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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November 27, 2007
This is why I can’t have nice things, Part II.
Last week, possessed by who-knows-what, I took off my sterling silver Elsa Peretti starfish necklace because I was wearing gold earrings, and stowed it NOT in my purse or a safe, zipped, safeguarded pocket of any sort. Since the past 4-5 days have been such a harried blur, I just cannot remember where I put it. Days later, walking around with the phantom feeling of the necklace resting in the hollow of my throat, I finally realized that I’d never put it back on. It felt like it was with me this whole time, but it hasn’t been! In fact, I’d stripped off all my other jewelry days ago, returning to my normal, jewelry-free state, and I have NO IDEA what happened!
I am, to be blunt, freaking out. The necklace was a birthday gift from BoyDucky years ago. How could I be so careless? It was a cherished gift that he picked for me, thinking of how I would never ever be so extravagant as to ask for or pick out anything from Tiffany & Co., and knowing that if I were to want something, it would be something other than the ubiquitous, generic heart design that every boy picks for his girl. This despite my never wearing any jewelry for him to base his selection on. He’s good, that one. Starfish was special. And now, after days of never touching hand to heart, I can’t stop placing my hand over where Starfish would form a comforting imprint in my palm, wishing and hoping that it’d materialize.
November 26, 2007
On Thanksgiving, the scammers thought they’d give me a bit of holiday cheer by sending this cute little message:
And because I’m a mean girlfriend, I immediately checked the IRS website to confirm that it was a scam (which it is), then called BoyDucky over to take a look at the email without telling him what it was. I knew that he’d think it was kosher simply because I didn’t say it wasn’t. But he’s got to learn more skepticism! It’s my mission to foster suspicion and paranoia in my compatriots so that I don’t have to worry about them. And you. Don’t fall for the IRS scam, folks, it’s not worth the $109 they claim you’re owed.
Oh, by the way, if you do click on the link, it looks pretty good until you realize they used Comic Sans on the image. That’s just not IRS-style, scammers, they use HELVETICA.
I reported the link, and now the site is tagged with a warning that it’s probably a fraudulent site. That’s pretty cool.
November 19, 2007
Could it be, I have no unclaimed cash? Why, yes! Duh! Typical, I get all excited about the idea of expanding my financial horizons, broadening my exposure to different investment and saving options, and exploring the great NASDAQ. And forget that I’ve not a penny to put in place of my mouth.
Silly girl. One great reason I shouldn’t be redirecting my cash: the plan to buy a rental property next summer with my friend.
Another great reason: my e-fund’s still not up to par yet.
Another: I still haven’t a clue what’s going on in the stock market, beyond the basics. In fact, I might not really grasp the basics thoroughly, either.
Instead of becoming discouraged, this is what I’ll do.
1. Research the brokerages. Scottrade, Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, etc. Compare and contrast their products, services and fees. Decide on a brokerage by Christmas. Research and pick a couple of stocks I like.
2. Clear up my financial messiness: round up the credit cards from last year’s AOR, transfer the credit limits to the cards I plan to keep and cancel the losers. Decide if I want to pay off the BroDucky fiasco 0% BT two months early so that I can take advantage of my last 0% BT for about 8 months.
3. Call in the $5000 personal loan from a family friend and deposit that into my savings. It’s convoluted, but the end result means that the money will now be working for me, and not for my dad.
4. Sell the truck. Maybe I will take the “easy” way out and use a car selling service. Carmax, maybe? Things are sufficiently busy and complicated that I don’t relish the idea of investing a lot of time, but neither do I want to lose a lot of money selling that way. If they’ll pay $10k, then I’ll just do it.
5. If I get a good Christmas bonus, set aside $1000 for investing. That’s assuming the brokerage I pick doesn’t have a higher minimum balance.
November 18, 2007
Confrontations: My brother took the car, seeking permission from my enabling father instead of me, on Thursday. I’ve had it out with both my parents for their enabling behavior and finally got a hold of my brother today to give him a piece of my mind for his selfish, thoughtless behavior. I’m taking away his car keys this time, like I should have last time. I’ve also taken away my parent’s keys. How has my family life come to this??
Discoveries: I can probably bid on a one or two year subscription to the Wall Street Journal on ebay and NOT spend $100 on it. The seller requires at least a 30 day history on ebay and have positive feedback due to “non-payers.” I have no recollection of using ebay to purchase anything, but because I had ordered books on half.com 6 years ago, that history translates to ebay! Turns out I have a 6 year history on ebay and 100% positive feedback. NICE. That’s useful IF I win this auction. In the meantime, the website has a pop-up offering me a two-week free online subscription.
Also, I found a stock-conversations friend. Never had one of those before. It’s all very new, but it was good motivation to finally bite the bullet and start investing a little. It’s not that I’ve done all I can with regards to the “less technical” (as I see it) personal finance, it’s just time to expand my horizons. My eyes did start crossing a bit when the conversation got more technical than I’m accustomed to: dividends, divestitures, equity …. oy! My understanding of how stocks work is still shaky. Time to do some research.
Delivery: My ETS check came in the mail on Saturday! +$98! Will have to put that into the Expense account, though. Projected expenses through the end of the year are higher than I’d originally expected.
Acquisition: All the doomsday predictions about Comic Con selling out their 4-day passes even earlier this year got to me. I bought my pass.
Difficulty: BoyDucky’s father took yet another turn for the worse this weekend.
November 15, 2007
Not that watching the end of Michael Bay’s Transformers wasn’t a great use of my morning commute time, but now that I’m done, I could start spending that hour doing something that is more productive or educational. I can’t concentrate on learning a language if I’m not also reading and writing at the same time (I did try some foreign language podcasts), so another option is reading the Wall Street Journal.
I recently tossed out a teaser letter from the WSJ that offered the print paper for $99 a year. I wonder if I can find better rates online?
For 26 weeks, they offer:
Print only: $59
They say I would save 75%, “plus 1 week free!” (When I click on subscribe, it says that I will receive 27 weeks, total, so it’s not just a bait and switch involved with the discounted price vs. newsstand price.)
For 52 weeks, they offer:
Print/online combo: $125, plus 8 weeks free
Print only: $99, plus 2 weeks free
Online only: $79, plus 2 weeks free
At 6 issues a week, if I subscribe for 26 weeks, I’m getting 162 copies for $59, which equals: 36 cents each.
OR I could get:
Print/online combo at 360 copies for $125 = 35 cents a copy, plus online access.
Print only: 54 cents per copy
Online only: access to the current issues and archives.
The online only version isn’t an option because it doesn’t help me on the commute unless I get internet access gadgets, which isn’t a cost effective solution.
Hmm…then again, given my current cash crunch, spending money at all is not a good solution. It’s time for some creative funding. Normally I deplore the use of any mileage for magazine redemptions, but I do have number of Alaska Air miles that will likely expire before I fly Alaska again. Maybe I can redeem those!
November 14, 2007
Since the customer service representative that I was corresponding with so graciously admitted that the circumstances of my complaint were not of the usual sort, I’ve been awaiting to see what my “goodwill offer” had swelled (or not) to. Originally offered 2000 miles, I countered with a bid for 10000 and have been given 5000.
Yea or bleah? All depends on how you look at it. 5000 miles is a third of a short-haul award ticket, or one fifth of a standard ticket. It approximately meets the crime of making me stand for nearly one fifth of my flight to New York, and more satisfyingly, means that not settling for the first offer has paid off in the form of 1.5 times the original price United was willing to pay. Not that giving me a handful of miles actually costs much, for them.
November 13, 2007
DSW: Buy a $50 gift card and receive a $10 bonus card. The bonus card is only good between January 14-February 3rd, though.
Borders: Has a 40% off the list price of any single disc CD (limit 3).
AMEX: If you have an American Express Business card lying around, you could order gift cards fee-free between Nov. 1, 2007—Dec. 31, 2007 using Promotional Code OPENGC07. You do have to use the AMEX to pay for the cards, but the purchase fee is one reason I’ve never liked to give AMEX gift cards.
