First Snow

In our household Gameboy gets up 1-1.5 hours before me. He's amazing about being quiet as he gets ready b/c I'm a girl who likes my sleep. So this morning, waking up to him exclaiming an expletive was a bit weird.

Groggily I asked what was wrong. Then he said the S word. Not one of the words little kids aren't allowed to say. Snow. Last year this would have meant rolling over and asking him to wake me 20 mins early to deal with traffic. But this year we are homeowners. We've discussed getting ready for the snow- buying salt and shovels, getting the scrapers in the car, and putting kitty litter in the trunk- but despite a trip to two home improvement stores on Sunday* it didn't happen. I blame it on the fact that I was wearing flip flops.

So today I am out of the shower before my alarm goes off. As soon as my hair is reasonably dry
I'll be headed to the big orange store 10 minutes away and buying salt and a shovel. Outside of the early part I'm irritated because I'm not figuring out the best price for items and blending that store into my regular routes to reduce gas consumption. I also have no idea about the environmental impact of salt or good alternatives.

What I do know is a pack of elementary school kids will be walking along the sidewalk in front of my house in around an hour and it needs to be safe for them and anyone else that crosses our property lines.

Moving Forward

Despite the fact that I'm sick, today is a pretty good day. The extra payment finally made it to the car loan folks. Usually I don't update the sidebars mid month, but since I sent the payment last month I figure it's fair. Half of the loan is gone! Just over $7,000 seems like a really manageable number.

The issue that had me seeing red is resolved. I'm still irritated about the situation*, but Gameboy's car has 4 good wheels and I have my car back. I think this week I'll be writing to their corporate offices. I didn't realize how attached to my car (really all the stuff I have in it) I am, but it's a relief. I was also unaware of how fast I like to drive. I always stay within 5-14 of the speed limit, but most of my driving happens on roads 45 mph or higher. 3 days of driving at 40 mph was killer.

On the house front we're financially ready to move on to the next project- finishing the closet. Our room has a beautiful built in, but the previous owner took the rods and boards. Today we tried, somewhat unsuccessfully to get the parts we need. We may have come across a solution and have a few other ideas to try. Getting the closet together will be the last step in unpacking, so any possible move forward is exciting!

Hope you had a great (and frugal) weekend!

*When we got tires in June they put on snow tires instead of what we paid for. That's right, snow tires in June. Then, instead of going down the customer is always right route, or really displaying any tact at all, my integrity was questioned by 4 different staff members.

Seeing Red

It's time for a post, but right now I'm too angry to write about money. Outside of the fact that 3 men at 2 different stores essentially accused me of trying to milk them for $270 in tires, when their chain made an error. Tomorrow I will try to resolve the matter, though it's pretty much assured that it will eat into work time that I can't afford to loose.

Election Day

It's finally here! I'm headed out the door in a few minutes to volunteer for my candidate. If you don't know where to vote or what to bring visit Rock the Vote. Also, in all of the states I've lived in electioneering withing a certian distance of the polls is not allowed-this includes wearing candidate gear.

I leave you with some cute kids bringing you the same message.

Happy voting!

October Wrap Up

It's November 1, and I'm actually getting my October wrap-up done.

• Get my Roth funds above 60%. I’d hoped to have this funded by the end of the year and without some crazy action I’m not sure if it will happen. 63! Getting closer by the day. I'm looking forward to the holiday babysitting season.
  
• Decide where I want to invest my 2008 Roth money. My last Roth is with Vanguard, who I like, but am not necessarily married to. I’m also trying to decide on what type of fund, specifically if I should go with a socially responsible fund. I haven't made a final decision but I'm closer. I've read a few prospectuses and am getting there.
  
• Only eat lunch out 3 times (not including lunch meetings). I did this, though I ate out way too much for breakfast/dinner.
  
• Keep grocery spending under $300. $302.38- this is what I get for going on vacation and not over stocking meat. In the 5 days I was gone the guys spent $122.15.
  
• Be mindful about house purchases- waiting until we can afford to buy outside of regular maintenance.I think I did ok on this. Though there was an immersion blender purchase...
  
• Go 400 miles on one tank of gas. My mileage at the pump the 3 times I filled up this month: 386, 398.8. 400.1.
  

All in all it was a good month. Have you looked at the sidebars? Notice how everything except student loans has moved upward? It's really a beautiful thing. Once my check is processed the car number will be even happier! I think we'll be able to reach our current emergency fund goal this month and send another check to the car folks.

I'm still pondering goals for the month. Between campaigning and friends in from out of two I think I'm going to be pretty busy this weekend.

How to Make Extra Payments

I'm remembering why I don't like checks. All of my bills either get charged on a credit card (and paid off that month) or auto debited/transferred to the bill collector. I love auto debits/transfers because they're easy, I don't have to find an envelope or a stamp, and most importantly there is near instant gratification. Usually by the second day the new, lower balance (or higher for savings) is there for me to look at.

This month we decided to make an extra payment on the car loan with our mid month surplus. I started to send it the usual way and then remembered another way lenders make it harder to pay off debt sooner. Generally you make a make a monthly payment. When you make an extra payment it can either be applied to future monthly payments or the account principal.

If you have a small windfall but are not sure about your ability to make monthly payments in the coming months having the money applied to future monthly payments makes sense. But when you're trying to pay down debts, you want the money to go towards the principal right now. This reduces that principal owed and the interest you are charged on said principal.

We had just over $1850* to play with. I called my loan folks and they said sending the money in to the normal place would just push my next due date to April. If I want the money applied to principal I have to send a check to a special processing center.

ING sent the check on Monday. It's Wednesday. And I want the difference to be reflected now. I know that it will be more like next Wednesday so that's why I don't like checks.

*Snowflakes I'd accumulated but saved before buying the house in case if emergency and Gameboy had great commission.

One Week

For those of you who are sick of politicals ads and talk there is only 1 week left! I live in a swing state and am ready to go back to ads trying to make me spend my money on things I don't need.

I'd hoped to be writing about my early voting experience today, but that hasn't happened. Though I schlepped the ballot book to visit my mom, but didn't open it once. I spend most of my flights sleeping, talking to my neighbor, or reading socially responsible investing prospectuses. So I'll be voting tomorrow or Thursday instead. So far I've figured out candidates for President and Senate, and positions on half of the ballot initiatives/referendum.

In other voting/finance news I'm taking off election day to work with the campaign I support. This will either take my vacation time to 0 or will be time without pay. I'm still trying to work out a glitch from my last vacation so I'm not sure. In these final days I'm also going to try to make it to my local campaign office for an hour or two every night this week. I'll definitely loose potential income, but I also haven't given any campaign contributions.

I'll leave you with this- if you can early vote, go do it now!

P2P Quiet Periods

Prosper seems to be going through the same process Lending Club went through a few months back. Both are peer to peer lending sites where an individual can apply for a loan that is funded by other individuals, not banks. My understanding of the quiet periods is that both work(ed) to obtain the ability to give promissory notes. So instead of lending $25 to Joe, you're investing in a $25 note, applied to Joe's loan. Lending club went "quiet" on the lending/investing side in April and came back last week. I haven't gotten an email from Propser, but when I poked around my account today I fount the message.

I started investing with Lending Club (LC) early this year. I opened accounts with both, but the buy in for LC is only $25 where it's $50 at Prosper. In total I've lent $175 using both sites, from March to September. I've gotten back $20.24, which considering that the loan periods are 3 years, I'm happy with. None of my lenders have missed a payment (crossed fingers).

Now that LC is back, and Prosper is quiet, I'll shift any P2P investing back to LC. When Prosper is back I'll probably go back and forth between the the two.

Minor Heart Attack

So I got home today and instead of doing work (like I should be doing) I decided to do some money transfers and make a few extra payments. I usually handle all of our household finances (from our joint account) the last week of the month. I make sure that all of our auto transfers are set for the following month and that the money to back them up are there.

We had some money left over mid month so I happily logged into the car payment site and hit the payment key. And then there was red! Specifically $xxx due on October 15, in red. I started panicking, wondering how I could have missed a payment and otherwise berating myself.

I call the company and log into ING simultaneously. I hear that the payment has gone though and see that the money is gone. I could have hung up then, but I stayed on the line to let them know that there was a glitch, or if that's standard it needs to be fixed.

Vacation

I'm at my mom's enjoying her company, realtive warmth, and all the sweet tea I can get my hands on. In the process I'm trying not to spend too much of her money or my own.

Have a great weekend!

S word

Today is the second day that the S word is in the forecast. Really there are 2 S words, but they're equally icky- snow and sleet. I've always lived places with winter, but October is just too early.

As the season continues I'll try to keep the whining to a minimum, but if you think about it snow is really bad for the budget. Normally we get a lot of sun keeping the temperature moderate. Snow = clouds = colder = more heat. It also means treacherous driving which can = costly car repairs. Finally it makes me want to hide in bed, which = not enough financial snowflakes.

So I'm not really whining, I'm worried about my finances :) Here's hoping I wake up to wet grass and not much else.

One more word on voting- if she can do it, so can you.

More than just the president

A lot of people are excited about the presidential election. But they are just the beginning of the choices for election day. There are elections for positions in Congress, state houses (the local version of congress), city/town/township councils, and if you live in a state like mine, amendments to the constitution and referendums.

I've been slowly education myself on the amendments (14!) and referendums (4) that will be on my ballot this November. When combined with all of the other stuff I'm looking at more than 20 choices when I enter the booth. Our topics included reducing tax incentives for certain industries, to working on the challenges previous amendments laid out,* to changing our organized labor structures.

These issues aren't getting as much play in the media as the top of the ticket does, but the impacts are just as serious. Your local and state laws dictate much more of the day to day activities and services you are able to access. So as time winds down (14 (or fewer) days left!) take a few minutes to read over all of the down ticket items for an informed vote.

For those of you who can vote early- happy voting. I'll probably be voting next Tuesday. I'm going to take advantage of the flight time to read our state booklet on the issues and make my big decisions.

*We have 1 amendment that limits the amount of taxes the state is allowed to hold on to and another that mandates an increase of inflation+1% for one of the largest spenders in the state.

400.1!

Second tank, mission accomplished.

Now that I've gotten here I think I'm going to change things up a bit. I've noticed that I'm significantly over 200 at the half tank mark and just make it to around 400. So for the rest of the month I'm going to try filling up at the 1/2 way mark and see if my miles per gallon go up any more. Right now I'm holding steady at around 34-36

Happy driving!

Low Earnings

Since starting the new job things have been going well. My monthly paychecks are up, but I'm not counting it because I haven't gotten my 403b stuff in yet. In the end my new job paychecks will be even with my old job paychecks.

This month I've also had a drop-off in the snowflakes coming in. This is largely because I haven't been focusing on increasing my earnings. I've decided that I'm ok with that through November 4th. This is largely so I can focus some extra time on my candidate and because the next two weekends are essentially spoken for. I'm headed to visit my mom on Thursday (first time in over a year!), headed from the airport to a concert on my return, and the following weekend is a surprise b-day party for a friend. Five friends are coming in from all over.

Since I'll be spending so much time focused on other things I'm going to do my best to reduce spending and enjoy all of the things going on around me.

Reducing Water

Every once in a while I participate in Thrifty Green Thursday, a great carnival where contributors share tips that combine saving money and helping the environment. A few weeks back someone* wrote about using a bucket to catch shower water and then using the water for plants.

My first reaction was ick. It seemed cumbersome and like more effort than I was willing to make. But over the following week I thought about it a few times. If your shower is like mine it takes a minute or two to heat up. After 2 weeks I decided to give it a try.

I use one of the buckets I got from the grocery store bakery, aim the shower head at the bucket, and wait for the water to warm up. When the water is almost warm I put the bucket just outside of the shower. Every 3-4 showers yields 2.5 gallons- which I think is a crazy amount. Instead of going down the drain the water goes to the veggies I’m growing in containers and keeping the worm bin moist.

So there’s my I tried it. Thanks to whoever wrote the original post for sharing a tip that is saving me gallons of water!

*If you wrote the original post please let me know so I can link to you. I just looked back but couldn’t find it.

Voting Options

Now that you're registered you may have to decide how to vote. In my city there are 3 options on the table- vote by mail, early voting, and election day voting. The deadline for a mail in ballot in my state is this Friday, so I only have a few days to figure things out.

So far I've decided that I won't be voting on election day. The turnout is expected to be historic and though I had a fun knitting and chatting in line for 3.5 hours during the 2006 election I don't want to do it again. Instead I plan to either be a poll worker or volunteer with my candidate's campaign.

I'm left with early voting or voting by mail. My conspiracy theorist friends say voting by mail (with a copy before you drop it off is the safest). The party I'm affiliated with is also recommending mail in ballots, to help track voter turnout. On the other hand I'm really bad about misplacing important papers. And there is something special about going into the booth and getting the cheezy 'I Voted' sticker.

Do you have options outside of voting on election day? And what are your thoughts on early/mail in voting?

The final bit of election news is that tomorrow is the final debate.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

It's October. In my mind it's way to early for retailers to start putting up Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa decorations but time for me to get cracking on gift ideas. In some ways I have it easy. I really only have to worry about Gameboy, his dad, and a few good friends. That's also why it's such a stressful time of year for me.

Half of my mom's family doesn't celebrate Christmas. This includes my closest (proximity) aunt growing up and her daughter who is more like a younger sister to me. Over the holiday breaks we spent a lot of family time together, so gifts usually weren't a part of the equation. Things were pretty laid back and usually involved lots of favorite foods from my mom's country.

As a result I'm much more of a see it and give it gifter as an adult. I see something that I know a family member/friend would love and I give it to them so they can start enjoying it. If I'm gifting a craft I work on it at a steady pace and then hand it over.

This worked well until I got serious with Gameboy. My guy who loves Christmas and his birthday which are only a week apart. His family didn't have a lot growing up but his Christmas/birthday memories a)sound like things out of the movies b)had his living room resembling a toy store. He believes holidays should be celebrated on the holiday* and with big fanfare.

So to keep things frugal I have to start now. I've been ruminating for a few weeks about what to get him, if I want to knit/crocket anything, and what to get his dad. By the end of the month I want to have a list of possiblities for Christmas and Gameboy's b-day, leaving me two months to shop arround. I'm also going to do a test run on what I want to make for my girlfriends.

Is anyone else thinking about the holidays yet.

*no more discount fare flying on Xmas day for me.

Human Error

This morning our parking lots were full so I had to park on the street. We've had to do this quite a bit lately so our boss got us parking cash keys, which is up there with the computer and IPOD for best inventions ever. It's essentially a debit card for the parking meter. The beauty is it keeps you from having to dig for change or come up with creative ways to get change, especially when you're in a rush.

I was all ready to write a post about how I'll never have a parking ticket again thanks to this little miracle. And then I forgot to move my car when the meter was up. While miraculous, the parking key won't magically make human error go away.

Losing $25 will hurt my personal budget, but it won't break the bank. I'm considering this an expensive lesson in remember to feed the meter (or at least setting a Outlook reminder) and moving on with what has otherwise been a good day.

398.8

That's how far I went on my last tank. So close to 400 I could taste it.

In my head I'm going to call it a victory. The gas light came on last night and using the following theory I could have gotten over 400- I just decided to play it safe. My car manual says the light comes on with 1 gallon left (though I think its a little higher). I can get 30+ miles to the gallon, so from the gas light turning on I theoretically could have gone 30 miles. I'd driven home 10, so my 17 mile drive to work could have worked. But who wants to play games with the gas tank when it's in the 40's, you're driving on the highway, and it's rush hour?

I could have gone to a different gas station that would have put me over the line, but I decided going out of my way to reach a goal was a little silly. Not to mention the extra 30 cents I would have spent filling up.

I'll probably go through 2-3 more tanks before the month is up, so I'm going to keep striving for 400.

Veggie Pot Pie

It's getting chilly and icky. Yesterday was drizzly and cold enough that our furnace got its first workout of the season. For me, this means it's time for warm yumminess coming from the kitchen. Currently I'm making some apple butter (and it smells GOOD). Once I've finished I'll post the info. In the mean time here is a cold weather favorite from our house- Veggie Pot Pie.

Filling:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

12 oz of assorted frozen veggies

handful 'mixed veggies' (the peas/carrot stuff)
2 red potatos, diced

1 portobello mushroom or a handful of regular mushrooms (optional)

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of anything soup

Herbs (thyme & savory mix), salt, pepper to taste

Biscuit Topping:

1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour (pastry if you have it)

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 tablespoons butter

¾ cup buttermilk

1 tbsp honey

2 quart pyrex dish

1. Sautee onions over medium low heat. While the mushrooms soften chop potato and mushroom while it cooks.
2. Add potato, and mushroom, stirring occasionally, approx 5 minutes.
3. Add 1bag of frozen veggies and a handful of the carrots/peas mix. Cook until defrosted/ you’re at a stopping point with the dough.
4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Using a fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
5. In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and honey. Add to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork to form a stiff dough. Add more buttermilk if the dough is too dry.
6. Add one can cream of mushroom soup, ½ cup of water to pot, and spices. Mix a little and let simmer.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. Knead dough lightly in the bowl for 3 to 5 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky.
9. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a shape to cover the casserole dish.
10. Pour veggies into casserole dish. Lay dough over dish. Don’t push down, but make sure it fits within the dish. Use a sharp knife to cut some vents in the dough. Put on baking tray put in the oven.
11. Bake 25-30 minutes. You know its done when the dough is lightly browned and the insides are bubbling. You can use a knife to see if the crust is done or eyeball it.
12. Let it sit for a few minutes. Dig in.

The ingredients for the filling are very flexible. Gameboy has added a few different types of meat (if you do this reduce the veggies some). I use whatever bag of assorted frozen veggies strikes me at the moment. The only thing I'm picky about is the 'mixed veggies' to add peas and carrots to the mix.

I always have questions about recipes I read online, so feel free to leave questions in the comments.

ISP fun

Earlier this week we tried to do what should have been an easy task- connecting another laptop to our wireless network. All we needed was the network key that the repair (after install problems) put together. 5 hours on the phone that night and then 3 days later we had internet again.

On the plus side our next bill should be all canceled out with the monies we were promised when things went wrong along the way...

One tank, 400 miles

On Thursday Jadefly asked how I was going to reach my goal of 400 miles on one tank. Here are a few facts/details:

• Usually 9.5-11 gallons = 330-360 miles.
  
• I hypermile around 1/3-1/2 of the time I drive.
• This time of year I rarely use AC/ need windows open.
• Three fill ups ago I made it to 392.
• My local highways and I are BFFs
  
• I run late a LOT
  

My theory is if I can drive more mindfully (with hypermiling principles) I will be able to get more miles per gallon. This means leaving in a timely manner to get places, so I'm don't have to rush. When I'm running late I revert to what I refer to as NE urban driving :).

The commute from the new house to the new job (really the new house to anywhere) involves driving on the highway so I get to spend a lot of time between 45 and 60 mph. I just have to reduce the amount of time I spend over 65 mph- the speed limit half the way. The graph on the left shows fuel economy at various speeds. It can be found here with some more tips. What I'd love to know how many data points were used to make the graph.

The other thing that is still on the agenda is getting my car tuned up. I'm way overdue for an oil change and approaching one of the 15,000 mile checkups at the dealership. If I can hit 392 with the maintenance light on 400 once it's all cleared out should be a breeze right?

The final, and probably one of the harder things I'll have to do is keep my lead footed husband out of the drivers seat in my car. I swear he just likes hearing the car go vroom!

Dressing for Success

Somehow this post from mid last week never made it out of draft form with a few updates...

The downside of the new job is new clothes. My last job could easily be put into three distinct areas- site visits, working from my couch, and occasional office meetings. I was in childcare centers, so even though the office dress was technically business casual, we interpreted this as a much more liberal 'just not jeans'.

My post undergrad attire pattern goes something like this- 2 yrs at upscale business casual, grad school, 8 months at just barely business casual. I still have some of my clothes from the 2 yr period, but since starting grad school I've gained enough weight that they don't really count. They're not nice enough to sell, so they hang out in the back of my closet, waiting for the day when I get around to loosing the weight.

After approximately 2.5 3 weeks I feel like I have a good handle on what I should be wearing and how to best supplement my somewhat meager wardrobe. Day to day the office is pretty (business) casual, but for meetings and events I need to take it up a notch. This is especially true for the times where I'm the youngest person in the room by at least 10 years. I can hold my own, but I look young* so 'grown up' clothes help.

I need a couple more pair of slacks, tights so some of my skirts can transition into fall/winter, and a few more nice tops. While I've had great success at thrift stores for tshirts and craft projects supplies I haven't been able to find work clothes. I don't want to spend a ton, so instead I'm going to try a few consignment shops and see what I can find.

This weekend I also hit a local outlet (and did a $30 survey!) and got 2 tops and 2 pairs of pants. I was exchanging pants from this spring** so I spent less than $20. I'll be taking a mini vaca to see my mom in a few weeks so I think I'm going to put off any more shopping until then.

*The last 3 times I've told strangers/new acquaintances I'm married they've started the 'you're too young' lecture. Then I say I'm 26 and they stammer all over themselves.
**thank you Eddie Bauer outlet for the loose return policy!

September Wrap-up, October Goals

I hope that September was the last in a series of crazy and expensive months. We seem to be settling into the financials associated with the house (though unpacking is still going strong), adjusting to being a 3 person household, I’m getting used to the new job, and the wedding stuff is all taken care of.

My net worth continues to increase, though at a much slower rate. I’m hoping that by my next birthday (February) the hard work of 2008 will result in a positive net worth. All of the sidebars are also slowly making their way across- except for my student loan which is on auto-pilot. The last goal I wrote about was staying sane, which I like to think I’ve accomplished. :)

For the past few days I’ve been thinking about where I’d like to go financially during October. In no particular order:

• Get my Roth funds above 60%. I’d hoped to have this funded by the end of the year and without some crazy action I’m not sure if it will happen.
• Decide where I want to invest my 2008 Roth money. My last Roth is with Vanguard, who I like, but am not necessarily married to. I’m also trying to decide on what type of fund, specifically if I should go with a socially responsible fund.
• Only eat lunch out 3 times (not including lunch meetings).
• Keep grocery spending under $300.
• Be mindful about house purchases- waiting until we can afford to buy outside of regular maintenance.
• Go 400 miles on one tank of gas.

You know you're a dork when...

you track who gets to take the polling calls.

This is my first time living and voting* in a swing state. This means a barrage of political ads. The only thing that makes up for this is the polling calls.

Though I'm not making things political here, I have very strong views. Gameboy and I are also affiliated with different political parties. So I think we should alternate who responds to the calls, informing the polls.

Before today he'd gotten 3 and I'd gotten 1.** When he got what was obviously a poll call I intervened. I let him know it was my turn, and after some thought he handed over the phone. T

*My college town was in a swing state, but I didn't get registered in time.
**Is it crazy that my household has gotten 5 polling calls?

VP Debate & Voter Registration

It's almost time for what has got to be one of the most anticipated VP debates. This will be my 3rd time voting in a major election, but I've been a geek about elections for the last 4. My recollection is that the VP debate happens, but usually doesn't get that much attention. Though I'm sad that Grey's Anatomy will not be on this week, I'll be tuning in to see how the VP candidates match up. It will be on Thursday, 9 EST.

In other election topics registration deadlines are near. If you live in AL, RI, or SC registrations are due this weekend. On Monday registrations in AZ, AK, CO, DC, FL, GA, HI, IN, KY, LA, MI, MS, OH, PA, TN, TX, and VA are due. If your state isn't listed check the link in the sidebar.

Fresh Air

Since we bought the house my mom gives me a call every two weeks or so and asks/reminds me of the little things I need to stay on top of. Occasionally it's irksome, but for the most part I appreciate her looking out for us/our house.

Last week's question was about the air filters for the furnace. It was a busy day so I said no, added air filters to the list* of things to do. Driving home I got upset at myself for forgetting but then I remembered. We haven't run the AC since the first two weeks after we moved in!

Even though we lack an IKEA, this city is great b/c it gets so cool overnight. Daytime high's of 90 usually mean overnight lows in the 60's. The combination of good insulation (thank you builders!), open windows at night, and the occasional fan has keep the inside temp pretty moderate. So based on my doctors recommendation to change filters monthly, we've saved $20-30 using fresh air to cool the house.

*which has grown exponentially since we bought the house. Not complaining, just saying.

For the love of IKEA

I have a bit of a thing for IKEA. We go way back...I vividly remember helping my mom put together my first desk and bookshelf, purchased at IKEA when I was around 7. In college their kitchen wares dotted our kitchen. A few pieces of their furniture rounded out that of our furnished university apartment in our first years, and supplemented the furniture my parents donated when we moved out on our own. Post college my house was a mix of IKEA and yard sale finds. The point- IKEA and I have a history.

So imagine my disappointment when I learned our current city doesn't have one. The closest is a 6 hour drive, over mountains. Though I love it, I'm not that hard core. Most of the time it's not a big deal. But right now we NEED bookcases. We've put off buying them, but have more than 8 boxes of books that need a new home.

The bookshelves don't need to be anything fancy, just a place for us to put our somewhat ridiculous library. In fact these would do us just fine. I'm especially in love with the $20 price tag. Why not just order them you ask?

Subtotal: $59.97

Shipping and Handling: $215.16

Order Total: $275.13

The shipping is 3.5 times more expensive than the actual product. For that kind of money we can get nice bookshelves. So I'll be going back to the drawing board.

Money + Marriage

Recently I've been reading a lot of posts/articles about the importance of being financial agreement is to a marriage, largely inspired by this NYT article. Overall Gameboy and I are on the same page. We want to pay off our debts, save for retirement, and not have to worry about being able to pay the bills. For us though, the devil is in the details. We each have a different idea on the best way to achieve those goals.

I would like to get the efund to 5K, and then send extra payments to the car payment. He would like to make a double payment on the house and then do those things. In a perfect world, we'd have the money to do all three.

In the money order these things all fall after our auto debits/deposits for his 401k and my Roth and paying the bills (mortgage, house credit card (in full), comcast, power, etc). Since we bought the house this hasn't really been an issue because we didn't have much left at the end of the month. Our household credit card has been double to triple what is usually is since June due to moving, car repair, getting married, Gamedad moving in.

Now that we have extra money choosing the priority has gotten tough. In the end we'll probably find some sort of compromise, but I really wish I could just get him to see the light- ie that I'm right :)

a potentially expensive mistake

I’m in the middle of drafting a post, where I talk about finally having some extra money. The new house bills are leveling out and life is getting back on track. And then I ran into the wall in my parking garage.

Ran into may be overstating it a bit. But my car and the wall of the parking garage were intimately acquainted for a few brief seconds. The result is a scratch on my front bumper that is bigger than my hand.

For the most part my car is nice and shiny. I got it used and it’s a 2006. I don’t need it to look like something from Pimp My Ride, but I want to maintain the cars value. I also hope to drive it for at least 5 more years and want it to be in good shape.

The car is overdue for a checkup (oil change, etc) so we'll see what the dealership says when I drop it off.

Presidential Debates

It's Tuesday, six weeks from the biggest election of my lifetime. I'm a big believer in getting as much information about candidates as possible, so this week's election note is about the debates.

This year there will be 3 90 minute debates between Obama and McCain. The first is this Friday, hosted at the University of Mississippi by Jim Lehrer. The previously announced topics are foreign policy and national security issues. It will be interesting to see if that changes in light of the financial turmoil of the past few weeks. The format, for the geeks like me that care, is 2 minute response to a question followed by 5 minutes of discussion. It starts at 9 EST and in my area at least, is playing on all of the major networks.

The next debate will be October 7 at Belmont University. Tom Brokaw will moderate the town-hall style meeting, with questions from the audience and via the internet. The final presidential debate, which has domestic and economic issues planned, will be 10/15 at Hofstra University with Bob Schieffer moderating.

For those of you who aren't in love with the political info I'll be writing about the finances of adjusting to the new job and planning for the holidays later this week.

Election Season

It's election season. To me this means lots of bad (and often deceptive) commercials, a lot of research, and even more debates*. Election season also means making sure you're registered or updating your registration to vote. In my area voting on election day is at a set location on election day, so I want to be registered with the new address.

I've added a voting section to the side bar. Right now it has a list of registration deadlines and a registration page from Rock the Vote. As time goes on I hope to go add some non-partisan information on the national candidates and other voting resources.

*Gameboy and I belong to different political parties.

FDIC

With the tumbles in the market many are worrying about their savings. Personally, I've decided not to look at my retirement account that's invested. I think in this instance burying my head in the sand is the best policy. That's the only account I'm worried about because I haven't invested much and I know that the rest of my accounts are FDIC insured.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits in approved banks across the US. On their website you can search for your bank to see if it is covered or put in your account info to see how much of your money would be protected in the event that your bank was to fail. Generally checking, savings, trust, CDs, money market deposit accounts, and IRA retirement accounts held with insured institutions are protected. Funds with higher returns, including mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies, stocks and bonds, are not insured. Essentially, with the chance of increased reward there is increased risk.

As I said, I'm not worried about my FDIC insured funds, especially since I am nowhere near the $100,000 insurance limits.

Dance Time

With the new job comes the benefits dance. This is how I refer to making decisions on the level of Medical/Dental/Vision/Life insurance, retirement accounts, and flexible spending. It's a game of balance, deciding how much risk you are wiling to take, how many dollars you want to have in the paycheck, and how much you want to be responsible for at the end of the year.

For the first time I have another major factor to take into account-Gameboy's income. During my professional life I've always been a salaried worker I know that at the end of the I will have earned X, and plan from that. I have a certain amount of contract or other extra income, but even that is something I can account for pretty well. Gameboy is in sales. He has a base that is piddly and makes most of his money based on commission. If he had been with his company for a couple of years, or even most of this year, we'd know what his average salary is. But he started 5 months ago, has been on a training base, will have a draw to settle up the training base, and then switch to his regular base. The final layer of fun is a varied commission structure for old vs new accounts and the different products a consumer can buy. This means estimating how much money he will make by the end of the year is near impossible.

This year our filing status will be married filing jointly. We haven't been married the entire year, which I'm sure will make things even better. And then there's the house.

At the moment we're decided on a set percentage for retirement for me, but can't agree on how much of that should be 403(b) (pre-tax) or Roth IRA (post tax). I want to finish funding my Roth. There are three parts to this thought- I want to have enough to buy where I want to buy, I think in the long term Roth's are a good idea, and I want to follow through on at least one of the financial goals I set for myself. He want's more to go into my 403(b), to reduce our tax burden this year. Usually I would do the math (I've done a rough tax return in the past) to figure out the numbers, but the easy breezy days of running the numbers on a 1040 EZ seem to be behind me.

I'm sure in the end our decisions will work out, but woah is this more complicated.

Water Bottle Alternative

This is a really basic tip, so basic that I almost didn't post it.

When the latest warnings about BPA and Nalgene bottles came out I decided to retire the bottles I currently have. I plan on buying a Sigg bottle, but they're not cheap and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

In the mean time, I've gone old school. I brought a couple of cups to the office and bring a travel mug with water into the car. At work I keep the cups in my cabinet and use them as needed for water and tea. I store them in one of my cabinets and wash them out at the end of the day. I use them as needed, wash them out at the end of the day, and keep them in a cabinet.

Since I spend the majority of my time in my car, at work, or at home this works well for me. It keeps me from spending a lot of money on bottled water and saves the resources that go into making plastic bottles.

For more frugal and green ideas check out Thrifty Green Thursday.

Need an airline ticket?

Head on over to Ebay. Jetblue recently decided to put some of their plane tickets on Ebay. Set flights between set destinations (ie Boston to DC, 9/29 8pm flight) are up for auction and it seems to be going well. The bidding started at $0.05 yesterday, but majority of the flights are already over $100. The bidding goes on for another 5 days, so it will be interesting to see how high the bidding goes.

Would you buy tickets this way?

The First Day

This weekend I felt like I was in school again, trying to think of the perfect outfit for the first day. Something that would be appropriate, but fun, and show a bit of my style. In this first day of school/work haze I seriously considered going on a mini shopping spree to update the wardrobe. W

Then I came back to reality. In truth, I will need to buy some new clothes. With my old job there was a decent chance that finger paint or bodily fluids could end up on my clothes, so I stuck to bottoms just a step above jeans with nice shirts. The result is 2 years since I've had to look professional. Between gaining some weight and other things wearing out my 'nice' wardrobe has gotten pretty thin. I decided that until I figure out the level of dress necessary for the office and position the mini spree will have to wait.

Life update

In typical me style I managed to plan what turned out to be a crazy week. We got home near midnight on Tuesday. The wedding was perfect and the trip was otherwise amazing. Friday was my last day at the old job. Monday is my first day at the new job. Everything was on track to be a little rushed, but go well, until my boss made a mistake and deleted around 12 hours of work.

Despite the work craziness I managed to get my name changed with Social Security and on my drivers license. I still need to tackle my passport, credit cards, bills, and whatever else comes up. So far things haven't been that hard or time consuming, but the process still feels overwhelming. The good thing is I start the job with my new name and won't have to deal with double the paperwork on that end.

I think much of today will be devoted to laundry, getting ready for tomorrow, grocery shopping, and otherwise getting the house in order. It's not that sexy, but will keep the week running smoothly during my first week of work and keep me from eating out as much.