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
Read More
December 4, 2007
| Retirement Savings |
Rollover 401(k): $1,571
Roth IRA: $3,677
401(a): $ 1,938
403(b): $11,236
Total: $18,422
|
| Emergency Savings |
$11,754
|
| Goal Oriented Savings |
Car Maintenance: $641
Savings for BT repayment: $16,760
Savings for taxes: $3,929
Total: $21,330
|
| Investment Loans |
Prosper-ish: $12,630
Personal Loan: $5,000
Total: $17,630
|
| Total Assets |
Non-Liquid: $18,422
Semi-Liquid: $17,630
Liquid: $33,084
Total: $69,136
|
| Debt and Liabilities |
Truck: $7,372
BT (Brother): $16,760 due 02/08
Total: $24,132
|
I’ve some small gains in my retirement accounts, but that’s because the market ticked up just in time for my monthly round-up. It’s been up and down all month, and mostly down for three of the past four. It would be tough on more than just morale if I depended on it for income in the short-term.
The liquid savings was knocked back a little because the truck payment is draining my expense account every month. So far I haven’t been forced to pull money from savings to pay it yet, but I am taking savings out to pay for the costs of the NY trip as I mentioned before. I’d really like to sell it soon, but it turns out I still need the convenience of a third car at home during this difficult time.
Pa was recently downsized so if he doesn’t get a new one soon, we won’t need three cards for three people and I’ll sell the truck in January.
Overall, the assets increased by 1.5%.
Debts are decreasing steadily as well, and by equally small amounts. Due to the recent events, and all the nights I’ve spent with BoyDucky at the hospital, I haven’t killed off the BT debt to start a new one yet. I have, however, taken credit limit increases across the board for all my Citi cards in anticipation of the new BT. That increased my total credit line available for a future BT from 18k to 24k. I took advantage of Citi’s credit limit increase feature on the website to avoid any hard pulls on my credit.
December 3, 2007
Thank you, everyone, for your support and kind words. Thank you, Sense to Dollars, for the mention.
Has anyone ever had any experience in setting up Memorial Funds? I’m in charge of A’s and BoyDucky’s dad’s Memorial Funds. I was going to set up an account for each of them through Obopay so that those who are far away can donate online, but does anyone have any better suggestions?
November 30, 2007
Not just one.
I left work on Wednesday at noon to go support BoyDucky and his family. Their father was failing, and he was at the hospital alone.
They made the decision to let him go that night. His condition was drastically worse, and he was in pain.
We stayed by his side all night, on pain medications, until he passed just before midnight. I stayed with the family for the next eight hours in a Buddhist prayer chant to send him on his way. Mom, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends held vigil for him until 8 am.
This is all very bare bones because I’m still in shock right now. I’m in shock because after 24 hours of overwhelming grief, having to see the family’s faces contorted with pain, we hadn’t experienced the worst.
Less than twelve hours after BoyDucky’s father passed, his cousin, our friend, A, left the hospital to let their dog out and run errands for BoyDucky’s mother.
We found out at 2pm that he was involved in a fatal car accident. He’d fallen asleep at the wheel and drifted into a parked semi on the side of the road.
BoyDucky and I had to find, wake up, and break the news to his mother and that was the single most horrific thing I’ve ever done in my life.
A would be characterized by many people as a good friend, a good son, a good brother, and a good person. He could have been defined as responsible, caring, compassionate, selfless, patient beyond belief and genuine. He would be defined that way, by other people. But for me, he defined those values. He was the example against which I held up others who aspired to be responsible, caring, compassionate, strong, and genuinely good to others. On a good day, I could have been an “A”. I wouldn’t count on it, ’cause he was so damn good at being good, but if I could be like him, that was compliment enough.
A was a rock. A solid, young man, the eldest son, and the best son his mother could ask for. He was the best cousin BoyDucky could have, and a wonderful friend. I’m grateful for the time I had with him, and I miss him.
There are two gaping holes in my heart right now, and I may not be blogging for a while.
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.
