I did it. I actually kept track of every penny I spent for an entire month. For the first time in a year, I have a pretty accurate idea of where my money came from this month and where it went.
Here's what it looks like:
Income
Gross pay: $4973.88
Gifts: $50
Flex Spending Accounts and other reimbursements: 449.62
Total income: $5473.50
Savings
Retirement: $604.92
College: $75
Short term: -$90.06
Total saving: $589.86
Expenses
Taxes (except property taxes): $682.04
Mortgage (PITI): $600
Childcare: $634
Insurance (except homeowner's): $805.22
Utilities: $176.98
Groceries: $383.42
Restaurants: $253.32
Transportation: $322.20
Health and fitness: $455.49
Clothing: 0
Professional (dues, etc): $10.71
Household supplies: $59.29
House maintenance: 0
Entertainment: $45.90
Gifts: $293.26
Donations: $63
Personal: $47
Travel: $68.60
Total expenses: $4900.43
Net gain (income minus expenses): $573.07
Now, because I never say in 5 words what I could say in 500 words, here are some reflections.
One month hardly tells you anything. I look at this list and immediately see that most of the categories are more or less than usual this month for various reasons. My utilities are artificially low here because a couple of the bills aren't coming due til early December, and I don't have the cash to pay them early like I often do. The insurance numbers are high because we had an annual life insurance bill due. Gifts is obviously high because of the approach of Xmas and because my entire family was born in the fall and early winter so this is an expensive birthday season for me. The health category is high because I had a bunch of dental work done.
But overall, I feel this month looks pretty good. If this month could be called typical, I'm doing okay. I'm also really happy to see that our spending is still relatively close to our 2005 average of $4709 a month, especially since I wasn't including taxes in my spending reports in 2005.
Now all I have to do is keep tracking, and after I have several months of data think about ways I could cut back (*cough* restuarants, for example?).
Related posts:
Back to the budget dark ages
Budget categories
Budget categories redux
30 November 2006
Who's rich?
I've been thinking about a Naomi Shihab Nye poem. "Who's rich?" she asks. "The girl with a book she hasn't read yet."
I'm paraphrasing because I can't find my copy of the poem, but that idea stayed with me. If this is the definition of riches, I am very wealthy indeed.
What else would make me feel rich?
I have lived more than 6000 miles away from my mother for the past 6 years. An entire continent and an ocean separates us. We have managed to see each other a couple of times a year, but it involves taking long, expensive trips that are always too short.
Now, my mother is thinking of moving not just to my continent, not just to my time zone, but to my very city. She may even move to the neighborhood I live in.
As I'm going about my life, taking my son to preschool, going grocery shopping at the co-op, double parking to return a book to the library, walking to the local cafe for a cup of coffee, I'm imagining my mother in all those places. In my mind, she is not just coming along with me as a visitor to my life. Her life will overlap with mine. The teachers at the preschool will learn her name. That co-op will be the place where she buys her vegetables. That library will be the place she goes to find something to read. Will this cafe be her favorite, or will she prefer the other one?
Every time I think about having local family for the first time since I left home at age 17, I think about how I'd feel having her live near me.
I'd be rich.
I'm paraphrasing because I can't find my copy of the poem, but that idea stayed with me. If this is the definition of riches, I am very wealthy indeed.
What else would make me feel rich?
I have lived more than 6000 miles away from my mother for the past 6 years. An entire continent and an ocean separates us. We have managed to see each other a couple of times a year, but it involves taking long, expensive trips that are always too short.
Now, my mother is thinking of moving not just to my continent, not just to my time zone, but to my very city. She may even move to the neighborhood I live in.
As I'm going about my life, taking my son to preschool, going grocery shopping at the co-op, double parking to return a book to the library, walking to the local cafe for a cup of coffee, I'm imagining my mother in all those places. In my mind, she is not just coming along with me as a visitor to my life. Her life will overlap with mine. The teachers at the preschool will learn her name. That co-op will be the place where she buys her vegetables. That library will be the place she goes to find something to read. Will this cafe be her favorite, or will she prefer the other one?
Every time I think about having local family for the first time since I left home at age 17, I think about how I'd feel having her live near me.
I'd be rich.
29 November 2006
How to spend money (if you are Kevin Smith)
I came across a flickr series of photos of Kevin Smith's house. You know, the guy who wrote Clerks and several other movies that could never be as good as Clerks?
I'm fascinated by these photos. I guess this is what your house would look like if you make a ton of money writing an indy film that becomes a cult classic. Oh, yeah, and if you liked guy-guy type things like poker, sports jerseys, etc.
Think you own too many DVD's? Check this out.
Wish you had a bigger pad? Look at this.
And get a load of Kevin's manly lair.
This looks like a teenage boy's dream house.
I'm fascinated by these photos. I guess this is what your house would look like if you make a ton of money writing an indy film that becomes a cult classic. Oh, yeah, and if you liked guy-guy type things like poker, sports jerseys, etc.
Think you own too many DVD's? Check this out.
Wish you had a bigger pad? Look at this.
And get a load of Kevin's manly lair.
This looks like a teenage boy's dream house.
28 November 2006
Savings goals: A girl can dream, right?
How much money are you saving, and do you feel that it's enough? Do you ever daydream about being able to save more?
I'm always thinking wistfully of how much money I'd LIKE to be saving.
Just for fun, I decided to create a wishlist of each savings category I'd like to have, and how much money I'd like to be saving in each category. Of course, over time, I'd like to save even more, but this is how much I wish I was saving right now. In a couple of categories, I'm already meeting my goal, or close to meeting my goal. Most of the categories are to cover short-term expenses. I'm tired of scrambling to pay for things that I should be able to predict and save for ahead of time. Here's my list.
Category: Workplace retirement accounts
Short or long term: Long
Current savings level: $600/month
Monthly goal: $600
Annual goal: $7200
Notes: I'm pretty satisfied with our current savings levels here. Of course it would be nice to max out our accounts, but that would be half our gross income. It's not gonna happen for a long while, at least not until our incomes increase dramatically.
Category: Roth IRAs
Short or long term: Long
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $700
Annual goal: $8400
Notes: Currently only windfalls go into our Roths. I am aware that current limits only allow us to put in $8000/year for the 2 of us, but I might as well round the goal up to be ready for 2008 limit increases. Also, this is just a fantasy, right?
Category: College
Short or long term: Long (15 years away)
Current savings level: $75/month
Monthly goal: $100
Annual goal: $1200
Notes: I wouldn't mind nudging our savings up just a bit, but I'm fairly satisfied with our savings level. We have a good solid start, and the grandparents add a little now and then.
Category: Irregular bills
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $150/month
Monthly goal: $150/month
Annual goal: $1800
Notes: I just started doing this and I hope to keep it up. This is meant to cover annual and biannual insurance premiums.
Category: Travel fund
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $250
Annual goal: $3000
Notes: My biggest indulgence. I have a tendency to rob my emergency fund to buy plane tickets. I'd like to start contributing to a special account to avoid that vice.
Category: Car fund
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $100
Annual goal: $1200
Notes: My car is a wonderful, reliable old-ass Subaru. It has 130K miles on it. It's going to need to be replaced some time in the next few years. I'd like to be prepared with a couple thousand dollars socked away to buy another older used car. It would be nice to save, say, $200 or $300 per month and maybe get something nicer when this one dies,
but saving even a little for this would give me some peace of mind.
Category: Gifts
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $100
Annual goal: $1200
Notes: I spend about this much annually on gifts. It would be nice to have it clearly set aside. $600 on Xmas, $400 on birthdays throughout the year, and about $100 on things like mother's day and father's day. Saving $100 a month would give me some wiggle room for graduation gifts, etc.
Category: Donations
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $100
Annual goal: $1200
Notes: This is such a pitifully small percentage of my income (about 2%) but it's a start. I give away something like 1-2% every year, but it would be nice to have the money set aside so it wouldn't be so haphazard. Then I could send all my donations at one time.
Total current saving (monthly): $825
Total current saving (annually): $9900
Goal short-term saving (monthly): $700
Goal short-term saving (annually): $8400
Goal long-term saving (monthly): $1400
Goal long-term saving (annually): $16800
Total goal saving (monthly): $2100
Total goal saving (annually): $25200
Given that my gross household income is about $60,000, or $5000/month, this would be a pretty high savings rate.
Now, this was just a game. I obviously can't suddenly nearly triple my savings rate. More accurately, my family wouldn't be willing to let me triple our savings rate.
But there are a few areas where the money is already accounted for in my budget. I'm just not saving for most of these expenses ahead of time, so I have to scramble when it's time to come up with the cash. Here are a few ideas for easy steps I could take toward making this happen.
1. Starting in February (I'll give myself a month to recover from Xmas) I could start that gift account and contribute $100/month. That way, I'll spread the pain of the holidays out over the whole year.
2. My spouse is getting a pay raise March 1. Instead of upping our 403b contributions like I usually do, I could maybe stretch a little and start putting $50 in each of our Roths monthly. (I think $50 is the minimum autodeposit at both investment firms where we have Roths). That would be $100/month, a far cry from the $700 contribution that I'd like to make. But it's a start.
3. Even a small car fund will help insure that the loss of our vehicle won't wipe out our Emergency Fund. Maybe I could start small, putting just $25/month into a special ING account, and then try to raise the amount by a little bit every month.
4. That leaves donations, and travel. I really should just spend less on travel, but the world beckons....
Anyway, it was an interesting excercise. What's your savings wish list?
Note: I was trying to think like a team player here, so all numbers refer to joint finances, not just my own personal money.
I'm always thinking wistfully of how much money I'd LIKE to be saving.
Just for fun, I decided to create a wishlist of each savings category I'd like to have, and how much money I'd like to be saving in each category. Of course, over time, I'd like to save even more, but this is how much I wish I was saving right now. In a couple of categories, I'm already meeting my goal, or close to meeting my goal. Most of the categories are to cover short-term expenses. I'm tired of scrambling to pay for things that I should be able to predict and save for ahead of time. Here's my list.
Category: Workplace retirement accounts
Short or long term: Long
Current savings level: $600/month
Monthly goal: $600
Annual goal: $7200
Notes: I'm pretty satisfied with our current savings levels here. Of course it would be nice to max out our accounts, but that would be half our gross income. It's not gonna happen for a long while, at least not until our incomes increase dramatically.
Category: Roth IRAs
Short or long term: Long
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $700
Annual goal: $8400
Notes: Currently only windfalls go into our Roths. I am aware that current limits only allow us to put in $8000/year for the 2 of us, but I might as well round the goal up to be ready for 2008 limit increases. Also, this is just a fantasy, right?
Category: College
Short or long term: Long (15 years away)
Current savings level: $75/month
Monthly goal: $100
Annual goal: $1200
Notes: I wouldn't mind nudging our savings up just a bit, but I'm fairly satisfied with our savings level. We have a good solid start, and the grandparents add a little now and then.
Category: Irregular bills
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $150/month
Monthly goal: $150/month
Annual goal: $1800
Notes: I just started doing this and I hope to keep it up. This is meant to cover annual and biannual insurance premiums.
Category: Travel fund
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $250
Annual goal: $3000
Notes: My biggest indulgence. I have a tendency to rob my emergency fund to buy plane tickets. I'd like to start contributing to a special account to avoid that vice.
Category: Car fund
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $100
Annual goal: $1200
Notes: My car is a wonderful, reliable old-ass Subaru. It has 130K miles on it. It's going to need to be replaced some time in the next few years. I'd like to be prepared with a couple thousand dollars socked away to buy another older used car. It would be nice to save, say, $200 or $300 per month and maybe get something nicer when this one dies,
but saving even a little for this would give me some peace of mind.
Category: Gifts
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $100
Annual goal: $1200
Notes: I spend about this much annually on gifts. It would be nice to have it clearly set aside. $600 on Xmas, $400 on birthdays throughout the year, and about $100 on things like mother's day and father's day. Saving $100 a month would give me some wiggle room for graduation gifts, etc.
Category: Donations
Short or long term: Short
Current savings level: $0
Monthly goal: $100
Annual goal: $1200
Notes: This is such a pitifully small percentage of my income (about 2%) but it's a start. I give away something like 1-2% every year, but it would be nice to have the money set aside so it wouldn't be so haphazard. Then I could send all my donations at one time.
Total current saving (monthly): $825
Total current saving (annually): $9900
Goal short-term saving (monthly): $700
Goal short-term saving (annually): $8400
Goal long-term saving (monthly): $1400
Goal long-term saving (annually): $16800
Total goal saving (monthly): $2100
Total goal saving (annually): $25200
Given that my gross household income is about $60,000, or $5000/month, this would be a pretty high savings rate.
Now, this was just a game. I obviously can't suddenly nearly triple my savings rate. More accurately, my family wouldn't be willing to let me triple our savings rate.
But there are a few areas where the money is already accounted for in my budget. I'm just not saving for most of these expenses ahead of time, so I have to scramble when it's time to come up with the cash. Here are a few ideas for easy steps I could take toward making this happen.
1. Starting in February (I'll give myself a month to recover from Xmas) I could start that gift account and contribute $100/month. That way, I'll spread the pain of the holidays out over the whole year.
2. My spouse is getting a pay raise March 1. Instead of upping our 403b contributions like I usually do, I could maybe stretch a little and start putting $50 in each of our Roths monthly. (I think $50 is the minimum autodeposit at both investment firms where we have Roths). That would be $100/month, a far cry from the $700 contribution that I'd like to make. But it's a start.
3. Even a small car fund will help insure that the loss of our vehicle won't wipe out our Emergency Fund. Maybe I could start small, putting just $25/month into a special ING account, and then try to raise the amount by a little bit every month.
4. That leaves donations, and travel. I really should just spend less on travel, but the world beckons....
Anyway, it was an interesting excercise. What's your savings wish list?
Note: I was trying to think like a team player here, so all numbers refer to joint finances, not just my own personal money.
27 November 2006
Frugal gift idea number 3: The no-gift pact
Okay, folks. Thanksgiving is over. Christmas music is everywhere. It's time to get back to my Frugal Gift series.
The no-gift pact is one of my favorite ways to save money during the holiday season. It's been a mainstay of my Xmas-gift strategy for over 10 years, and I'm hoping to expand it even further this year.
Here's how it works. You approach one of your loved ones early, before they are likely to have bought your Xmas gift. Remind them of all the hassle involved in buying, wrapping, and perhaps mailing Xmas presents. Remind them of the small percentage of the gifts they've received that they actually liked. And remind them that a material gift is not an indicator of how much you care about each other. Propose that you both agree NOT to buy each other presents. This can be a one-year vacation from gifts, or it can be a permanent agreement.
I have a permanent no-gift pact with my brother that extends to our spouses and children, for both Xmas and birthdays. We call each other on holidays and birthdays, and once in a while there's an exchange of cards. But we haven't gotten each other gifts in years. This benefits me in a lot of ways. For one thing, he's one of those people who has very specific tastes that are mysterious and unpredictable to me. I can never tell what he's going to want. Plus, he lives far away, so shipping is expensive, and he has three kids. If I go to visit them, I bring something tiny for each child, but I don't send birthday or Xmas presents. Ever.
My mother and I have a less formal no-gift pact that changes a little each year. Some years we buy each other something small, like a book or a magazine subscription. Some years we make charitable donations in each other's name. This year, she's coming to visit, so she's told us all that her presence is our present. That's fine with me. I'd rather see her than get some THING in the mail. With her, it's very comfortable to get her something if I have the money and feel inspired, or to get her nothing if I'm feeling broke or overwhelmed. I just try to do something around the holiday that tells her I'm thinking about her.
Some of the people on your list might balk at the idea of a no-gift pact. They might be excited about the gift they've been planning to buy for you, or looking forward to receiving one from you. The best thing in this case is to back off and perhaps try again next year. My father makes noises every year about wanting to avoid the materialism of Xmas, but then he goes out and buys a ton of stuff at the last minute. I usually receive a Fed-Ex package from him on December 24th, after he's sworn he "isn't doing Christmas this year". So I know to send him something very small, and encourage him not to get me much, if anything. I'm looking forward to the year he actually manages to not "do Christmas".
Some families do a more moderate version of the no-gift pact. They might draw straws and each have one person to buy for instead of the whole clan. Or they might get together with everyone else ahead of time and set a limit on how much can be spent on each gift, say $20 or so. This ensures that you don't feel like a cheapskate if you bought something modest, but somebody gives you an iPod or a new video game console.
The point is to talk openly about what people's expectations are. You might be surprised to learn that some of your loved ones are wishing, like you, that they weren't caught in the vicious cycle of buying more and more and more. You might find an ally in your quest to live within your means and focus on things that are more important than acquiring even more stuff.
Related posts:
Frugal gift idea number 1: Gift cards
Frugal gift idea number 2: The tax-deductible gift
Shop smart, shop twice
Gifts to family: Unconditional but not unlimited
The no-gift pact is one of my favorite ways to save money during the holiday season. It's been a mainstay of my Xmas-gift strategy for over 10 years, and I'm hoping to expand it even further this year.
Here's how it works. You approach one of your loved ones early, before they are likely to have bought your Xmas gift. Remind them of all the hassle involved in buying, wrapping, and perhaps mailing Xmas presents. Remind them of the small percentage of the gifts they've received that they actually liked. And remind them that a material gift is not an indicator of how much you care about each other. Propose that you both agree NOT to buy each other presents. This can be a one-year vacation from gifts, or it can be a permanent agreement.
I have a permanent no-gift pact with my brother that extends to our spouses and children, for both Xmas and birthdays. We call each other on holidays and birthdays, and once in a while there's an exchange of cards. But we haven't gotten each other gifts in years. This benefits me in a lot of ways. For one thing, he's one of those people who has very specific tastes that are mysterious and unpredictable to me. I can never tell what he's going to want. Plus, he lives far away, so shipping is expensive, and he has three kids. If I go to visit them, I bring something tiny for each child, but I don't send birthday or Xmas presents. Ever.
My mother and I have a less formal no-gift pact that changes a little each year. Some years we buy each other something small, like a book or a magazine subscription. Some years we make charitable donations in each other's name. This year, she's coming to visit, so she's told us all that her presence is our present. That's fine with me. I'd rather see her than get some THING in the mail. With her, it's very comfortable to get her something if I have the money and feel inspired, or to get her nothing if I'm feeling broke or overwhelmed. I just try to do something around the holiday that tells her I'm thinking about her.
Some of the people on your list might balk at the idea of a no-gift pact. They might be excited about the gift they've been planning to buy for you, or looking forward to receiving one from you. The best thing in this case is to back off and perhaps try again next year. My father makes noises every year about wanting to avoid the materialism of Xmas, but then he goes out and buys a ton of stuff at the last minute. I usually receive a Fed-Ex package from him on December 24th, after he's sworn he "isn't doing Christmas this year". So I know to send him something very small, and encourage him not to get me much, if anything. I'm looking forward to the year he actually manages to not "do Christmas".
Some families do a more moderate version of the no-gift pact. They might draw straws and each have one person to buy for instead of the whole clan. Or they might get together with everyone else ahead of time and set a limit on how much can be spent on each gift, say $20 or so. This ensures that you don't feel like a cheapskate if you bought something modest, but somebody gives you an iPod or a new video game console.
The point is to talk openly about what people's expectations are. You might be surprised to learn that some of your loved ones are wishing, like you, that they weren't caught in the vicious cycle of buying more and more and more. You might find an ally in your quest to live within your means and focus on things that are more important than acquiring even more stuff.
Related posts:
Frugal gift idea number 1: Gift cards
Frugal gift idea number 2: The tax-deductible gift
Shop smart, shop twice
Gifts to family: Unconditional but not unlimited
25 November 2006
Trip report
I'm home! We had a pleasant visit with my partner's family in New England. I don't want to eat ever again, but thankfully I wasn't tired of my inlaws' company yet by the end of it and we made some plans to see them again.
I don't recommend driving 600 miles round trip, in holiday traffic, in a five-day period with a bruised tailbone, but if you must, forget about the donut pillows they have a the drugstore. Just borrow an old Boppy.
Here's a brief analysis of my expenses on the trip:
Gas. We filled up going and coming in New Jersey. It's cheaper, and you don't have to pump it yourself. I'm afraid to total it all up but you can bet it was cheaper than buying three plane tickets.
Tolls. We took toll roads in 3 of the 5 states we drove through. Ouch.
Food. Total food expenses were extremely low because we were staying with family. I think we spent less than $40 the whole trip on food, which included Thanksgiving meal contributions and food on our two long travel days. The baby discovered the joys of fast-food kids' meals (How could Taco Bell put a noise-making toy in their kids' meal? How could they do that to me? It sounded just like a scary engine rattle all the way home in the car.) We also snuck into a McDonald's playland in a rest area on the Garden State Parkway. I thought I was going to have to crawl in and drag him out, but I managed to tempt him to come out by promising him a gummy shark when we got back in the car.
Luxury items. M and I indulged one of our biggest weaknesses: expensive stationery. There's a store near his sister's house that we always go to when we visit. I was good and only bought Xmas gifts (for four people, around $10 each!) but M needed a new address book, 2007 weekly planner, and he replenished his supply of nice papers and inks for his handmade birthday cards. The whole visit, including my Xmas shopping, set us back $85. When my ship comes in, I'm going to order custom-made personalized letterpress stationery, with flat note cards, different sizes of paper, and envelopes to match.
I don't recommend driving 600 miles round trip, in holiday traffic, in a five-day period with a bruised tailbone, but if you must, forget about the donut pillows they have a the drugstore. Just borrow an old Boppy.
Here's a brief analysis of my expenses on the trip:
Gas. We filled up going and coming in New Jersey. It's cheaper, and you don't have to pump it yourself. I'm afraid to total it all up but you can bet it was cheaper than buying three plane tickets.
Tolls. We took toll roads in 3 of the 5 states we drove through. Ouch.
Food. Total food expenses were extremely low because we were staying with family. I think we spent less than $40 the whole trip on food, which included Thanksgiving meal contributions and food on our two long travel days. The baby discovered the joys of fast-food kids' meals (How could Taco Bell put a noise-making toy in their kids' meal? How could they do that to me? It sounded just like a scary engine rattle all the way home in the car.) We also snuck into a McDonald's playland in a rest area on the Garden State Parkway. I thought I was going to have to crawl in and drag him out, but I managed to tempt him to come out by promising him a gummy shark when we got back in the car.
Luxury items. M and I indulged one of our biggest weaknesses: expensive stationery. There's a store near his sister's house that we always go to when we visit. I was good and only bought Xmas gifts (for four people, around $10 each!) but M needed a new address book, 2007 weekly planner, and he replenished his supply of nice papers and inks for his handmade birthday cards. The whole visit, including my Xmas shopping, set us back $85. When my ship comes in, I'm going to order custom-made personalized letterpress stationery, with flat note cards, different sizes of paper, and envelopes to match.
20 November 2006
Have a nice holiday, everybody
I'm off to spend Thanksgiving with my partner's family. I'm bringing my laptop. If I encounter any wireless networks you may hear from me, but otherwise I'll be back on Saturday.
Dwindling rewards on credit cards
The rewards on credit cards seem to be falling fast.
First the Dividend Platinum Select from Citi dropped its 5% rewards on grocery, drug, and gas purchases down to 2%. Big whoop, they added utilities and convenience stores into the category of spending that gets the higher 2% reward.
Now, my other favorite card has lowered its reward too. My Fidelity 529 Visa, once MBNA and now owned by FIA, sent me a letter saying they're dropping the reward from 2% on all purchases to 1.5% on all purchases.
Oh well. The rewards are still decent, but I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped further. Anybody else miss the good old days of 5% rewards?
Related posts:
Credit cards: Rewards, credit histories, and more
Index to posts about reward programs
First the Dividend Platinum Select from Citi dropped its 5% rewards on grocery, drug, and gas purchases down to 2%. Big whoop, they added utilities and convenience stores into the category of spending that gets the higher 2% reward.
Now, my other favorite card has lowered its reward too. My Fidelity 529 Visa, once MBNA and now owned by FIA, sent me a letter saying they're dropping the reward from 2% on all purchases to 1.5% on all purchases.
Oh well. The rewards are still decent, but I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped further. Anybody else miss the good old days of 5% rewards?
Related posts:
Credit cards: Rewards, credit histories, and more
Index to posts about reward programs
19 November 2006
Pity me
Early this evening I was walking down the stairs with a basket of laundry. I miscalculated just a smidgen and ended up falling down the last few steps. I whacked my tailbone really hard on the bottom step and IT HURTS. I am writing this standing up at the kitchen counter because I can't really sit down. I spent most of the evening lying on the couch while my little son valiantly refused to leave my side. "I'm by you, Mama" he kept saying, which is his version of what I say to him when he's hurt. I was touched, but dammit, he wore me out climbing on me ("ow, honey, don't stand on mama's---ow ow, get off!") and by dragging his little chair up next to me and demanding that I read him Every. Single. Beatrix. Potter. Book. There are a lot of them. I can't convince him that Beatrix Potter is not a rabbit. Whenever I read the title page: "The Tale of Tom Kitten, by Beatrix Potter" he says confidingly, "Beatrix Potter is a wabbit."
Anyway, my little nurse has finally gone to bed, and I have seldom been more grateful to have a partner who is a good cook and a capable parent. He made home-made lentil soup (while I read about rabbits) and put the baby down for the night.
We are leaving Tuesday to drive up to New England for Turkey Day. I have forty seven hundred things to do before we go and do not have time to lie on the couch. I need to pack, deposit a check, oh hell, you don't want to hear the list.
I also was really hoping to get around to writing my review of Heath Care on Less Than You Think
. I expected to read just enough to write a half-way intelligent review, not the whole book, but it was so interesting and I was so caught up in my open enrollment at work and deciding whether to get independent health insurance so my employer won't have me by the balls quite so badly, that I ended up reading the entire book.
Sorry, is it profane to say my employer has me by the balls? I'll expunge it if you want. Just leave me a nasty comment and I'll make it go away.
Come to think of it, maybe I should be more diplomatic. Let's just say my esteemed employer's generous benefits package is an effective employee retention strategy. As long as they're willing to let me work part time for almost $20 an hour, and give me a complete benefits package that's a pro-rated version of what full-timers get, I will work hard and not blog at work and never ever quit no matter what the provocation. Unless I can get my own affordable health insurance, and then I make no promises.
Anyway, sorry, the pain must be distracting me. I was going to say I have been meaning to write a review of that book for a long time and now that I'm creeping around like an old lady I probably won't get to do it before I leave.
Okay, one grumpy blogger signing off now. Have a nice, short work week, everybody.
Anyway, my little nurse has finally gone to bed, and I have seldom been more grateful to have a partner who is a good cook and a capable parent. He made home-made lentil soup (while I read about rabbits) and put the baby down for the night.
We are leaving Tuesday to drive up to New England for Turkey Day. I have forty seven hundred things to do before we go and do not have time to lie on the couch. I need to pack, deposit a check, oh hell, you don't want to hear the list.
I also was really hoping to get around to writing my review of Heath Care on Less Than You Think
. I expected to read just enough to write a half-way intelligent review, not the whole book, but it was so interesting and I was so caught up in my open enrollment at work and deciding whether to get independent health insurance so my employer won't have me by the balls quite so badly, that I ended up reading the entire book.Sorry, is it profane to say my employer has me by the balls? I'll expunge it if you want. Just leave me a nasty comment and I'll make it go away.
Come to think of it, maybe I should be more diplomatic. Let's just say my esteemed employer's generous benefits package is an effective employee retention strategy. As long as they're willing to let me work part time for almost $20 an hour, and give me a complete benefits package that's a pro-rated version of what full-timers get, I will work hard and not blog at work and never ever quit no matter what the provocation. Unless I can get my own affordable health insurance, and then I make no promises.
Anyway, sorry, the pain must be distracting me. I was going to say I have been meaning to write a review of that book for a long time and now that I'm creeping around like an old lady I probably won't get to do it before I leave.
Okay, one grumpy blogger signing off now. Have a nice, short work week, everybody.
18 November 2006
Competetive spending
Tonight I went to a fundraiser auction for my son's school. Although I wanted to bid on the week's stay at a beach house in the Outer Banks, and the gorgeous handmade blanket, and the consultation with the personal trainer and and and, I didn't!
I walked out with a big box of used wooden blocks that I won after spending $5 on raffle tickets.
And I got a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant that we go to every couple months or so. I paid only $23.
The thing about auctions is that it's a great chance to keep up with the Joneses--in real time! There was a lot of friendly rivalry in the bidding. I myself got caught up in bidding and counterbidding against someone for a really cool metal-worked lightswitch plate. At a certain point I caught myself and thought, who needs a fancy lightswitch plate?
It was interesting, though, to see the wealthier parents openly spending hundreds of dollars on non-necessities. It was a fundraiser, of course, and I got the sense that many people decided they were going to shell out a big chunk of change and they didn't really care what auction items they won. I guess some people go to fundraisers a lot, and are comfortable with the process. I myself would have felt deeply embarrassed to be seen bidding hundreds of dollars for anything, especially in front of people I know.
Why is that? I guess in my life I fave felt shame for having money more often than I've felt shame for not having it. The people I was rubbing elbows with tonight have money and don't care who knows it. What a different existence that must be.
I drove home in my 13-year-old car with my box of used blocks and I admit that I felt rather glad to be myself and have my life.
I walked out with a big box of used wooden blocks that I won after spending $5 on raffle tickets.
And I got a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant that we go to every couple months or so. I paid only $23.
The thing about auctions is that it's a great chance to keep up with the Joneses--in real time! There was a lot of friendly rivalry in the bidding. I myself got caught up in bidding and counterbidding against someone for a really cool metal-worked lightswitch plate. At a certain point I caught myself and thought, who needs a fancy lightswitch plate?
It was interesting, though, to see the wealthier parents openly spending hundreds of dollars on non-necessities. It was a fundraiser, of course, and I got the sense that many people decided they were going to shell out a big chunk of change and they didn't really care what auction items they won. I guess some people go to fundraisers a lot, and are comfortable with the process. I myself would have felt deeply embarrassed to be seen bidding hundreds of dollars for anything, especially in front of people I know.
Why is that? I guess in my life I fave felt shame for having money more often than I've felt shame for not having it. The people I was rubbing elbows with tonight have money and don't care who knows it. What a different existence that must be.
I drove home in my 13-year-old car with my box of used blocks and I admit that I felt rather glad to be myself and have my life.
Do you give at the office?
At my workplace, I get solicited for donations quite a bit. These solicitations fall into three main categories.
1. My coworkers' pet causes.
One coworker leaves lots of animal rights literature in the breakroom. About once a year, she asks for something for her cause. Usually it's pretty unoffensive. Last time she asked, she wanted old CDs for some project that sought to hang CDs in every window so little birds would know not to fly into the glass. I personally thought this was hilarious, but hey, she's my boss's boss, so I saved some of the AOL promo CDs that are always turning up in my mailbox and brought them in.
Then there's the parents' brigade, of which I am a reluctant member. My son's preschool has several major fundraisers every year. My coworkers are also under pressure from their kids' schools to sell, sell, sell. It's an unspoken agreement: You buy bulbs from my kid's school, and I'll buy wrapping paper or boxes of candy from your kid's school. As long as nobody asks more than once or twice a year, everybody seems cool with it. I also save those little Box Tops for Education for one coworker's kids' school. Our office manager brings in grocery store receipts for me because my kid's school gets a cut. So there are some ways that we help each other by taking the time to save things, rather than writing a check.
2. My employer's self-serving solicitations.
I like to think that one of the perks of working in the corporate world is that they never ask you to give back some of your own hard-earned money to benefit the corporation. In higher education, this is considered totally okay. I've worked at several colleges and universities at this point, and most of them spend a ton of money printing glossy brochures to try to get the staff to contribute to the "capital campaign" or some such thing. My reaction in each case depends on my overall feelings about my employer. My first professional job was at a college that I really came to love even tho I was only there for 2 years. I still resented being hit up for money, but there was a big emphasis on the percentage of the staff who contributes. Apparently Institutional Advancement likes to say "Blankety-blank College is such a wonderful community. See? 84% of the faculty and 79% of the staff contributed to our capital campaign." In that case, I gave about $10 or something just so I'd help with their percentages. Other places I've worked, however, have gotten no more out of me than a string of colorful expletives as I hurled the solicitation into the recylcing bin.
3. My employer's slightly less self-serving solicitations.
In addition to asking for money for the school itself, many of my employers have been big on fund drives for other causes. A popular method is to parter with the United Way, which allows employees to have direct payroll deductions go to various causes. My rule for this kind of campaign is usually to pass it by. I give regularly to my own pet causes, and most of them are way too radical to be on the list of United Way-sanctioned organizations. If my employer were going to match my contributions, I might contribute through this channel, but that's not likely to happen. Part of my concern is that if my employer's track record with losing my FSA deposits is any indication, those payroll deductions may hover in no-man's land for a while after they come out of my paycheck, earning interest for the Big University and making it to the intended recipient late, if ever.
My basic rule is that I'll make donations at work if I feel it offers a way to support my community in ways that I am not already covering through my own independent giving. I don't give much to educational groups on my own, so I'm more than happy to help out the schools of my coworkers' kids. I also know that they'll be there for me when I am doing the obligatory parental fundraising for my kid's school.
I think it's a good thing that employers are making some giving opportunities available, especially through United Way, which allows each employee to tailor their own giving. I'm sure some people who would not otherwise make charitable contributions use these plans.
I think the key in all the types of giving outlined above is to make the opportunity known to people, and then back way off. Making people feel pressured to donate just breeds resentment, and makes people feel more acutely any dissatisfaction they feel over their salaries. Luckily, most of the solicitations at my workplaces, both from coworkers and from the institution itself, have been pretty soft sells. If you say no, that's usually the last you hear of it.
Related posts:
Tithing: Creating a giving plan
Frugal gift idea number 2: The tax-deductible gift
Frugal fundraising for schools
1. My coworkers' pet causes.
One coworker leaves lots of animal rights literature in the breakroom. About once a year, she asks for something for her cause. Usually it's pretty unoffensive. Last time she asked, she wanted old CDs for some project that sought to hang CDs in every window so little birds would know not to fly into the glass. I personally thought this was hilarious, but hey, she's my boss's boss, so I saved some of the AOL promo CDs that are always turning up in my mailbox and brought them in.
Then there's the parents' brigade, of which I am a reluctant member. My son's preschool has several major fundraisers every year. My coworkers are also under pressure from their kids' schools to sell, sell, sell. It's an unspoken agreement: You buy bulbs from my kid's school, and I'll buy wrapping paper or boxes of candy from your kid's school. As long as nobody asks more than once or twice a year, everybody seems cool with it. I also save those little Box Tops for Education for one coworker's kids' school. Our office manager brings in grocery store receipts for me because my kid's school gets a cut. So there are some ways that we help each other by taking the time to save things, rather than writing a check.
2. My employer's self-serving solicitations.
I like to think that one of the perks of working in the corporate world is that they never ask you to give back some of your own hard-earned money to benefit the corporation. In higher education, this is considered totally okay. I've worked at several colleges and universities at this point, and most of them spend a ton of money printing glossy brochures to try to get the staff to contribute to the "capital campaign" or some such thing. My reaction in each case depends on my overall feelings about my employer. My first professional job was at a college that I really came to love even tho I was only there for 2 years. I still resented being hit up for money, but there was a big emphasis on the percentage of the staff who contributes. Apparently Institutional Advancement likes to say "Blankety-blank College is such a wonderful community. See? 84% of the faculty and 79% of the staff contributed to our capital campaign." In that case, I gave about $10 or something just so I'd help with their percentages. Other places I've worked, however, have gotten no more out of me than a string of colorful expletives as I hurled the solicitation into the recylcing bin.
3. My employer's slightly less self-serving solicitations.
In addition to asking for money for the school itself, many of my employers have been big on fund drives for other causes. A popular method is to parter with the United Way, which allows employees to have direct payroll deductions go to various causes. My rule for this kind of campaign is usually to pass it by. I give regularly to my own pet causes, and most of them are way too radical to be on the list of United Way-sanctioned organizations. If my employer were going to match my contributions, I might contribute through this channel, but that's not likely to happen. Part of my concern is that if my employer's track record with losing my FSA deposits is any indication, those payroll deductions may hover in no-man's land for a while after they come out of my paycheck, earning interest for the Big University and making it to the intended recipient late, if ever.
My basic rule is that I'll make donations at work if I feel it offers a way to support my community in ways that I am not already covering through my own independent giving. I don't give much to educational groups on my own, so I'm more than happy to help out the schools of my coworkers' kids. I also know that they'll be there for me when I am doing the obligatory parental fundraising for my kid's school.
I think it's a good thing that employers are making some giving opportunities available, especially through United Way, which allows each employee to tailor their own giving. I'm sure some people who would not otherwise make charitable contributions use these plans.
I think the key in all the types of giving outlined above is to make the opportunity known to people, and then back way off. Making people feel pressured to donate just breeds resentment, and makes people feel more acutely any dissatisfaction they feel over their salaries. Luckily, most of the solicitations at my workplaces, both from coworkers and from the institution itself, have been pretty soft sells. If you say no, that's usually the last you hear of it.
Related posts:
Tithing: Creating a giving plan
Frugal gift idea number 2: The tax-deductible gift
Frugal fundraising for schools
17 November 2006
That was a close one
This evening, I paid $9.99 for a good night's sleep.
What did I buy?
A home pregnancy test, of course!
Please congratulate me. My family will NOT be expanding in 2007!
Anybody know how much a vastectomy costs?
And now, before I regret being so very indiscreet, I am going to shut the computer down and go get that much-deserved night's rest. My 3-year-old wakes up at 4:30.
What did I buy?
A home pregnancy test, of course!
Please congratulate me. My family will NOT be expanding in 2007!
Anybody know how much a vastectomy costs?
And now, before I regret being so very indiscreet, I am going to shut the computer down and go get that much-deserved night's rest. My 3-year-old wakes up at 4:30.
PF blogs in USNews.com article
Including....*Tired but happy*!
Here's the link:
Blogging Your Way to Retirement Goals
YEE-HAAAWWWW.
Sorry. I'm a little excited. It's my blog's first mention in a mainstream news article, even if it is just online and not in the print version.
For once, when I got contacted by a reporter, I handled it right, unlike my other media debacles. I refused to give her my real name but asked her to link to my blog.
Congrats to all the other bloggers who were mentioned.
Here's the link:
Blogging Your Way to Retirement Goals
YEE-HAAAWWWW.
Sorry. I'm a little excited. It's my blog's first mention in a mainstream news article, even if it is just online and not in the print version.
For once, when I got contacted by a reporter, I handled it right, unlike my other media debacles. I refused to give her my real name but asked her to link to my blog.
Congrats to all the other bloggers who were mentioned.
Festival of Under 30 Finances No. 10
Welcome to the tenth edition of the Festival of Under 30 Finances!
We here at *Tired but happy* are enjoying our last few weeks of being under 30, especially when there's such great writing aimed at this demographic. After receiving an overwhelming number of submissions, I eliminated those that, while useful, didn't seem targeted toward twenty-somethings or people just beginning their careers. I accepted one post from each blogger, and tried to avoid including posts that had been submitted to multiple carnivals.
This week's question was,
When you talk about your financial goals with people who are over 30 (your parents, coworkers, other bloggers, etc), how do they react?
My answer is here. I've given special preference in the Festival's arrangement to participants who answered the question. Their answers and their Festival submissions are at the top, followed by everyone else's posts in the order that I received them.
Without further ado, here's the Festival. Enjoy!
Sarah of There's No Money in Poetry says: "My parents are very impressed by my financial goals. They didn't start saving for retirement until recently so they are very proud that I started early and have already accquired a significant sum. However, when I first opened my Roth IRA after college, they thought I was crazy since retirement was so far away for me."
Sarah's Festival submission is Roommates: Can't Live With 'em...
Jeremie of eFIPO says: "They react with a positive tone, but you still feel like a kid sometimes. They like what you have to say but they sometimes ask questions like your still a kid. That's just me though and i'm 23!"
Jeremie's Festival submission is Being 20 with no money.
Thatedeguy of A Penny Saved says: "I think that more often than not, people who are over 30 look at my financial goals as being overly ambitious. Maybe it's a difference of culture? Or maybe I am overly ambitious? ;)"
thatedeguy's Festival submission is Free laptop deals: Hoaxes?
Kira of Penny Foolish says: "In general, when I talk about my goals with (inevitably older) people, they seem to be really impressed that I am thinking about my goals at such a young age, and they wish they had thought about it earlier. Except for the few who say that retirement planning is for when you're older - but one person who said that to me has no 401(k), so I take it with a grain of salt."
Kira's Festival submission is: Spam that saves you money!
Erik of Money Crashers: "It is a mixed bag with the reactions that I get from friends and family members about my philosophy on money. I hold to a strict anti-debt philosophy, so many people think that I am crazy. Apparently, it is crazy nowadays to pay for something with actual money. I always find it hard to give advice to my parents or older friends/siblings, because they have the "powdered butt" syndrome. They think that since they powdered my butt when I was little, that I don't know what I am talking about when it comes to money."
Erik's Festival submission is Credit Card Companies Educating The Youth About Personal Finance.
English Major of An English Major's Money dedicates an entire post to answering my question. She says, "My parents are both impressed by my knowledge and attempts at responsibility and, it often seems, faintly regretful that I need to know these things."
Wenchypoo presents Income vs. Savings posted at Wisdom from Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.
Jimmy Atkinson presents 102 Personal Finance Tips Your Professor Never Taught You posted at Ask the Advisor.
David B. presents Power of Compounding Interest posted at How Do People Get Rich?.
Erek Ostrowski presents Getting Out Of Debt (Part 2) posted at Verve Coaching.
Trent presents Setting Intermediate-Term Financial Goals posted at The Simple Dollar.
makingourway presents What is the most important insurance for young people? posted at makingourway.
Angela Randall presents The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me posted at AngelaRandall.com.
Don't forget to submit your posts about money for the under-30 crowd to the next edition of the Festival of Under 30 Finances.
We here at *Tired but happy* are enjoying our last few weeks of being under 30, especially when there's such great writing aimed at this demographic. After receiving an overwhelming number of submissions, I eliminated those that, while useful, didn't seem targeted toward twenty-somethings or people just beginning their careers. I accepted one post from each blogger, and tried to avoid including posts that had been submitted to multiple carnivals.
This week's question was,
When you talk about your financial goals with people who are over 30 (your parents, coworkers, other bloggers, etc), how do they react?
My answer is here. I've given special preference in the Festival's arrangement to participants who answered the question. Their answers and their Festival submissions are at the top, followed by everyone else's posts in the order that I received them.
Without further ado, here's the Festival. Enjoy!
Sarah of There's No Money in Poetry says: "My parents are very impressed by my financial goals. They didn't start saving for retirement until recently so they are very proud that I started early and have already accquired a significant sum. However, when I first opened my Roth IRA after college, they thought I was crazy since retirement was so far away for me."
Sarah's Festival submission is Roommates: Can't Live With 'em...
Jeremie of eFIPO says: "They react with a positive tone, but you still feel like a kid sometimes. They like what you have to say but they sometimes ask questions like your still a kid. That's just me though and i'm 23!"
Jeremie's Festival submission is Being 20 with no money.
Thatedeguy of A Penny Saved says: "I think that more often than not, people who are over 30 look at my financial goals as being overly ambitious. Maybe it's a difference of culture? Or maybe I am overly ambitious? ;)"
thatedeguy's Festival submission is Free laptop deals: Hoaxes?
Kira of Penny Foolish says: "In general, when I talk about my goals with (inevitably older) people, they seem to be really impressed that I am thinking about my goals at such a young age, and they wish they had thought about it earlier. Except for the few who say that retirement planning is for when you're older - but one person who said that to me has no 401(k), so I take it with a grain of salt."
Kira's Festival submission is: Spam that saves you money!
Erik of Money Crashers: "It is a mixed bag with the reactions that I get from friends and family members about my philosophy on money. I hold to a strict anti-debt philosophy, so many people think that I am crazy. Apparently, it is crazy nowadays to pay for something with actual money. I always find it hard to give advice to my parents or older friends/siblings, because they have the "powdered butt" syndrome. They think that since they powdered my butt when I was little, that I don't know what I am talking about when it comes to money."
Erik's Festival submission is Credit Card Companies Educating The Youth About Personal Finance.
English Major of An English Major's Money dedicates an entire post to answering my question. She says, "My parents are both impressed by my knowledge and attempts at responsibility and, it often seems, faintly regretful that I need to know these things."
Wenchypoo presents Income vs. Savings posted at Wisdom from Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.
Jimmy Atkinson presents 102 Personal Finance Tips Your Professor Never Taught You posted at Ask the Advisor.
David B. presents Power of Compounding Interest posted at How Do People Get Rich?.
Erek Ostrowski presents Getting Out Of Debt (Part 2) posted at Verve Coaching.
Trent presents Setting Intermediate-Term Financial Goals posted at The Simple Dollar.
makingourway presents What is the most important insurance for young people? posted at makingourway.
Angela Randall presents The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me posted at AngelaRandall.com.
Don't forget to submit your posts about money for the under-30 crowd to the next edition of the Festival of Under 30 Finances.
16 November 2006
Review of Cashduck
Anybody else been hearing about Cashduck on forums and frugal-minded blogs?
I've been curious about Cashduck, the most recent project of one of the best movers-and-shakers in the personal finance blogosphere, Kira of Penny Foolish. Kira started posting a while back about all the cash she was raking in by doing paid-to-try offers. This is when you take advantage of sign-up bonuses, while fully expecting to back out of the contract during the trial period so you're not locked into an ongoing charge. Lots of companies offer these sign-up bonuses--dating sites, survey sites, auto clubs, ebay sales kits, you name it.
Kira hooked in with a bunch of sites that gather these offers in one place and let you pick and choose which offers you want to take advantage of. It takes more work than, say, the 0% balance transfer game that some people play with credit cards, because you have to keep track of when the free trial period expires and cancel your membership before that. This involves the usual headaches of sitting on hold, having someone try to talk you into keeping the membership, checking later to make sure your credit card was not in fact charged, etc. And some of these offers require you to give out your credit card number in order to sign up. Some even charge your card--the trick is that the sign-up bonus has to be greater than whatever you paid in shipping. For example, if you sign up for a monthly supply of Hoodia diet pills you would never actually try taking, you'd pay $4.95 in shipping but get a $20 bonus for signing up. If you don't cancel within 14 days, you get another month's worth for $14.95 a month. But if you cancel, and subtract the shipping costs from the sign-up bonus, you just made $15.05.
I was pretty skeptical when I first started reading about these things. Give my credit card number out? No way. My real name and address? Uh-uh. But then Kira started her own site, Cashduck, back in September. The Cashduck devotees have been increasing in numbers and volume ever since, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I joined up this week and have participated in 4 offers. I have paid around $6 and made around $46. I have successfully cancelled one of the accounts. I have two more that I have to kill next week before I go away for Turkey Day. It has been fun so far. The site is pretty easy to use, even though it lacks a little bit in polish. But I don't miss the polish of, say, FatWallet, because there's Kira's straightforward, quirky personality all over the site. Have a problem? Submit a trouble ticket, and within a couple hours she write you back to say, "Crap, I must not have been paying attention..." and she fixes the problem right away. Find a typo? She'll give you a feather, the secondary reward system at Cashduck. (The main thing you get out of participating is actual cash, but you do earn "feathers" as well which can be exchanged for Cashduck promo materials like fridge magnets, or for gift cards).
I still can't believe I'm actually using my real name and address, but Kira asks that you not submit fake information and I don't want to mess up her credibility with the vendors so I think I'd better respect that. I will probably be getting email spam and junk mail til my dying day from this experiment.
But I admit that I find it a little addictive. After watching the slow drip drip drip of pennies trickling into my accounts through blog advertising, and the slightly faster dropdropdrop of money that comes in from doing surveys, this seems like a veritable geyser. You mean that's it? A little time poking around Kira's cool site, filling out a couple forms, and you're going to PayPal me $46? There are over a thousand dollars worth of similar offers I haven't availed myself of yet, so you can make a quick buck, well, pretty darn quick.
But it is pretty mindless, and I know that just one misstep, like a cancellation that doesn't go through and results in a credit card charge that I have to fight, will turn me off of this game. For now, though, it's a fun new toy and I enjoy Kira's enthusiasm on Cashduck as much as I do on her blog.
(Full disclosure: All Cashduck links in this post are referral links. Feel free to strip out my referral ID if you want to sign up without it.)
I've been curious about Cashduck, the most recent project of one of the best movers-and-shakers in the personal finance blogosphere, Kira of Penny Foolish. Kira started posting a while back about all the cash she was raking in by doing paid-to-try offers. This is when you take advantage of sign-up bonuses, while fully expecting to back out of the contract during the trial period so you're not locked into an ongoing charge. Lots of companies offer these sign-up bonuses--dating sites, survey sites, auto clubs, ebay sales kits, you name it.
Kira hooked in with a bunch of sites that gather these offers in one place and let you pick and choose which offers you want to take advantage of. It takes more work than, say, the 0% balance transfer game that some people play with credit cards, because you have to keep track of when the free trial period expires and cancel your membership before that. This involves the usual headaches of sitting on hold, having someone try to talk you into keeping the membership, checking later to make sure your credit card was not in fact charged, etc. And some of these offers require you to give out your credit card number in order to sign up. Some even charge your card--the trick is that the sign-up bonus has to be greater than whatever you paid in shipping. For example, if you sign up for a monthly supply of Hoodia diet pills you would never actually try taking, you'd pay $4.95 in shipping but get a $20 bonus for signing up. If you don't cancel within 14 days, you get another month's worth for $14.95 a month. But if you cancel, and subtract the shipping costs from the sign-up bonus, you just made $15.05.
I was pretty skeptical when I first started reading about these things. Give my credit card number out? No way. My real name and address? Uh-uh. But then Kira started her own site, Cashduck, back in September. The Cashduck devotees have been increasing in numbers and volume ever since, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I joined up this week and have participated in 4 offers. I have paid around $6 and made around $46. I have successfully cancelled one of the accounts. I have two more that I have to kill next week before I go away for Turkey Day. It has been fun so far. The site is pretty easy to use, even though it lacks a little bit in polish. But I don't miss the polish of, say, FatWallet, because there's Kira's straightforward, quirky personality all over the site. Have a problem? Submit a trouble ticket, and within a couple hours she write you back to say, "Crap, I must not have been paying attention..." and she fixes the problem right away. Find a typo? She'll give you a feather, the secondary reward system at Cashduck. (The main thing you get out of participating is actual cash, but you do earn "feathers" as well which can be exchanged for Cashduck promo materials like fridge magnets, or for gift cards).
I still can't believe I'm actually using my real name and address, but Kira asks that you not submit fake information and I don't want to mess up her credibility with the vendors so I think I'd better respect that. I will probably be getting email spam and junk mail til my dying day from this experiment.
But I admit that I find it a little addictive. After watching the slow drip drip drip of pennies trickling into my accounts through blog advertising, and the slightly faster dropdropdrop of money that comes in from doing surveys, this seems like a veritable geyser. You mean that's it? A little time poking around Kira's cool site, filling out a couple forms, and you're going to PayPal me $46? There are over a thousand dollars worth of similar offers I haven't availed myself of yet, so you can make a quick buck, well, pretty darn quick.
But it is pretty mindless, and I know that just one misstep, like a cancellation that doesn't go through and results in a credit card charge that I have to fight, will turn me off of this game. For now, though, it's a fun new toy and I enjoy Kira's enthusiasm on Cashduck as much as I do on her blog.
(Full disclosure: All Cashduck links in this post are referral links. Feel free to strip out my referral ID if you want to sign up without it.)
14 November 2006
Giving the hosts their due
Hosting a carnival is a lot of work. I'm reminded of that tonight.
This week, my thanks (and a link) are due to the hosts of the following carnivals.
Carnival of Personal Finance #74 is up over at A Geek's World.
My post, How do you plan for an inheritance? is included.
Carnival of Family Life #27 is up over at Scribbit.
My post Getting my spouse involved in saving is included.
Festival of Frugality #48 is up over at Experiments in Finance.
My post Budget categories redux is included.
So, you have a lot of reading to do. Better get to it.
This week, my thanks (and a link) are due to the hosts of the following carnivals.
Carnival of Personal Finance #74 is up over at A Geek's World.
My post, How do you plan for an inheritance? is included.
Carnival of Family Life #27 is up over at Scribbit.
My post Getting my spouse involved in saving is included.
Festival of Frugality #48 is up over at Experiments in Finance.
My post Budget categories redux is included.
So, you have a lot of reading to do. Better get to it.
13 November 2006
Young savers: How do the oldsters react?
As I mentioned, this week, I'm hosting the Festival of Under 30 Finances. This Festival is the brainchild of one of the spunkiest bloggers around, Kira of Penny Foolish. Many of the Festivals begin with a question asked by the week's host.
Here's my question.
When you talk about your financial goals with people who are over 30 (your parents, coworkers, other bloggers, etc), how do they react?
And here's my answer.
I have gotten mixed reactions when I talk about personal finance with various people who are older than I am. I've often been surprised at how negative some of the responses were. My father, for example, pretty much laughs at me. He always hints that he thinks I'm a scrooge. I should buy a nicer car. I should buy a house in a more expensive neighborhood, etc. When I say, slowly so he can understand, "But Dad, I can't afford to do that." He just shrugs. Once when I was talking with my brother-in-law about retirement savings, my dad interrupted to say, "Retire from what? You're 20-something years old. Why are you even thinking about this?"
My mother is a good source of support at times, but she's not too consistent. Mostly, she thinks I should plan less and worry less. She thinks I should just trust that the universe will provide and it will be so. That's worked pretty well in her life (most of the time). Sometimes she and I talk about different options for spending less money, etc. So she swings between being optimistic, and, I would argue, a little unrealistic, and being pragmatic and having a good business sense. When she's in her more pragmatic moments, we share ideas, learn from each other, and get encouragement from each other.
I have a friend (she's in her mid forties) who resents that I have a lot of opportunity for saving early because I'm young. She claims that I have it easier because there's all this talk now about the instability of social security, and people my age expect to have to provide for themselves. She says she didn't know that when she was young enough to start saving early, and now she's screwed. I personally think that she made a good trade-off. When she was in her 20s, she was an artist and followed her dream etc etc. After several years of temping and living hand-to-mouth, the dream still hadn't panned out, so she went back to school and started a new career and has done well for herself. I find that inspiring, but I get kinda pissed when she acts like she is powerless to make her own way and make good financial choices, while I have it made because somebody told me early enough that I might be on my own for retirement income.
My sister, on the other hand, has just that perfect mix. She is definitely the big sister, giving me gentle advice and being my mentor. But she's also my biggest cheerleader. I can tell her, we're saving X amount, and she says, "wow, go you!" She is an extremely aggressive saver, so there is no chance I will ever save as much as she does (even if you discount the fact that her household income is several times what mine is, I will still never save the percentage of my income that she has always saved). This totally eliminates any competition we might otherwise have between us.
I do have a few offline friends, exactly 3 in fact, who are into personal finance. I don't see them too often, but when I do we can geek out together and talk 403b's and HSAs and IRAs and IPOs and all manner of acronyms and abbreviations. These are folks who are within a few years of my age, and have been really useful for me. It is so nice to have someone I can ask, "so, what did you pay for this house?" and instead of being offended, they can't wait to sit down and give me a 45 minute answer.
So, if you haven't already, submit to the Festival of Under 30 Finances. If you're over 30, you can still submit, as long as your posts clearly speak to the financial interests of people under 30. Don't submit more than one post, please, and don't submit the same post to more that one carnival. It's just bad form.
The deadline is on Wednesday. Festival comes out on Friday.
Here's my question.
When you talk about your financial goals with people who are over 30 (your parents, coworkers, other bloggers, etc), how do they react?
And here's my answer.
I have gotten mixed reactions when I talk about personal finance with various people who are older than I am. I've often been surprised at how negative some of the responses were. My father, for example, pretty much laughs at me. He always hints that he thinks I'm a scrooge. I should buy a nicer car. I should buy a house in a more expensive neighborhood, etc. When I say, slowly so he can understand, "But Dad, I can't afford to do that." He just shrugs. Once when I was talking with my brother-in-law about retirement savings, my dad interrupted to say, "Retire from what? You're 20-something years old. Why are you even thinking about this?"
My mother is a good source of support at times, but she's not too consistent. Mostly, she thinks I should plan less and worry less. She thinks I should just trust that the universe will provide and it will be so. That's worked pretty well in her life (most of the time). Sometimes she and I talk about different options for spending less money, etc. So she swings between being optimistic, and, I would argue, a little unrealistic, and being pragmatic and having a good business sense. When she's in her more pragmatic moments, we share ideas, learn from each other, and get encouragement from each other.
I have a friend (she's in her mid forties) who resents that I have a lot of opportunity for saving early because I'm young. She claims that I have it easier because there's all this talk now about the instability of social security, and people my age expect to have to provide for themselves. She says she didn't know that when she was young enough to start saving early, and now she's screwed. I personally think that she made a good trade-off. When she was in her 20s, she was an artist and followed her dream etc etc. After several years of temping and living hand-to-mouth, the dream still hadn't panned out, so she went back to school and started a new career and has done well for herself. I find that inspiring, but I get kinda pissed when she acts like she is powerless to make her own way and make good financial choices, while I have it made because somebody told me early enough that I might be on my own for retirement income.
My sister, on the other hand, has just that perfect mix. She is definitely the big sister, giving me gentle advice and being my mentor. But she's also my biggest cheerleader. I can tell her, we're saving X amount, and she says, "wow, go you!" She is an extremely aggressive saver, so there is no chance I will ever save as much as she does (even if you discount the fact that her household income is several times what mine is, I will still never save the percentage of my income that she has always saved). This totally eliminates any competition we might otherwise have between us.
I do have a few offline friends, exactly 3 in fact, who are into personal finance. I don't see them too often, but when I do we can geek out together and talk 403b's and HSAs and IRAs and IPOs and all manner of acronyms and abbreviations. These are folks who are within a few years of my age, and have been really useful for me. It is so nice to have someone I can ask, "so, what did you pay for this house?" and instead of being offended, they can't wait to sit down and give me a 45 minute answer.
So, if you haven't already, submit to the Festival of Under 30 Finances. If you're over 30, you can still submit, as long as your posts clearly speak to the financial interests of people under 30. Don't submit more than one post, please, and don't submit the same post to more that one carnival. It's just bad form.
The deadline is on Wednesday. Festival comes out on Friday.
12 November 2006
Me? Procrastinate?
My partner took the baby on a long outing today. Guess what I'm doing?
Unpacking boxes from our move 2.5 years ago.
You could argue that if I haven't missed the stuff in 2.5 years, I probably don't need it. But it's mostly books, about which I am always passionate and rarely rational.
The unpacking continues. Eight boxes and counting. Running out of shelf space fast, despite our recent addition of 3 new bookshelves. It is really scary how many books we own.
Unpacking boxes from our move 2.5 years ago.
You could argue that if I haven't missed the stuff in 2.5 years, I probably don't need it. But it's mostly books, about which I am always passionate and rarely rational.
The unpacking continues. Eight boxes and counting. Running out of shelf space fast, despite our recent addition of 3 new bookshelves. It is really scary how many books we own.
11 November 2006
How do you plan for an inheritance?
In my case, the answer is simple.
I don't.
This doesn't mean I don't expect to inherit anything. I don't like to think (or blog) about it too much, but there's a good change that either I or my partner will inherit something from our parents. Because my parents are divorced, my partner and I have 3 complete sets of parents. All 3 sets have made more money that we ever expect to make. Yes, I know this is soooo Millionaire Next Door, but it's true. We're in modest professions and don't expect to have very lucrative careers. We've made that choice. Our parents, on the other hand, have all done well enough that they now have considerable assets.
But I am not relying on an inheritance, and it might sound odd, but I almost hope it doesn't happen.
Here's why.
1. I'd rather have our parents live long enough to spend it all.
My father in particular has put in a lot of long, hard years working in a job he does not like. I want the satisfaction of seeing him kick up his heels. On a self-serving note, I would rather have him spend my potential inheritance on plane tickets to visit me and my family, or on joint family vacations that include us. And I'd be delighted if he can afford to spend the extra money required to maintain a house big enough for me, my sister, and our stepsisters to come to for the holidays. That's going to cost a lot of money in the Bay Area housing market. But I would choose to spend holidays with him over any future inheritance.
2. Our parents are unlikely to die any time soon.
My partner's family has amazing longevity. When his grandfather died at age 85, they all said (half-jokingly) that it was a pity he had died so young. I hope and expect that his parents will still be alive and well when my partner is ready to retire. My parents, on the other hand, are even younger than his parents. I have a fantasy that when I'm retired I'll be able to spend a lot of time with my parents, enjoying them in their remaining years. In order to do that, I need to make sure I have enough stashed to retire on time or even a little early, without an inheritance to help me get there.
3. They may leave it to someone else. Having divorced parents means that they may acquire some new family along the way. If my parents were single into their dotage, I'd probably inherit more. But there's no contest. I'd rather have my parents form strong, loving relationships (hopefully with people I get along with) and potentially leave all or most of their assets to their new partners. The only thing that would rankle is if my childhood home was left to someone else, but I recognize that even that is not really any of my business. I wouldn't want to live there again, anyway. If my dad decides to sell the house before he kicks the bucket, so much the better.
4. Inheritances are seldom completely fair, or favorable to all parties. Our parents might decide that one of our siblings needs the money more than we do. They may say "we are so proud of how independent and practical you are, so we're leaving the whole kitty to your artistic but poor sibling." It could happen. One of our sets of parents has even made noises to this effect. And, two of our sets of parents is quite likely to leave a significant portion of their assets to charitable organizations. This is a-okay with me because if I truly do prepare adequately for my own financial future, I'd probably donate a big portion of any inheritance I received to an organization I think my dearly departed would have liked to support.
5. Inheritances come with emotional baggage. My father was something of a workaholic when I was growing up. He told me once years ago that it was important to him to leave some kind of legacy after he was gone. This made me furious. You mean the trade-off I get for having him miss countless school plays, family dinners, etc. is that I get some stupid money some day? No thank you. I realize now that his workaholism was not really about the money, but still, I associate his money with his absenses when I needed him most. In many ways, I would resent a large inheritance because it would prove even more that all that work was not really necesssary.
So here's my approach:
Take care of myself and my family now. Plan for my own and my family's future. Enjoy my relationship with my parents and my partner's parents, and be glad they are reaping the benefits of their years of work.
If, some day, we inherit some money, it will be gravy.
I don't.
This doesn't mean I don't expect to inherit anything. I don't like to think (or blog) about it too much, but there's a good change that either I or my partner will inherit something from our parents. Because my parents are divorced, my partner and I have 3 complete sets of parents. All 3 sets have made more money that we ever expect to make. Yes, I know this is soooo Millionaire Next Door, but it's true. We're in modest professions and don't expect to have very lucrative careers. We've made that choice. Our parents, on the other hand, have all done well enough that they now have considerable assets.
But I am not relying on an inheritance, and it might sound odd, but I almost hope it doesn't happen.
Here's why.
1. I'd rather have our parents live long enough to spend it all.
My father in particular has put in a lot of long, hard years working in a job he does not like. I want the satisfaction of seeing him kick up his heels. On a self-serving note, I would rather have him spend my potential inheritance on plane tickets to visit me and my family, or on joint family vacations that include us. And I'd be delighted if he can afford to spend the extra money required to maintain a house big enough for me, my sister, and our stepsisters to come to for the holidays. That's going to cost a lot of money in the Bay Area housing market. But I would choose to spend holidays with him over any future inheritance.
2. Our parents are unlikely to die any time soon.
My partner's family has amazing longevity. When his grandfather died at age 85, they all said (half-jokingly) that it was a pity he had died so young. I hope and expect that his parents will still be alive and well when my partner is ready to retire. My parents, on the other hand, are even younger than his parents. I have a fantasy that when I'm retired I'll be able to spend a lot of time with my parents, enjoying them in their remaining years. In order to do that, I need to make sure I have enough stashed to retire on time or even a little early, without an inheritance to help me get there.
3. They may leave it to someone else. Having divorced parents means that they may acquire some new family along the way. If my parents were single into their dotage, I'd probably inherit more. But there's no contest. I'd rather have my parents form strong, loving relationships (hopefully with people I get along with) and potentially leave all or most of their assets to their new partners. The only thing that would rankle is if my childhood home was left to someone else, but I recognize that even that is not really any of my business. I wouldn't want to live there again, anyway. If my dad decides to sell the house before he kicks the bucket, so much the better.
4. Inheritances are seldom completely fair, or favorable to all parties. Our parents might decide that one of our siblings needs the money more than we do. They may say "we are so proud of how independent and practical you are, so we're leaving the whole kitty to your artistic but poor sibling." It could happen. One of our sets of parents has even made noises to this effect. And, two of our sets of parents is quite likely to leave a significant portion of their assets to charitable organizations. This is a-okay with me because if I truly do prepare adequately for my own financial future, I'd probably donate a big portion of any inheritance I received to an organization I think my dearly departed would have liked to support.
5. Inheritances come with emotional baggage. My father was something of a workaholic when I was growing up. He told me once years ago that it was important to him to leave some kind of legacy after he was gone. This made me furious. You mean the trade-off I get for having him miss countless school plays, family dinners, etc. is that I get some stupid money some day? No thank you. I realize now that his workaholism was not really about the money, but still, I associate his money with his absenses when I needed him most. In many ways, I would resent a large inheritance because it would prove even more that all that work was not really necesssary.
So here's my approach:
Take care of myself and my family now. Plan for my own and my family's future. Enjoy my relationship with my parents and my partner's parents, and be glad they are reaping the benefits of their years of work.
If, some day, we inherit some money, it will be gravy.
10 November 2006
*ReviewMe* is paying me to review *ReviewMe*
There has been a bit of buzz lately in the world of PF blogging about whether or not bloggers should accept payment for blogging. Some folks eschew even paid advertising. Others feel that it's okay to sell ad space, but refuse to accept payment for the content in their posts.
Flexo even has the following strong statement on his main page:
"No articles within the blog are advertisements disguised as blog entries. Consumerism Commentary is not compensated for any content, except for advertising sold. This site contains no Pay-Per-Post (or similar) articles."
I'm on the fence about this. I do have paid ads on the site. I have made almost no money with Google Adsense, a little money with Adbrite, and a little more money with Linkworth. (These are NOT affiliate links. Email me for referrals.) But my blog is still nothing that could be called a secondary income. I did sign up with PayPerPost, but haven't written any posts for them yet.
Enter ReviewMe, a new blog advertising system from the TextLinkAds people. Like PayPerPost, you get paid for writing a review of an advertiser's site. I signed up out of curiosity, and so far I am favorably impressed. The site is clearly laid out and easy to use. Once you agree to write a review of a given product, you have 48 hours to write it and submit the URL to get credit. And their policies state that you MUST disclose the fact that you're getting paid to write the review. To me this is critical. I'd feel pretty squirrelly about being disingenuous and disguising paid posts as real, honest recommendations. As long as I can say, hey, yo, I have an ulterior motive here, I'd feel all right about writing paid content.
The only real concern that I'd have about doing this on a regular basis, then, is that I think my readership might dwindle if my blog started to feel like one big advertisement. So you don't have to go cancelling your RSS subscription to *Tired but happy* just yet.
But for the occasional small kickback, I can see writing a review for ReviewMe. Hey, why not?
This blog is about money, right? How to make it, how to save it, what to spend it on. I might as well be getting a few bucks here and there for my trouble.
BTW, if you do decide to run right over to ReviewMe and sign up, they've got a $25,000 give-away contest going on for new bloggers. And no, they don't have a referral program as far as I know, so you I won't get paid if you use my links to check them out.
Enjoy!
Related posts:
Adbrite versus Adsense
Flexo even has the following strong statement on his main page:
"No articles within the blog are advertisements disguised as blog entries. Consumerism Commentary is not compensated for any content, except for advertising sold. This site contains no Pay-Per-Post (or similar) articles."
I'm on the fence about this. I do have paid ads on the site. I have made almost no money with Google Adsense, a little money with Adbrite, and a little more money with Linkworth. (These are NOT affiliate links. Email me for referrals.) But my blog is still nothing that could be called a secondary income. I did sign up with PayPerPost, but haven't written any posts for them yet.
Enter ReviewMe, a new blog advertising system from the TextLinkAds people. Like PayPerPost, you get paid for writing a review of an advertiser's site. I signed up out of curiosity, and so far I am favorably impressed. The site is clearly laid out and easy to use. Once you agree to write a review of a given product, you have 48 hours to write it and submit the URL to get credit. And their policies state that you MUST disclose the fact that you're getting paid to write the review. To me this is critical. I'd feel pretty squirrelly about being disingenuous and disguising paid posts as real, honest recommendations. As long as I can say, hey, yo, I have an ulterior motive here, I'd feel all right about writing paid content.
The only real concern that I'd have about doing this on a regular basis, then, is that I think my readership might dwindle if my blog started to feel like one big advertisement. So you don't have to go cancelling your RSS subscription to *Tired but happy* just yet.
But for the occasional small kickback, I can see writing a review for ReviewMe. Hey, why not?
This blog is about money, right? How to make it, how to save it, what to spend it on. I might as well be getting a few bucks here and there for my trouble.
BTW, if you do decide to run right over to ReviewMe and sign up, they've got a $25,000 give-away contest going on for new bloggers. And no, they don't have a referral program as far as I know, so you I won't get paid if you use my links to check them out.
Enjoy!
Related posts:
Adbrite versus Adsense
Budget categories redux
Okay, so I'm tracking my spending (and income and saving) this month for the first time in a YEAR.
I started by looking at my budget categories from my old, defunct, 2002-2005 budget. Now, I've refined the old categories so I'll be able to track certain things more effectively. I end up with a whopping 24 categories, which is more than I would like, but what the heck.
Here they are:
1. Gross income
2. Savings-retirement
3. Savings-college
4. Savings-other
5. Taxes
6. Flexible Spending Accounts
7. Mortgage
8. Childcare
9. Insurance
10. Utilities
11. Food-groceries
12. Food-restaurant meals
13. Transportation-Mass transit
14. Transportation-Gas and parking
15. Transportation-Car maintenance, repair, and registration
16. Health-medical out-of-pocket expenses
17. Health-fitness
18. Clothing
19. Household and personal supplies
20. House maintenance and repair
21. Entertainment
22. Gifts and holiday spending
23. Personal
24. Donations
A few thoughts and explanations:
5. Taxes. Most of this will be outgo, but tax refunds and the $46 per paycheck in Earned Income Credit that I get will also go in here on the postive side.
6. FSA's. I'm not sure that this one makes sense as a category, but I needed some way to track my income and outgo from these accounts.
7. Mortgage. This is principal, interest, taxes, and homeowner's insurance, and any extra principal payments.
9. Insurance. This is life, health, Rx, car, dental, and vision. Doesn't include homeowners but maybe I'll decide this is too inconsistent and change it.
12. Food-restaurant meals. We'll be dividing this one up further into meals we eat out as a family, my solo meals, and M's solo meals. We did this because M wants to be able to track how much he's spending on work lunches, etc.
19. Household and personal supplies. This category is for stuff like diapers, toothpaste, laundry detergent.
21. Entertainment. This category is for books, event tickets, etc. Does not include restaurant meals.
23. Personal. We used to each have a $100 allowance for whatever little personal things we needed. Now that we're tracking our solo restaurant and coffee shop spending elsewhere, this category may go away. But it's nice to have a small slush fund.
This morning on the train I wrote down all my categories and my spending so far for November in my nifty little ledger I bought at CVS. It was actually really fun. (I should get out more.) I'll report back on how it's going as I go along.
Related posts:
Budget catgegories
Back to the budget dark ages
I started by looking at my budget categories from my old, defunct, 2002-2005 budget. Now, I've refined the old categories so I'll be able to track certain things more effectively. I end up with a whopping 24 categories, which is more than I would like, but what the heck.
Here they are:
1. Gross income
2. Savings-retirement
3. Savings-college
4. Savings-other
5. Taxes
6. Flexible Spending Accounts
7. Mortgage
8. Childcare
9. Insurance
10. Utilities
11. Food-groceries
12. Food-restaurant meals
13. Transportation-Mass transit
14. Transportation-Gas and parking
15. Transportation-Car maintenance, repair, and registration
16. Health-medical out-of-pocket expenses
17. Health-fitness
18. Clothing
19. Household and personal supplies
20. House maintenance and repair
21. Entertainment
22. Gifts and holiday spending
23. Personal
24. Donations
A few thoughts and explanations:
5. Taxes. Most of this will be outgo, but tax refunds and the $46 per paycheck in Earned Income Credit that I get will also go in here on the postive side.
6. FSA's. I'm not sure that this one makes sense as a category, but I needed some way to track my income and outgo from these accounts.
7. Mortgage. This is principal, interest, taxes, and homeowner's insurance, and any extra principal payments.
9. Insurance. This is life, health, Rx, car, dental, and vision. Doesn't include homeowners but maybe I'll decide this is too inconsistent and change it.
12. Food-restaurant meals. We'll be dividing this one up further into meals we eat out as a family, my solo meals, and M's solo meals. We did this because M wants to be able to track how much he's spending on work lunches, etc.
19. Household and personal supplies. This category is for stuff like diapers, toothpaste, laundry detergent.
21. Entertainment. This category is for books, event tickets, etc. Does not include restaurant meals.
23. Personal. We used to each have a $100 allowance for whatever little personal things we needed. Now that we're tracking our solo restaurant and coffee shop spending elsewhere, this category may go away. But it's nice to have a small slush fund.
This morning on the train I wrote down all my categories and my spending so far for November in my nifty little ledger I bought at CVS. It was actually really fun. (I should get out more.) I'll report back on how it's going as I go along.
Related posts:
Budget catgegories
Back to the budget dark ages
Getting my spouse involved in saving
My spouse is almost an ideal financial partner. He's frugal (more frugal than I am). He lets me do most of the work of managing our finances. And when I come home bursting with pride because I saved so much money at the grocery store, he dutifully listens to me cataloging the sales and coupons I took advantage of and says, "good for you."
But last night, he was the one who came home bursting with pride from the grocery store. He had to go out after dinner to take our friend home. I mentioned that a good sale at the grocery store (Lean Cuisines for half price, woohoo!) was ending last night. So he offered to stop by the store and pick some up for my work lunches. I gave him a coupon, $2.00 off 10 Lean Cuisines, and a list of the kinds that I like. He also had to pick up a couple other staples--generic animal crackers and whole organic carrots, can't live without 'em.
He came home proudly bearing grocery bags.
"Look," he said. "I got ten Lean Cuisines, the carrots, and the animal crackers, all for twenty bucks."
It was a beautiful moment.
But last night, he was the one who came home bursting with pride from the grocery store. He had to go out after dinner to take our friend home. I mentioned that a good sale at the grocery store (Lean Cuisines for half price, woohoo!) was ending last night. So he offered to stop by the store and pick some up for my work lunches. I gave him a coupon, $2.00 off 10 Lean Cuisines, and a list of the kinds that I like. He also had to pick up a couple other staples--generic animal crackers and whole organic carrots, can't live without 'em.He came home proudly bearing grocery bags.
"Look," he said. "I got ten Lean Cuisines, the carrots, and the animal crackers, all for twenty bucks."
It was a beautiful moment.
08 November 2006
Costs of dental work
This morning I went out in a big rainstorm to visit the dentist.
The bad news is that I need FOUR fillings. Two of them are old fillings from childhood that are just worn out and need replacing. One is a dark spot in a baby tooth that I am hoping to keep for a few more years before I have to have it yanked. There's no adult tooth underneath. And the fourth is a little problem spot in a tooth that had a root canal. I'm waiting til my ship comes in before I have a crown or veneer put over it, and apparently it's showing some wear and tear, so it needs to have a small filling.
The good news is that my new dentist and his staff went over with me carefully exactly how much my insurance would cover, and helped me strategize my treatment plan so insurance would cover as much as possible. They even told me a pretty specific figure I'll need to pay on my next visit, when all four fillings will be done. THEY provided this info. I didn't have to explain about this deductible or that co-pay.
How cool is that? Usually I find that dentists and doctors act like the actual money part is beneath their notice. These people (dentist, hygienist, receptionist) were all thoroughly versed in my insurance policy and initiated conversations about it with me.
The bad news is that I need FOUR fillings. Two of them are old fillings from childhood that are just worn out and need replacing. One is a dark spot in a baby tooth that I am hoping to keep for a few more years before I have to have it yanked. There's no adult tooth underneath. And the fourth is a little problem spot in a tooth that had a root canal. I'm waiting til my ship comes in before I have a crown or veneer put over it, and apparently it's showing some wear and tear, so it needs to have a small filling.
The good news is that my new dentist and his staff went over with me carefully exactly how much my insurance would cover, and helped me strategize my treatment plan so insurance would cover as much as possible. They even told me a pretty specific figure I'll need to pay on my next visit, when all four fillings will be done. THEY provided this info. I didn't have to explain about this deductible or that co-pay.
How cool is that? Usually I find that dentists and doctors act like the actual money part is beneath their notice. These people (dentist, hygienist, receptionist) were all thoroughly versed in my insurance policy and initiated conversations about it with me.
Budget categories
Now that I've resolved to start budgeting again, I'm kind of excited.
I'm starting with my old budget categories that I used until November 2005 when I fell off the wagon. Here they are, with a brief explanation, and a monthly average from 2005.
Mortgage. Total payments, including principal, interest, and insurance.
2005 numbers: $565/month. This doesn't include any extra payments we made. Those went under "savings."
Household. This category needs work. It ended up being a catch-all for everything from diapers, toothpaste, and laundry detergent, to small house repairs and new appliances, to clothing and anything else that didn't fit into another category. Whew!
2005 average: a whopping $662/month.
Groceries. All food except restaurant meals. Does not include household supplies like bar soap and toilet paper.
2005 average: $495/month. We budgeted $400/month so you can see this was an area where we were weak.
Utilities. Electric, gas, land lines, cell phones, and water.
2005 average: $335/month.
Entertainment. This category needs work, too. This included restaurant meals, gifts, books, music, etc.
2005 average: $291/month. The budget said $200, so we were naughty here too.
Childcare. Mostly daycare tuition, with the occasional small expense like paying our babysitting co-op's annual membership dues, etc.
2005 average: $710/month.
Transportation. Gas, car repairs and maintenance, parking, and mass transit.
2005 average: $347/month.
Medical. Co-pays, drugs, all out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses.
2005 average: $210/month. It was an expensive year because my partner needed chiropractic treatments and sinus surgery.
Insurance. Health, dental, vision, car, life, and homeowners.
2005 average: $400/month.
Personal. This category is basically mad money for my partner and I to spend on whatever we want. This is where we put solo restaurant meals, like work lunches, coffee, etc.
2005 average: $200. The budget was $200 ($100 each per month), and miraculously we were right on target.
Donations. All charitable contributions.
2005 average: $136/month.
Travel. My biggest passion (or weakness, depending on whether I'm in a half-empty or a half-full kind of mood.) This included airline tix, hotel stays, rental cars, basically anything we wouldn't have spent if we stayed home.
2005 average: $358/month.
Total average monthly spending in 2005: $4709.
I also tracked the following:
Savings. All contributions to retirement accounts, college accounts, and liquid savings accounts, minus the (eh-hem) withdrawals from savings that we made at various points. This number is unusually high because we received a sizeable money gift from one of my relatives at the end of 2004, and we were still portioning it out to various savings vehicles in January of 2005. If you want to know more about this money gift, read this post.
2005 average: gain of $767/month.
Income. This is where my method gets really wacky and needs to be fixed. In this category I tracked deposits to my accounts, so that means I was really tracking take-home pay (plus reimbursements, gifts, tax refunds, etc). When I revamp this whole system, I need to track gross income and have a separate budget category for taxes. This method made everything too skewed, because I was tracking my income after taxes but many of my expenses (health care, mass transit, retirement contributions, etc) were pre-tax and never made it into my take-home pay. So looking at my outgo and my income side-by-side never added up right. I'm not even going to tell you what my 2005 average was because it was such a wacked and useless number.
Okay, there you have it. I am going to start now, in November 2006, just tracking and not trying to budget. After tracking for a couple of months we may try to impose some realistic restrictions.
In a subsequent post, I'll list my new budget categories.
Thanks, BTW, for the comments on my last post about your budget methods. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gave up on Quicken, and it's nice to hear about other Luddites who use paper and pencil. I think after a couple months of paper I will probably be happy to go back to Excel, but for now, paper is how I'm getting myself started again.
I'm starting with my old budget categories that I used until November 2005 when I fell off the wagon. Here they are, with a brief explanation, and a monthly average from 2005.
Mortgage. Total payments, including principal, interest, and insurance.
2005 numbers: $565/month. This doesn't include any extra payments we made. Those went under "savings."
Household. This category needs work. It ended up being a catch-all for everything from diapers, toothpaste, and laundry detergent, to small house repairs and new appliances, to clothing and anything else that didn't fit into another category. Whew!
2005 average: a whopping $662/month.
Groceries. All food except restaurant meals. Does not include household supplies like bar soap and toilet paper.
2005 average: $495/month. We budgeted $400/month so you can see this was an area where we were weak.
Utilities. Electric, gas, land lines, cell phones, and water.
2005 average: $335/month.
Entertainment. This category needs work, too. This included restaurant meals, gifts, books, music, etc.
2005 average: $291/month. The budget said $200, so we were naughty here too.
Childcare. Mostly daycare tuition, with the occasional small expense like paying our babysitting co-op's annual membership dues, etc.
2005 average: $710/month.
Transportation. Gas, car repairs and maintenance, parking, and mass transit.
2005 average: $347/month.
Medical. Co-pays, drugs, all out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses.
2005 average: $210/month. It was an expensive year because my partner needed chiropractic treatments and sinus surgery.
Insurance. Health, dental, vision, car, life, and homeowners.
2005 average: $400/month.
Personal. This category is basically mad money for my partner and I to spend on whatever we want. This is where we put solo restaurant meals, like work lunches, coffee, etc.
2005 average: $200. The budget was $200 ($100 each per month), and miraculously we were right on target.
Donations. All charitable contributions.
2005 average: $136/month.
Travel. My biggest passion (or weakness, depending on whether I'm in a half-empty or a half-full kind of mood.) This included airline tix, hotel stays, rental cars, basically anything we wouldn't have spent if we stayed home.
2005 average: $358/month.
Total average monthly spending in 2005: $4709.
I also tracked the following:
Savings. All contributions to retirement accounts, college accounts, and liquid savings accounts, minus the (eh-hem) withdrawals from savings that we made at various points. This number is unusually high because we received a sizeable money gift from one of my relatives at the end of 2004, and we were still portioning it out to various savings vehicles in January of 2005. If you want to know more about this money gift, read this post.
2005 average: gain of $767/month.
Income. This is where my method gets really wacky and needs to be fixed. In this category I tracked deposits to my accounts, so that means I was really tracking take-home pay (plus reimbursements, gifts, tax refunds, etc). When I revamp this whole system, I need to track gross income and have a separate budget category for taxes. This method made everything too skewed, because I was tracking my income after taxes but many of my expenses (health care, mass transit, retirement contributions, etc) were pre-tax and never made it into my take-home pay. So looking at my outgo and my income side-by-side never added up right. I'm not even going to tell you what my 2005 average was because it was such a wacked and useless number.
Okay, there you have it. I am going to start now, in November 2006, just tracking and not trying to budget. After tracking for a couple of months we may try to impose some realistic restrictions.
In a subsequent post, I'll list my new budget categories.
Thanks, BTW, for the comments on my last post about your budget methods. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gave up on Quicken, and it's nice to hear about other Luddites who use paper and pencil. I think after a couple months of paper I will probably be happy to go back to Excel, but for now, paper is how I'm getting myself started again.
07 November 2006
Back to the budget dark ages
I am exactly one year behind in figuring out my monthly budget. I do not know what I spend my money on. I do not know how much I spend. And I'm spending too much.
It's time to face the music.
A little over a year ago, I started this blog. That was a good thing, over all. I've learned a lot and met (online) some really great people. I've accomplished a lot--figured out an appropriate asset allocation for my investments, increased my retirement contributions, worked through some tough issues with my family around money, and set up a good college savings plan.
What I have NOT been doing, though, is keeping track of my spending. That's because the little bit of spare time that I used to use meticulously keeping track of my spending and tallying it all up every month is time I no longer have, because I spend it blogging. And I am definitely one of those people who thrives under a budget and overspends shamelessly without one.
A little history of our budgets.
First budget:
Just out of grad school. Newly living with my sweetie. Start keeping track of all our spending because the way we share expenses 50-50 requires good record keeping.
Budget method: paper, pencil, and calculator.
Second budget:
Sweetie and I get more serious. Living in our second apartment. Open joint savings account and the budget becomes less about who spent what and more about controlling spending for specific savings goals.
Budget method: still paper and pencil.
Third budget:
Oh god. We're pregnant. How much do we spend now? Can we spend less? How much will our expenses increase?
Budget method: paper and pencil, and even a ruler, because I was so stressed about money that I spent a lot of time making neat columns for all the little numbers.
Fourth budget:
Baby born. We're still alive. How could we have forgotten to budget for childcare? How could he go through so many diapers? In our first house. Want more ability to look at spending trends over time and calculate averages quickly.
Budget method: Move to an Excel spreadsheet, modified from the one my sister-in-law uses.
Okay, now we're up to last fall, when I started the blog. Excel was getting to be too primitive. I wanted colors. I wanted more spending categories. I wanted pie charts. I was buying a new computer, and hey! Bonus! It came with Quicken.
That's where I completely stalled out. I know many people think Quicken is god's gift to the world. I even really like Quicken and think it would be really fun to use once I got up and running. But I have been trying for A YEAR to make myself get it all configured and learn how to use it. When I come home from a hard day of being a cynical desk jockey, I do not have the mental energy to configure Quicken. I'm sure it would take me, like, half a weekend day to do it. But I have procrastinated it so long that I would rather eat nails than configure my Quicken.
But we're overspending. We're strapped. I just moved money AGAIN from the ING account to cover bills. I know, I know, buying Xmas presents does not count as an emergency. But if I don't have enough money to buy my little son a Playmobil farm in a neat folding barn-shaped box for Xmas I will really and truly feel that life is not worth living. So I took the money from ING.
We NEED to get back on a budget. Quicken is not going to happen right now. It's just not.
So I took two steps back. We're not even going back to Excel. I bought a little hard-bound ledger from CVS. It's dark blue and says CASH on the front. I am going to get out my pencil and I am going to figure out where the %*@#&@! all our money is going. And I am going to figure out how to stop it from going there so damn quickly.
And then we will talk about freakin' Quicken.
It's time to face the music.
A little over a year ago, I started this blog. That was a good thing, over all. I've learned a lot and met (online) some really great people. I've accomplished a lot--figured out an appropriate asset allocation for my investments, increased my retirement contributions, worked through some tough issues with my family around money, and set up a good college savings plan.
What I have NOT been doing, though, is keeping track of my spending. That's because the little bit of spare time that I used to use meticulously keeping track of my spending and tallying it all up every month is time I no longer have, because I spend it blogging. And I am definitely one of those people who thrives under a budget and overspends shamelessly without one.
A little history of our budgets.
First budget:
Just out of grad school. Newly living with my sweetie. Start keeping track of all our spending because the way we share expenses 50-50 requires good record keeping.
Budget method: paper, pencil, and calculator.
Second budget:
Sweetie and I get more serious. Living in our second apartment. Open joint savings account and the budget becomes less about who spent what and more about controlling spending for specific savings goals.
Budget method: still paper and pencil.
Third budget:
Oh god. We're pregnant. How much do we spend now? Can we spend less? How much will our expenses increase?
Budget method: paper and pencil, and even a ruler, because I was so stressed about money that I spent a lot of time making neat columns for all the little numbers.
Fourth budget:
Baby born. We're still alive. How could we have forgotten to budget for childcare? How could he go through so many diapers? In our first house. Want more ability to look at spending trends over time and calculate averages quickly.
Budget method: Move to an Excel spreadsheet, modified from the one my sister-in-law uses.
Okay, now we're up to last fall, when I started the blog. Excel was getting to be too primitive. I wanted colors. I wanted more spending categories. I wanted pie charts. I was buying a new computer, and hey! Bonus! It came with Quicken.
That's where I completely stalled out. I know many people think Quicken is god's gift to the world. I even really like Quicken and think it would be really fun to use once I got up and running. But I have been trying for A YEAR to make myself get it all configured and learn how to use it. When I come home from a hard day of being a cynical desk jockey, I do not have the mental energy to configure Quicken. I'm sure it would take me, like, half a weekend day to do it. But I have procrastinated it so long that I would rather eat nails than configure my Quicken.
But we're overspending. We're strapped. I just moved money AGAIN from the ING account to cover bills. I know, I know, buying Xmas presents does not count as an emergency. But if I don't have enough money to buy my little son a Playmobil farm
in a neat folding barn-shaped box for Xmas I will really and truly feel that life is not worth living. So I took the money from ING.We NEED to get back on a budget. Quicken is not going to happen right now. It's just not.
So I took two steps back. We're not even going back to Excel. I bought a little hard-bound ledger from CVS. It's dark blue and says CASH on the front. I am going to get out my pencil and I am going to figure out where the %*@#&@! all our money is going. And I am going to figure out how to stop it from going there so damn quickly.
And then we will talk about freakin' Quicken.
Carnivals past and future
The 73rd Carnival of Personal Finance is up over at City Girl's Financial Blog. My post about bringing your family along on business trips made it into the featured list. Wow! Thanks, City Girl.
Next week, I'm hosting the Carnival of Under 30 Finances. Since I am turning 30 in the next few weeks, I thought it would be a good last hurrah. What better way to enjoy being a twenty-something for the last time than hanging out with a bunch of cool money-savvy twenty-somethings?
So if you're under 30, or have some really cogent advice for us youngsters, get yourself to Blog Carnival to submit a post.
I'm also asking submitters to answer the following question:
When you talk about your financial goals with people who are over 30 (your parents, coworkers, other bloggers, etc), how do they react?
I'll write my own answer to this question in a few days.
Now, quit reading PF blogs and go back to scrutinizing the election results. You did vote, didn't you?
Next week, I'm hosting the Carnival of Under 30 Finances. Since I am turning 30 in the next few weeks, I thought it would be a good last hurrah. What better way to enjoy being a twenty-something for the last time than hanging out with a bunch of cool money-savvy twenty-somethings?
So if you're under 30, or have some really cogent advice for us youngsters, get yourself to Blog Carnival to submit a post.
I'm also asking submitters to answer the following question:
When you talk about your financial goals with people who are over 30 (your parents, coworkers, other bloggers, etc), how do they react?
I'll write my own answer to this question in a few days.
Now, quit reading PF blogs and go back to scrutinizing the election results. You did vote, didn't you?
05 November 2006
Confession time
Our budget, which we have not followed for almost a year, says that we can eat out once a week.
The past week I was a little bit naughty.
Thursday:
No time for breakfast at home. Bought bagel in train station.
Took baby out to dinner. Ate for under $10 for both of us, but still.
Saturday:
Met friends for coffee (and pastries) in the morning at a cafe that has toys and a little table for the kids.
Got Mexican take-out for dinner--$20 :(
Sunday:
Out for brunch with still another friend. Don't know the damage since my spouse paid. Don't want to know.
Somehow, even though I am not happy with our level of spending, I am still spending. Sometimes you gotta take a step back. We've decided that we're going to implement a budget again. More on that later.
The past week I was a little bit naughty.
Thursday:
No time for breakfast at home. Bought bagel in train station.
Took baby out to dinner. Ate for under $10 for both of us, but still.
Saturday:
Met friends for coffee (and pastries) in the morning at a cafe that has toys and a little table for the kids.
Got Mexican take-out for dinner--$20 :(
Sunday:
Out for brunch with still another friend. Don't know the damage since my spouse paid. Don't want to know.
Somehow, even though I am not happy with our level of spending, I am still spending. Sometimes you gotta take a step back. We've decided that we're going to implement a budget again. More on that later.
04 November 2006
Shop smart, shop twice
This year, I am using an all new technique for keeping my Xmas shopping from getting out of control.
In past years, I have tended to panic when I first start shopping because I have so many people to buy for and I get overwhelmed. It's partly the money, and partly the panicky feeling that I will never think of gifts for all those people. It's really not that many people. My parents and their spouses (4), my sister and her family (4), my grandmother (1), my other sister (1), my son (1), and I usually ignore my spouse's protestations that he doesn't want gifts. He's a Jew, an atheist, and a general anti-Christmas curmudgeon, but he's fun to buy presents for because I get to use the things, too. I usually get him some gifts and he pretends to be surprised and we both pretend they're "New Year's presents."
Anyhow, I digress. So I have 12 people to buy for. Not so very many. But enough that when I start it seems like an impossible task. Last year, and the years before that, I hit the ground running sometime in the middle of Autumn, and bought all kinds of ridiculous things at the beginning because I was afraid I wouldn't see anything better. Then, later, when I did see gifts that were better suited to each person, I couldn't help it and I bought them too. So I was stuck with the early bad buys and had to take them back or just tack them onto the other gift. If I could return the things, I sometimes got stuck with store credit instead of a full refund. Bad all around.
This year, I'm being smarter. I have been taking a notebook and paper with me when I shop. When I see something I think may be a good gift for so-and-so, I write it down along with the store's name and the price. That way, I can wait til I have several ideas for each person before I whip out the plastic. I can go back to the store, purchase my much-debated gift, and know I've made the best choice.
The danger here is that by the time I go back, the other Xmas shoppers will have wiped out whatever it is I wanted to buy. Black Friday alone will clean out some stores, and I refuse to participate in that insanity. So I've been also asking storekeepers if they'll be ordering more of the desired product before the holidays, and if they can special order it quickly if need be.
It's true, I have already impulse-bought a couple of things I shouldn't have. They were both for my sister, and I know I'm going to feel sheepish giving her that gingerbread man apron and that little ceramic vase that says "sisters" on it. But so far my plan has been very successful. I have walked away from any number of things, jotting them down in my little notebook so when I do buy them, I won't have any regrets.
Related posts:
Frugal gift idea number 1
Frugal gift idea number 2
Gifts to family: Unconditional but not unlimited
In past years, I have tended to panic when I first start shopping because I have so many people to buy for and I get overwhelmed. It's partly the money, and partly the panicky feeling that I will never think of gifts for all those people. It's really not that many people. My parents and their spouses (4), my sister and her family (4), my grandmother (1), my other sister (1), my son (1), and I usually ignore my spouse's protestations that he doesn't want gifts. He's a Jew, an atheist, and a general anti-Christmas curmudgeon, but he's fun to buy presents for because I get to use the things, too. I usually get him some gifts and he pretends to be surprised and we both pretend they're "New Year's presents."
Anyhow, I digress. So I have 12 people to buy for. Not so very many. But enough that when I start it seems like an impossible task. Last year, and the years before that, I hit the ground running sometime in the middle of Autumn, and bought all kinds of ridiculous things at the beginning because I was afraid I wouldn't see anything better. Then, later, when I did see gifts that were better suited to each person, I couldn't help it and I bought them too. So I was stuck with the early bad buys and had to take them back or just tack them onto the other gift. If I could return the things, I sometimes got stuck with store credit instead of a full refund. Bad all around.
This year, I'm being smarter. I have been taking a notebook and paper with me when I shop. When I see something I think may be a good gift for so-and-so, I write it down along with the store's name and the price. That way, I can wait til I have several ideas for each person before I whip out the plastic. I can go back to the store, purchase my much-debated gift, and know I've made the best choice.
The danger here is that by the time I go back, the other Xmas shoppers will have wiped out whatever it is I wanted to buy. Black Friday alone will clean out some stores, and I refuse to participate in that insanity. So I've been also asking storekeepers if they'll be ordering more of the desired product before the holidays, and if they can special order it quickly if need be.
It's true, I have already impulse-bought a couple of things I shouldn't have. They were both for my sister, and I know I'm going to feel sheepish giving her that gingerbread man apron and that little ceramic vase that says "sisters" on it. But so far my plan has been very successful. I have walked away from any number of things, jotting them down in my little notebook so when I do buy them, I won't have any regrets.
Related posts:
Frugal gift idea number 1
Frugal gift idea number 2
Gifts to family: Unconditional but not unlimited
03 November 2006
Carnivals this week
It's Friday already and I just realized I dropped the ball on posting links to the Carnival I participated in. My apologies to the host.
Carnival of Personal Finance #72 is up at It's Just Money, featuring my post on Saving for infrequent, regular bills.
Enjoy!
Carnival of Personal Finance #72 is up at It's Just Money, featuring my post on Saving for infrequent, regular bills.
Enjoy!
Net worth update: Hallelujah!
I broke $100,000--AGAIN.Let's hope this time I'm permanently above the 100K watermark. I first broke 100K in May of 06 and I've been hovering just above or just below that milestone ever since. This month, my net worth is $101,642, and I am determined to keep heading up from here.
What changed? Well, some stock market gains didn't hurt, and I made my usual mortgage payments and retirement contributions. My mortgage balanced dipped below $50K this month, which makes me very happy. I bought the house in May of 04 and the starting balance was about $56K.
Related posts:
October net worth update
June net worth update, and some reflections
01 November 2006
Prosper.com: Group leader thoughts
My Prosper experiment continues.
I still have two borrowers whose payments are quite late. It's hard to tell, but I think the Prosper folks are making payments on one of the loans. I don't mind taking their money, but what does it say about the long term viability of the company if they're eating the cost of defaulted loans so lenders don't get scared away?
I'm also trying to take a more active role in the group I lead. After a few early group members wrote successful loan listings, I've had a long run of people who sound very earnest but just can't get their listings funded. As a group leader, I've felt unsure about how to help them get funded. I'm working with a borrower right now who wants to borrow a very small amount of money to pay off some loans that are in default. It seems clear to me that she's only recently gotten into financial trouble and she seems to really want to get out. My hope is that she'll get funded this time (it's her 3rd listing attempt).
So, if you are a Prosper lender who's looking for a loan to bid on, may I suggest this one?
PS. Want to read my other posts about Prosper.com? Click here.
I still have two borrowers whose payments are quite late. It's hard to tell, but I think the Prosper folks are making payments on one of the loans. I don't mind taking their money, but what does it say about the long term viability of the company if they're eating the cost of defaulted loans so lenders don't get scared away?
I'm also trying to take a more active role in the group I lead. After a few early group members wrote successful loan listings, I've had a long run of people who sound very earnest but just can't get their listings funded. As a group leader, I've felt unsure about how to help them get funded. I'm working with a borrower right now who wants to borrow a very small amount of money to pay off some loans that are in default. It seems clear to me that she's only recently gotten into financial trouble and she seems to really want to get out. My hope is that she'll get funded this time (it's her 3rd listing attempt).
So, if you are a Prosper lender who's looking for a loan to bid on, may I suggest this one?
PS. Want to read my other posts about Prosper.com? Click here.
Employment upheaval
There is a major shake-up going on and it looks like my partner and I will be experiencing some employment changes. We found out yesterday that we had only 48 hours to make a major decision regarding my partner's work situation. We have been writing out figures, calculating health insurance premiums, making lists of pros and cons, etc. Usually when we have big decisions to make we spend a lot of time talking things through with trusted family and friends, but there is no time for that now.
A bit of background. Here's our current configuration.
Me: Work 2 part time jobs that add up to about 37 hours a week. One job is stressful and fast-paced, but overall very rewarding. The other job is hellacious and I would do almost anything to leave it. No time (or energy) to do anything but work, spend time with my son, and indulge in a little escapist reading around the edges.
My partner: Works half-time in an administrative position. Pay sux, politics challenging, but overall a rewarding job and he's been at the institution in various positions for almost 6 years. Has enough free time to do his "real work" (writing and political work) and also to exercise regularly.
Our son: Goes to full-day preschool 3 days a week. Home with Papa or Mama the rest of the time.
So what's going to change? My spouse jobshares with someone and she's leaving. He doesn't want to give up his current busy but balanced workload, but because my work situation is so awful, he's going to take the full time job. I'm still not sure if we'll be able to afford to have me quit one of my jobs, but I will definitely have more options.
The problem is that we will probably have several months of overlap where he's working full time, and I'm still working 37 hours a week. We'll have to increase the baby's daycare attendance to either 4 or 5 days a week, and life will generally suck for a while.
I know many other families survive with two parents working full time (or worse, the only parent in the house working full time). I know we can survive too. But I really, really don't want to put him in full time care, even for a short time. When I'm working a lot my son gets kind of wigged out. I do not love his school this year. And we both have long commutes so that means even less time at home. As it is, our house is always a total pit, we are usually scrambling to keep up with all our obligations, and we hardly ever get to spend time together.
But the full time job is too good an opportunity to pass up. I just wish we had more than 48 hours to make this decision.
Related posts:
My job search and its unexpected conclusion
Family-friendly workplaces
The biggest gift I can give my son
A bit of background. Here's our current configuration.
Me: Work 2 part time jobs that add up to about 37 hours a week. One job is stressful and fast-paced, but overall very rewarding. The other job is hellacious and I would do almost anything to leave it. No time (or energy) to do anything but work, spend time with my son, and indulge in a little escapist reading around the edges.
My partner: Works half-time in an administrative position. Pay sux, politics challenging, but overall a rewarding job and he's been at the institution in various positions for almost 6 years. Has enough free time to do his "real work" (writing and political work) and also to exercise regularly.
Our son: Goes to full-day preschool 3 days a week. Home with Papa or Mama the rest of the time.
So what's going to change? My spouse jobshares with someone and she's leaving. He doesn't want to give up his current busy but balanced workload, but because my work situation is so awful, he's going to take the full time job. I'm still not sure if we'll be able to afford to have me quit one of my jobs, but I will definitely have more options.
The problem is that we will probably have several months of overlap where he's working full time, and I'm still working 37 hours a week. We'll have to increase the baby's daycare attendance to either 4 or 5 days a week, and life will generally suck for a while.
I know many other families survive with two parents working full time (or worse, the only parent in the house working full time). I know we can survive too. But I really, really don't want to put him in full time care, even for a short time. When I'm working a lot my son gets kind of wigged out. I do not love his school this year. And we both have long commutes so that means even less time at home. As it is, our house is always a total pit, we are usually scrambling to keep up with all our obligations, and we hardly ever get to spend time together.
But the full time job is too good an opportunity to pass up. I just wish we had more than 48 hours to make this decision.
Related posts:
My job search and its unexpected conclusion
Family-friendly workplaces
The biggest gift I can give my son
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