should be for some reasons beyond my control, like gas prices and my parents driving so very much this past month ($300 on gas alone!!) and the next insurance installment came due, albeit in a much much lower amount, and the car registration on my car was paid.
This is a rough spot, and I’ll get past it. Just gotta keep the chin above water and ride it out. Meantime, I’m eagerly awaiting my supplemental income check to come through, and not so eagerly pondering the payment of taxes. I’m still undecided as to the best way to pay them.
Also, I have to be careful because I’m more susceptible than ever to Sad Spending Syndrome. Even if I’m not going out and spending wads of cash on stuff, I’m still less careful about the little expenses like an odd lunch here or there, or just loosening the purse strings overall because I’m kind of stressed, lonely and/or grieving. I’m only good at controlling expenses when I control the urge to acquire, and that urge is best controlled by a strong sense of satisfaction. Obviously, when stressed, etc., satisfaction isn’t the strongest feeling, so I’ve really got to keep on top of this.
*edit: I prefer to include expenses as liabilities this time, since they will be paid from the assets above instead of just my usually invisible expense account. Also, I’m going to start explicitly stating what my total net worth is.*
March 1, 2008
I meant to go entirely with Option 2 because the water bill was a whopping $84 this month. Unfortunately, I had to run some errands today, and ended up compromising with mostly #2, with a smidgen of #3.
I’ve been long overdue in replacing my car’s windshield wiper inserts, and with iffy weather headed our way yet again, I simply had to prioritize them today. The terms on my Citi Driver’s Edge Options card states that the rebates are good for “repairs, service, and maintenance” but I wasn’t sure if replacement windshield wiper inserts qualified. Since I wanted to be sure NOT to pay anything out of pocket, they went on the Premier Pass. Luckily, the dealership had them for a good price: $7.71 for both driver and passenger sides! And, the Parts guy was nice enough to offer to replace them for me on the spot. I planned to do it myself, but I’m not turning down free service. I’m wondering if I should get another set to have on hand when these need to be replaced: the price is good now and I know that when I need new wipers again, I’m going to wait way too long to purchase a new set.
Next, I got sucked into the quicksand of Target exchanging a couple items, and found a purple tank top on sale for $7.99 to replace the one I haven’t let go of, but doesn’t fit well and can’t be worn to work. Total: $8.64.
That left 63.65 for a utility bill, which I’ve paid in full. I’ll concede that the tank top wasn’t critical, and I might be convinced to return it since I did just buy a new dress for myself almost two weeks ago.
It’s amazing how quickly $100 runs through my fingers. *tsk* I’d better stay inside the rest of the week, unless I take myself to see a movie with my prepaid movie tickets.
February 29, 2008
Received:
1. Chase Rewards Check: $50
2. Reimbursement from Coworker: $64
I’ll make a long overdue stop at the bank, write a check and pay some bills this weekend. It looks like I have to take a substantial chunk out of my e-fund to get through the past two and next
two weeks after all. š
Little Boss has been out all week (in HAWAII, the lucky so-and-so) +
Admin Asst has been either late or not showing up at all during the week + Coworker 1 was out sick three days =
Ms. Miniducky wearing everyone’s hats! We made a contraction of all our four names to represent my roles. š I think I did a relatively decent job of making sure that all Big Boss’s needs were served, that all the projects were prioritized sensibly every morning, that Coworker 1’s work was either redirected or maintained in her absence, and that the interns were productive. Little Boss may find plenty of things wrong with how I did things in his absence, but I think I did very well considering the circumstances.
Grief is a very weird animal…. several times this week, I’ve been struck, literally stopped in my tracks, by intense memories of BoyDucky’s ordeal and their family’s grief, and my own sense of loss and incomprehensible pain of the past six months. It comes and goes in waves, and all I can do is blink through the tears and try to breathe. Inconveniently, it happens most often at work. I guess the bright side of that is that once I breathe through the pain, I’m not alone, and can shuffle through some work or talk to coworkers to distract myself.
February 27, 2008
I’m expecting a $75 statement credit in the next 8-10 weeks on my Citi PremierPass card. I have a few options, listed in order of practicality, for what to do with that money.
*edit: Since I composed this, the statement credit has already hit my account!*
***I would not use it for gas, groceries or drugstore purchases because I get 5 points per dollar spent on those categories from another card.***
***I would not use it for cell phone bills either, my AmEx gives 5 points per dollar for those as well***
1. Request a refund check.
2. Try to spend exactly $75 on the card on upcoming utility bills. It’d be pretty close, or a little over, depending on what I’m paying. Either way, I’ll get another 150ish Thank You points from the transaction because I have a ton of Flight Points that can’t be freed without Purchase Points.
3. Buy a $75 Target gift card so that I can use it for other miscellaneous necessities that I hate spending “real” money on. Would have to be careful not to go on a mini spending spree because you know how dangerous shopping at Target can be!
4. Spoil myself: Buy a $75 gift card to Macy’s, Nordstrom or Theory (for use in their outlet, someday).
Since #4 falls under the category of instant gratification, and I’m all about delayed gratification to get the most bang for my shopping buck, it’s the least likely.
What would you vote for?