Money on My Mind

A look at FDIC coverage

2008-07-17T01:31:00.001-07:00

The IndyMac Bank failure got me thinking about something most of us take for granted: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, usually referred to as FDIC, protection of our bank accounts.

The FDIC is an independent U.S. governmental agency created to protect bank customers against loss of deposits held in an FDIC insured bank or savings association that fails.

According to the FDIC Web site, insured deposits usually are available to customers of a failed bank within a few days. Since the inception of the FDIC in 1933, no depositor has ever lost a penny of insured deposits.

The key phase is "insured deposits," which means the amount meets the agency's limits. The amount $100,000 is tossed about, but there are some specifics that need to be noted, primarily in regard to the various account categories.

Single accounts: For accounts owned by one person and titled only in that person's name, the money in all such solo accounts counts toward the $100,000 insurance limit. That means if you have a checking account and a CD at the same FDIC-insured bank, both account amounts are added together and that total is insured up to $100,000.

Remember, it's per person/account and per bank. So if you have $100,000 in ABC Bank and $100,000 in XYZ Bank and both FDIC-insured institutions fail, each account is fully recoverable.

Joint accounts: These accounts are owned by two or more people. If the owners have equal rights to withdraw money from a joint account, each person’s shares of all joint accounts at the same insured bank are added together and the total is insured up to $100,000 for each owner.

For a couple with a joint checking account and a joint savings account at the same insured bank, like the hubby and I have, each co-owner's shares of the two accounts are added together and insured up to $100,000, providing up to $200,000 in coverage for the couple's joint accounts.

For example, the hubby and I have a hypothetical $200,000 CD at an insured bank with equal access to the account funds. So the hubby has $100,000 and I have the other $100,000 and we're OK if our bank fails, since we each get $100,000 of coverage.

If, however, our CD earnings bumped our account total up to $220,000 -- since we're being hypothetical, we're getting a great interest rate on this CD! -- that would put each of us $10,000 over the insurance limit.

Retirement account added coverage: While the basic insurance amount is $100,000 per depositor
per insured bank, retirement accounts get added coverage. IRAs are insured up to $250,000 per depositor per insured bank.

Additional assets uncovered: But other assets aren't usually protected by the FDIC.

As the fine print on bank literature and Web sites notes, the FDIC does not insure money you invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance policies, annuities, or municipal securities, even if you purchased these products from an FDIC-insured bank.

Calculate your FDIC coverage: You can calculate your bank insurance coverage at EDIE, the FDIC's online Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator.

You also can get download a copy of Your Insured Deposits: FDIC's Guide to Deposit Insurance Coverage, which has details on insured account ownership categories, or you can order a copy by calling toll-free 1-877-275-3342.

Bad banks: IndyMac is the fifth bank to fail this year. Between 2005 and 2007, only three banks failed.

However, that escalated failure pace is not a reason for worry, according to the head of the FDIC.

"All bank depositors should understand that their insured deposits are safe," said FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair (reported by Reuters). "The chance that your own bank will be taken over by the FDIC is extremely remote. And if that does happen, you will continue to have virtually uninterrupted access to your insured deposits."

According to FDIC records, in the past 15 years, the federal bank insurance agency has taken over 127 banks with combined assets of $22 billion.

The Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac, which was seized Friday, July 11, by regulators after a bank run in which customers withdrew $1.3 billion of deposits over 11 business days, will reopen Monday. It will have a new charter and a new name, IndyMac Federal Bank.

Still in a movie mode: Keeping with today's earlier post about accountant movies, the best bank failure flick is, obviously, It's a Wonderful Life.

If only real life were as wonderful as the reel life in some of these great old films.

But, alas, there aren't many bankers like George Bailey or towns like Bedford Falls anymore.

Work environments can make jobs miserable

2008-07-16T13:31:00.001-07:00

Like I mentioned in my last post, I am doing seasonal tax work again this year. As much as I love the work itself, I am actively seeking other forms of employment, because the job environment is simply unbearable. The reason I failed to update this site from January 22 to February 22 is because I was spending most of my waking hours in the tax office. I completed a hundred or so returns, and I also had to schedule dozens of appointments, file a mountain of paperwork, distribute a bunch of checks, and handle the problems of disgruntled and angry clients for hours on end. I worked 197 hours in a month of what is supposed to be a part-time job.
Things have tapered off quite a bit in the past ten days or so, but the incredible stress of the weeks before that won't be soon forgotten. And a lot of my stress could have been mitigated by effective management and proper training of our staff, as well as the thoughtful use of a temp during our busiest times. Here are some of the biggest problems:

Our manager never bothered to give us any sort of office orientation. In previous years, the office managers have required an hour or two of paid office orientation, wherein they explain the filing system, the office policies and procedures, where to find things and what to do in the event of certain problems. Here this was never done and evidently hasn't ever been done. As a result, both old and new preparers are clueless about how the office runs, which leads to a lot of wasted time and dissatisfied clients.
Where I work, payroll is king. The #1 goal of all office managers is to keep the personnel budget as low as humanly possible. It's a noble goal but it results in some stupid decision-making. My manager tries to save money by not hiring a secretary, and instead relying on tax preparers to answer the phones and schedule appointments. During our peak season this is a terribly short-sighted move, as this causes most preparers to quickly reach overtime, when we become more expensive than a minimum-wage temp. With the overtime my office has paid me alone, they could have hired a secretary for 28 hours. Even having someone around to answer the phones, help with the filing, and scheduling appointments during the busiest three hours of the day would have helped maintain a lot of sanity. Saving them a few bucks on payroll seriously backfired this year.
I have a dreaded micromanager boss. Have you ever worked with someone who hyper-scrutinizes everything you do in an attempt to hide their own incompetence? This is the exact type of person my boss is. He knows very little about much at all, but more than makes up for it by driving me (and everyone else in our office) crazy. His philosophy seems to be that of a headmaster, where he looks and looks for the tiniest mistake, which was probably made due to a lack of proper training in the first place, and then rails on you for it. I'm pretty good humored and turn a deaf ear to it, because I know he's crazy, but he's driven a lot of my co-workers to tears. It will be interesting to see what the retention rate is going to be for next year. I really enjoy the work and am good at it, but even I am hitting my limits with the abuse.
Despite being a micromanager, my boss does not delegate tasks well. Generally, delegation seems to be, "Make Dimes do it because she knows how." A lot of things don't get done because people either don't know how to do them or that they are supposed to do them. One preparer steadfastly refuses to answer the telephone, label and file tax returns, call clients, or do anything besides write returns. While not very team-oriented, that behavior was acceptable for peak, but now that business has slowed down, he needs to contend with a lot of other tasks aside from writing returns. Instead, he tries to leave during slow periods instead of checking to see what non-return-writing activities need to be done. I suppose at this point it's appropriate to add that this particular preparer has completed the most returns in the whole office.
Climate control in our office is horrible. Our customers are constantly complaining about the temperature in the office, and a lot of preparers have a difficult time working because it is so cold. Fingers get numb, leading to typing mistakes, and the cold is actually a major distraction to workers and clients alike. If we turn off the AC, the temperature soars 15 degrees in an hour, and the office gets terribly stuffy. There doesn't seem to be a workable compromise.

There are other problems, but they're a little more abstract. The point though is that I love the work I'm doing, and I'd like to keep doing it, but the garbage I have to deal with in my working environment is making it not be worthwhile. I don't imagine every company is this bad, and I am willing to try my hand elsewhere to see if I can't find a more enjoyable environment with an equally or more enjoyable job.

Planning a vacation at home

2008-07-16T01:31:00.001-07:00

This post is part of a “Summer Fun Guide” group writing project by the Personal Finance Network. More articles on the subject are at the end of this post.

Summer fun doesn't have to include an expensive road trip, a long airplane flight after braving security lines, or endless choruses of “are we there yet?”. You can have fun by staying right at home, without the hassle. And with fuel prices being what they are, enjoying a staycation instead of a vacation is becoming a more and more attractive option. (Although it's always been an attractive option to my husband — those are his favorite kinds of vacations.)

You can choose to literally stay at home, not even leaving your house, or you can choose to play tourist in your own town by taking in the local sights or enjoying the pool and spa at a neighborhood hotel. Choosing to stay in the area will help save you money too. You won't have to pay for additional gas or expensive airfare, and if you stay in your own house you won't have to pay for lodging or pet and house sitting services. In either case, a little bit of planning will help to make your summer staycation fun.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

Treat it like a real vacation. Take off from work, and tell family & friends that you're on vacation and unavailable during that time period (unless they'll be vacationing with you.)

Unplug and disconnect. Don't be tempted to sit at the computer all day or constantly check email. Vow to either ignore the internet altogether, or designate 10 minutes once a day to do so if you just can't bear the thought of possibly missing something.

Pay all bills ahead of time, and have your mail held while you are “gone”. This will cut down on distractions and allow you to relax.

Plan out crock pot meals or restaurants to eat at ahead of time, so that you aren't stuck cooking instead of relaxing. Or take turns having each family member be responsible for a day's meals.

Contact your local tourist information office or AAA to get a list of area attractions. Another advantage of staycations is that residents often receive discounted admission to attractions. You can also scope out a hotel lobby for brochures and lists of upcoming events.

Use this opportunity to explore what your own area has to offer. So many times we pay a small fortune to go explore somewhere new, when there might be some gems right in our own neighborhood that we could see for signficantly less. (I realized once while on vacation in Germany that I'd never seen the Grand Canyon or Monument Valley, despite having lived within driving distance of both for many years.)

Most of all, relax and enjoy.

For more financially-fit ideas on having fun in the summer, take a look at these articles:

Tips for packing light, especially when flying with young kids

Money movies to watch this summer

10 Free Ways to get into Fitness this Summer

Cool frugal ideas to stay away from the heat

Frugal fun ideas for kids

Will Sprint Turn Korean?

2008-07-15T13:30:00.001-07:00

How do you say "Can you hear me now?" in Korean? Just a short time ago, CNBC's David Faber just reported on "Street Signs" that South Korea Telecom is in talks to acquire Sprint. Apparently the deal is being backed, and most likely promoted, by private entity firms.

The bid is being presented as a friendly acquisition but the Sprint board is divided on the sale, Faber reported. Any announcement is probably weeks away. Unless, of course, Faber's hand forces the parties to start talking publicly.

Michigan Primaries – The State That Doesn’t Count

2008-07-14T01:29:00.001-07:00

Well the primary elections are in town today.? Time to get out and vote.

For the republicans it’s business as usual.? You vote for the best guy they should put up for president.? But what about the democrats?

Well.? I guess they don’t want to recognize Michigan.? The only major candidate to put her name on the Ballot was Hillary Clinton.? So here are your democratic choices:

A.?Hillary Clinton

B.?Undecided

C.?Other: Write Name Here:_____________________

Here’s the funny thing.? If you choose C your vote doesn’t count.? What?? You read that right.? They give you a choice that invalidates your vote.?

Printing costs must be up because they’ve got a few names on there of guys who’ve already dropped out, so you can’t pick them either.

But the Obhama and Edwards supporters are still out in full force:

“Choose undecided,” they say.? “That way Michigan delegates can vote for someone else instead of Hillary down the road”.? Ok.? Let me get that straight now.? Vote for the guys that didn’t even want to be on Micigan’s ballot?

But what issues are important for Michiganders in this election? That’s an easy one:? JOBS.

1 in 13 people doesn’t have a job here.? So it should be an easy sale for the candidates that do actually want to get some votes out of old Michigan.

I’m a republican.? I haven’t made up my mind for their best guy yet.? But I’ll do some research today and go cast my vote later this afternoon.

It should be an exciting election year ahead.

Air Issues

2008-07-11T01:29:00.001-07:00

My annual budget-friendly trips have become a highlight of, well, my life. During the past few years I've traveled on the cheap to California several times, to Washington and Oregon and to Ireland, to name a few. I early await trip-planning season every year. And every year, I book a reward ticket on American and use my credit card rewards to keep the cost of most trips around $1,000 for a week-long expedition.

But have you tried booking flights lately? It's out of control! I'd spend the cost of my entire annual trip on airfare alone. The cost of flying to the Pacific coast has doubled since the last time I flew there, and now my miles are ridiculously difficult to redeem. We were considering a trip to Belize, but the flights cost an arm and a leg. I checked a few other destinations and the costs and mile redemptions are nuts...

This is a vacation crisis, people!

I feel blindsided. I mean, I know the cost of gas is bad, but what happened to Southwest's cheap flights? I guess I haven't been following the effects of airline consolidation and the high prices of gas haven't really hit me yet either(don't laugh, I don't drive).

So what's a girl to do this summer? I was really relying on cheap airfare for the summer. I need some suggestions for a good August destination with outdoor adventures stat! I'm thinking now I should just try to go to the boundary waters in Minnesota or do something in the Midwest. Which kind of sucks because I really love meeting people from all over, learning about the history and culture of new regions and GETTING FAR AWAY with my long vacation time.

SOS!

Tasty food taxes

2008-07-09T13:29:00.001-07:00

Did you have chips with your July 4th hot dog? If you live in one of 17 states, you likely paid tax on that snack.

According to the Fedreation of Tax
Adminstrators, sales tax at either the state
and/or at a more local level is collected on food products sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii. Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

One of the more interesting things about these taxes is just what constitutes food. Some folks say anything edible is food. But for tax purposes, there usually are distinctions.

Beverages, while sold at grocery stores, tend to be taxed while other items escape the levy. Snacks and candy are often taxed, while fruits and vegetables aren't.

Yes, it's another instance of trying to use tax laws to shape behavior, which gets us into the argument over whether that's appropriate tax policy. But that's a debate for another time.

Good food, bad food, taxed food: I used to work for Nestlé, so I'm a bit biased. As the world's largest food company -- yes, its brands go beyond yummy chocolate candy -- Nestlé joined with other food manufacturers to fight all forms of food taxes.

I've been gone from that legislative battle for while, but it still rages on, as evidenced by this Grocery Manufacturers Association's discussion of food taxes

And I still agree with GMA et al that selective food taxation is arbitrary, discriminatory, and regressive.
Taxing one item within a category and excluding others is confusing. Worse, food taxes, like sales taxes in general, disproportionately
affect households with less money to spend on everything, including food products.

Food is a basic essential. It just doesn't seem right to tax something that we need to live.

Yes, we all should eat healthier comestibles. Yes, obesity is a health issue that costs us all when weight contributes to illnesses that subsequently lower worker productivity and/or increase health care costs. And yes, taxes dedicated to programs to treat overweight and other other health-related problems do help mitigate those costs.

But I tend to the libertarian side when it comes to making decisions about what to do in my personal life and to my own body. And as someone who enjoys eating, way too much too much of the time, I can promise you that taxes aren't going to make me change my diet.

Plus, the whole idea of parsing just what is and isn't food is ridiculous … unless you're in a British courtroom.

Pringles: Potato or not? On Friday, Britain's High Court ruled that Pringles are not a potato snack, and thus are not subject to the nation's value-added tax (VAT).

Justice Nicholas Warren
overruled a VAT Tribunal decision that Pringles should be
subject to the 17.5 percent tax because it met the definition of
''potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made
from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch.''

In support of the case that Pringles should not be taxed as food, manufacturer Procter & Gamble UK argued, in part:

Regular
Pringles are not similar to potato crisps [aka chips here in the U.S.] on the ground of regularity
of shape, having a shape not found in nature, uniform coloring,
texture, taste particularly "mouth melt". Crisps do not contain
non-potato flours as does Pringles. Crisps are not normally packaged in
tubes.

The
manufacturing process is different from potato crisps and more like
that of a cake or biscuit, being made from a dough, then cut into a
standard shape, and then cooked separately.

Customers do not see
Regular Pringles as potato crisps. The ingredients of products in the
modern snack market are largely irrelevant to purchasers, as is
demonstrated by the labeling requirements.

No one ingredient of Regular Pringles is over 50 per cent.

That last point had an impact on the judge, who noted that Pringles were only 42 percent potato, and thus exempt from the tax.

Almost as intriguing to me is the fact that P&G argued so emphatically that its grocery product isn't food. As one who doesn't like Pringles at all, I definitely agree. The taste to me is akin to the cardboard in which the snacks are packaged.

Give me my good, greasy, salty, irregularly shaped, unhealthy Lay's any day of the week, tax policy be damned!

You can read the ruling here, and additional media coverage at Bloomberg, ; National Post, Associated Press, Scotsman, Forbes and London Telegraph.

The Key To Finding Cheap Car Insurance

2008-07-08T13:28:00.001-07:00

The costs of car insurance, as with all things car related, have gone up in recent months for any number of reasons. Car insurance companies give all sorts of reasons for that, and most of them are complete garbage. Although we’ve all been taught to take everything with a pinch of salt, it doesn’t help you when you have to fork out for it after buying a new car! However, if you are with Tesco insurance you can save a lot of money.?

Tesco insurance insurance really can helps its customers in a number of ways. The choice of car insurance products is fantastic so you get the deal you need at the price you want to suit you perfectly. In fact, Tesco insurance can be the answer to your prayers. Obtaining a quote takes but a few minutes and is a decision that you will never regret!

Watching the Money Flow Out

2008-07-07T13:28:00.001-07:00

I just paid out $3084.00 to the contractor for my apartment. It’s done. It looks great.

Total cost was $5684.00. Not bad for a DC area bathroom remodel. They’re between $7K-12K for a low-end estimate. But since my bathroom is exceptionally tiny to fit in my studio, I saved some money by ripping out a tile backsplash around the room (but also spending $300 extra to remove some extra concrete under the tile). Paint is a lot cheaper than tile, plus you don’t have to wait extra for the grout to cure.

My contractor left me extra bath and floor tiles, just in case they cracked. He’s going to send a granite care sheet for the countertop. (Basically no ammonia cleaner and wipe up all acidic liquids right away.)

I saved money by telling my contractor about a special deal at Home Depot for a towel bar, toilet paper roll holder and handtowel and generally keeping my eye out for the things that I liked in particular so he would have an inkling for what to pick up for me. We sent a lot of pictures back and forth via email. It really does help to have a cameraphone sometimes, though it’s the most loathsome of all cellphone features.

Half of the construction was paid for by my tax refund, stimulus package payment and the insurance payout. I took out $5000 BT on a credit card, but I was able to payback $2000 right away. It’s put a dent in my finances psychologically more than anything else. I have definitely depleted my emergency fund and added a little to my credit cards over the same period.

Was it worth it? Well, if I add up my construction cost to my remaining mortgage amount, I’m slightly over my original purchase price. If I look around my bathroom, touch my fixtures, and stare into the mirror with really good lighting, I am satisfied. Pleased. Happy.

While I won’t recover all the cost of the remodel, I think it was a good idea. There were small little patches all over the place. Just little stuff, but it added up in a way that didn’t look good. I figure I’m more likely to get a premium for the bathroom now if I sell it because it looks intact and unified.

The only downside is still the dust everywhere, but at least now I can rearrange my closet more efficiently. (A lot of studios in DC have a walk through closet with the bathroom on the other end. I hate the layout, but it’s what it is.)

Que sera sera. I’ll just have to live with it now! muhahaha!

2008 BAH rates will be available next week

2008-07-07T01:27:00.001-07:00

I never quite understand why it takes so long for the Basic Allowance for Housing rates to be published. Base pay figures are usually available by October of the preceding year, but BAH tables aren't available until mid-December. It can make it very difficult for incoming families to decide where to live, as they don't know if the BAH will adjust downwards before they arrive or not. It can also complicate the decision whether or not to move into base housing in the face of higher rents. Plus, it's just plain annoying for people who are trying to create a budget for 2008. Why all the suspense? I'm ready to know!

Anyway, a week from now or so, you'll want to head over to the official pentagon site to see if your new housing rates have been published. The site will undoubtedly crash due to high visitor volume (as it happened in 2005 AND 2006), but eventually it will work pretty well. Other sites like about.com also publish tables, but I'm more trusting of the actual Pentagon page.

3 Crazy Nights in Chicago: Chapter 2 - Eating and Drinking Our Way Through the City

2008-07-06T01:27:00.001-07:00

I was toying with calling this chapter "Texans Like Pizza and Drinking," because that pretty much sums up my weekend.

I'm not sure whether my Texan mamas (and some fellow Illinoisians, to be fair) fully expected the beast of a weekend we got. But one thing was clear from the start - they wanted pizza and drinking. And lots of it. And since I know all too well the city's famously hearty foods - and few of the famously foodie foods - I sent them to reasonably priced casual places. Though I'm always happy to provide recommendations for those looking for a trendier, less-touristy or more upscale scene.

So we started our caloric extravaganza at Gino's East on Friday night; their pick, although since I eat it so infrequently it's a treat for me. If I had to pick the best pizza in the city, it would be difficult, so I usually take out-of-town guests to the place closest to where I am at any given time: Lou Malnati's on the North side, Gino's East downtown, Giordano's or Salerno's in my hood and Home Run Inn on the Southwest side. You really can't go wrong with stuffed deep dish. We ordered a large one, two pitchers of beer (Goose Island, thank you), toasted ravioli and spinach sticks. Including the beer and a few mixed drinks, the total came to about $22 per person. Which is a great deal considering how much food was on our table!

After dinner, we went to Stanley's on Racine for a happy hour in the West Loop, where I taught my girls the fine art of playing bags in the dark. I think I only bought a few beers there, because our bag play amused the crowd, so folks kept our drinks coming whenever we were out. Gotta love the city. We made some new friends, but after losing both games to the Jeffs (that's Jeff and Geoff, to be precise), we were ready to move on.

A quick cab ride later brought us to English, a newish local hotspot downtown, where my smooth tap-dancing moves pretty much owned the top floor. Well, at least I thought they did. Another few drinks, some non-tappy dancing and the bar called last call. So we began our walk back to the hotel (which was a cool corporate apartment complex) with a stop at McDonald's along the way.

Saturday morning I skipped breakfast in favor of Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee and a chocolate donut as I frantically cruised around the city trying to get a phone. The other girls headed to Navy Pier and then west to Wicker Park, where they discovered Earwax, a trendy vegetarian diner that they raved about. I still can't stomach the name, because actual earwax really, really freaks me out, so despite its loveliness and dedication to keeping food real, I don't think I'll go there anytime soon.

Saturday night, we wanted something close, so we headed to the House of Blues, where we split bottles of champagne and racks of ribs. Weird combo? Yes. But also totally fun. There was a FANTASTIC musician performing and I've always thought the space itself is really cool, and they let us on the stage to take pictures with the band. That's usually more of a lunch place for me, but I'd go back for the BBQ ribs. Without the champaign, the ribs came to about $20 per person, including tip. Considering that we saw awesome live music with dinner, it was a great deal.

After HOB, it was up to Sheffield's for the beer garden. We planned to go to Funky Buddah Lounge but got rained on, and thus ended up instead at Trader Todd's because one of the girls was feeling some karaoke coming on. And apparently some shot-ski's... which my super fun Texan friends loved (you'll have to go there to figure out what those are). A few Virginia's Bananas, and some shot-ski's later, we were ready to call it a night.

But first, we finished things off with some late-night burritos. I couldn't even tell you where they were from. It was kind of a "hey cabbie, stop here!" thing. Though I can definitely offer some solid advice on picking a late-night burrito joint... look for long lines and happy faces! Two of my favorites are The Burrito House and the one by Wrigley Field, where Ish will serve you up burritos with a smile all night long at a tasty price. OK, LaBamba will also hit the spot when needed.

Sunday was a late breakfast at Potbelly followed by a heaping spoonful of pride at the Pride Parade (more on that later), and then the girls wanted MORE PIZZA before they got on the plane for Texas so we hit up Giordano's for one last stuffed deep dish and some fried zucchini.

Sure they missed out on some things - Al's Italian Beef, Taylor Street Italian Ice, Nicky's Hot Dogs, Garrett Pop Corn (get the Chicago mix), Portillo's and every foodie place in the city...

And of course they missed out on museums and most indoor activity aside from shopping, but that's why they need to come back in the winter. Maybe by then I'll have a handle on the places that require a coat and tie.

Phew.. a lot can happen in a week

2008-07-03T13:26:00.001-07:00

It's been a bit busy. I started my new job last Wednesday and things are going pretty good. There was actually some back and forth about how much I was going to get paid.. I talked to Top Doc on the phone who just said, come in and talk to the office manager. So I showed up Wednesday morning and he had a very fuzzy recollection of me - apparently he had gotten about 15 seconds with Top Doc who just said, she's coming. So they had not had a conversation about my salary. He says he'll talk to her, and then for the next few days, I can never find him, plus I keep shuttling between two of the offices. Finally on Thursday evening before I leave, I sent him an email listing what I wanted to talk about (salary plus a couple other things) and said if I couldn't get a hold of him I would call him. I finally got him on the phone about 2PM on Friday and he said that they'd set me at $40k. Which is fine, I told them $40-45k in the interview, and while it is a little less than I used to make, I probably would have accepted less, but it does seem like bad form to cheap out on someone who's already BEEN there three days.

Something that is definitely a bonus though is that instead of working at the main clinic, which is out in the suburbs and is about 20 minutes of highway to reach, I'll be assigned to the downtown office, which is literally about five minutes from my house. So that's pretty awesome. Unfortunately it'll be longer after we move, but definitely not bad at all - about 12 minutes, none highway. If I REALLY wanted to, I could take a bus, with only a few blocks' walk to get to the stops at each end. But that's $41 a month for the bus pass, and I don't know how much the garage pass is going to be, but unlikely to be that much, and 12 minutes drive in each direction is pretty good on gas too. I'm also excited to be downtown because it's actually in a hospital, which means there are a lot of resources (like a cafeteria, a lot more bathrooms, gift shop, etc, as well as being able to schedule tests for my patients onsite.) Downtown also has a lot of lunch restaurants and some street vendors, so I could go out and get all kinds of good stuff.

(for those who used to read regularly, yes, I do now own a car. It is a 2002 Chevy Cavalier with about 9823498 dents, which is why it was about $2700. But it hasn't required much in the way of maintenance and I'll probably drive it into the ground. Driving is WEIRD but fun.)

One really awesome bonus though is that they FEED YOU LUNCH on Mondays and Tuesdays, and sometimes Fridays. Today I actually got two lunches, because I was in the suburban office in the morning when they were passing round the menu. Apparently the drug reps pick a restaurant and we all get to choose what we want off the menu. Most people got an appetizer or dessert in addition to a meal. So I picked out coconut shrimp (which they ended up not having) and chicken parmesan with pasta. Then at about 10:30 I got a call saying that there was someone to see down at the downtown office. I am meeting with the most experienced coordinator down there frequently for training. So by then the order was already in, and I went downtown before lunch arrived. And what do you know but they had Panera boxed lunches. Five kinds of awesome. So I got Panera for lunch, and my chicken parmesan was there when I got back to the suburban office. Hooray for free lunch! I am totally going to milk that. I don't think they do the menu ordering at the office I'll be at, but free food is still awesome.

In house news, we did our inspection on Tuesday, and there are of course a few problems. The ones we were most concerned with were the wiring and the hot water heater. The house is about 100 years old, so the wiring is pretty old, but it looks like someone rewired the downstairs but not the upstairs. The upstairs is not grounded at all, and there is knob and tube wiring in the attic that is under a foot of insulation. How this was explained to me as bad is that knob and tube has nice big copper cables, which can be good because they are much thicker than wires used today, and usually enclosed in a wall with air all around them to let heat escape. So being under a foot of insulation means the heat can't escape and this is a fire safety issue. So that's bad. The other big issue is that the hot water heater's air outlet is not drafting properly. The house has two chimneys and the air is supposed to go up one of them, and it's not. This might be because the chimney is full of leaves and crap, or it might be that the chimney has collapsed internally. Who knows. Not our problem. It's a safety risk. So we asked on our request to remedy that they replace and ground the upstairs wiring, and that they fix the hot water heater so it's drafting properly and the basement doesn't fill up with carbon monoxide. That's bad. We're waiting to hear back from them probably tomorrow about what they're going to do.

We also went in early this morning and Boyfriend signed lock papers. We are locked in at 6.25% paying half a point of discount (probably covered under what the seller is paying) and given the way the markets look now, that's probably the best we'd be likely to get, even given what our mortgage person was up to. When we first met she had said 6.25% with no points, but this is acceptable given that we are putting so little down.

In completely unrelated news, I've also been spending money on clothes. This is kind of new for me, and I forgot how much I actually really enjoy having nice clothes and looking like an adult. At my last job I kind of fell into wearing the same pants every day with different solid colored t-shirts and long sleeved t-shirts, and I felt like I was starting to look my age. (this is not something you want when you are as young as I am in the professional world where people have to trust you are providing accurate, potentially life-altering decision-making information.) So I spent some time at the outlets on Tuesday and spent about $250 on clothes, and for this got six dresses, a couple tops, and some assorted other items. Went to a different store a couple days ago and spent $75 on four dresses. Kind of getting into dresses now, to some extent. But like the commercials say, feeling like a grown-up at your new job: priceless. I'm going to try to weed out some of my older, less attractive clothes and slowly turn over my wardrobe. At this point, if I can't wear it to work, there hardly seems a point in buying it since I already have plenty of t-shirts and shorts, and you can wear black pants any day. I do need to buy some black closed toed shoes that I can wear barefoot, since I a) hate pantyhose b) bought a bunch of knee length skirts and dresses and c) you can't wear open toed shoes in a hospital. So that might end up costing more than my outfit on any given day, but hey, no one said looking like a grown-up was cheap.

2008 BAH rates available Wednesday

2008-07-01T13:25:00.001-07:00

At long last, we have an apparent publication date! The 2008 Basic Allowance for Housing rates will finally be posted on Wednesday, December 12, according to the pentagon site. Don't know for certain at what time they will be posted, but check often, and when the site crashes, that's a pretty good sign they're available. :-)

Did you know that most military personnel, their spouses and their dependents will not be eligible for Refund Anticipation Loans this tax season? Details to follow tomorrow.

And We're Back

2008-07-01T01:25:00.001-07:00

What transpired in the 4 hours since Count Vikula hacked into our system and shut this place down?

-- Massage enthusiast Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to paying underage girls to awkwardly stand by while he jerked off into a towel. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, plus a year of house arrest, and will be given the official title of sex offender. Adding insult to injury is the news that he will definitely not have the scratch to take up with the prosts, at least not with the same vigor, following the hard time. Epstein lost $57 million as "Major Investor No.1" in the Bear Stearns hedge funds.

-- Vanity Fair/Bear blamed CNBC, where "there is simply no adult supervision," for BSC going down, and also claimed that a group of hedge fund managers celebrated the collapse at a breakfast the following Sunday morning during which they "planned a similar assault on Lehman" for the following week BUT FAILED TO TELL US WHAT THEY ATE.

-- We received cloak and dagger emails from a few of you about "something happening at Lehman."

-- Carney, as one of you guessed, staged a Free Epstein rally, topless, while I watched one of the best "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" episodes ever, "Charlie Wants An Abortion." If you haven't seen it, stop what you're doing and rectify that now. My favorite part is this little bit of dialogue (looking for a clip) between Mac and Meg, a pro-lifer he's trying to bed, at an abortion clinic protest:

Bah, oh well

2008-06-27T13:24:00.001-07:00

So we went to take a look at this house.. and I must say, I was a little taken aback. While I was fully prepared for the cracked kitchen tile and lumpy, painted-over siding, I was not prepared for the several joists in the basement holding up the central floor beam, nor for the fact that all the floors are sloped and a little spongy. Least of all was I prepared for the ladder made of 2x4's that is the method for getting into the attic (which is actually finished quite nicely and is, by the reports of Boyfriend, the nicest room in the house - I was too scared to go up the ladder since it leaned backwards somewhat.)

So just from our initial trip 'round the house, we decided this was not for us. I had been prepared to put $30,000 into this house, but not $60,000 or $70,000 - especially with the damp basement and potential house-sliding-into-one-corner problems. I had been under the impression that the house had been a rental for a few years, but apparently it had been rented out for TWENTY - and it really looks it. There are lots of repairs (like the 2x4 ladder) that look like a cheap, quick, not-particularly-durable solution to a problem. The roof similarly looked like it had been put on by an amateur with cheap materials - it wasn't evenly spaced, and we found part of a shingle on the ground. It's too bad because the backyard was pretty great for this area (yes, you really can buy a house on 1/50th of an acre) and it might be a nice house, if I had $70k. The real deal breaker though were the upstairs bedrooms, which are all quite small, and only one has a normal sized closet. One had a closet literally ten inches deep, and the third had no closet at all. So I backed away from this house - maybe in another few years. :)

So now I'm looking at places to rent, since I do want a bigger place. I found a place that looks great on paper, but I want to talk to the landlord and see what experience they have since I get the impression it's just some guy who owns a house and felt like renting it out. From the county auditor's site, I found that it sold in 2005 (presumably to this guy or someone he works for) for $228,000 - and you can do the math that the rent of $1200 is not going to cover that mortgage. So who knows what the deal is there. I also have my eye on a few other nice places, so hopefully they don't get rented out before I make the final call! My lease is up August 15th so that's a bit early for around here (most things are Sept to Sept) so I'm hoping to get someplace for August 1st, so we have two weeks to move.

In other news, CashDuck is quite busy now and I have added another person to my crew. :) At this point she's mostly helping me catch up on tasks that have been long neglected, and taking only a little workload off of me and my other crew member. Ah, such is business.. it grows faster than I can manage to hire people to take work off me. But things are going quite well. My wonderful ducklings raised $350 for breast cancer research with this month's promotion so I'm pretty pleased with that too! I am pretty much ducking when I am not eating, sleeping, or at work though. Yesterday, I took an hour to relax, which I am not good at, and watched some TV.

In other news, I fear that between my work and CashDuck and attempting to have a real life, I do not have time to administer the Under 30 Honor Roll and I'm not doing it proper justice. So for any fellow Honor Roll members, if you are interested in taking over the Honor Roll and making it the best it can be, drop me an email.

An amazing new goal

2008-06-27T01:24:00.001-07:00

I love to travel. I'm not the kind of person who does the “if it's Tuesday it must be Paris” tours either. Instead, I like to go places and poke around for as long as possible. When people ask me where I'd like to travel, it's easier to tell them the few places I wouldn't like to go: places with active wars or genocide. That's it.

But there are some places that I want to go more than others. When I was a little kid, someone gave me an old stamp collection that had a first day cover in it. That envelope had an explanation of Admiral Byrd's expedition to Antarctica. That was all it took. I wanted to go to someplace that remote and beautiful. Just think! Antarctica! I looked up Admiral Byrd in the encyclopedia. I imagined trying to outfit an expedition of that sort. I daydreamed about penguins and huge sheets of ice. Heck I was thrilled to see penguins at Sea World in San Diego. I pretended we were really in Antarctica.

But it wasn't until recently that I realized it was actually possible for non-explorers and non-scientists to go to Antarctica. We could really go! The only thing was, for even just my husband and myself to get there, the trip would start at about $15,000. $15,000!

That's uh, a lot. Really a lot. And a few years ago I didn't see how we could possibly save up that kind of money. But now I know that we can. Even on top of our other goals.

You see, I want it badly enough. So I'm setting up the Antarctica account, and will be doing other things that will help us get there. Reaching a goal is easier when something really captures your imagination.

Stock Bias Test Results

2008-06-26T13:24:00.001-07:00

I ran a post on Friday titled, Stock Bias Test, which has become one of the more popular pages on my site in only a few days. My site doesn’t generate a large number of comments per blog post, maybe 2 to 4 per post on average, but this topic got more than 30 people to respond (a huge success in my “comments world”). I guess I do a poor job in sparking conversation based on what I write.

Anyway, everyone seemed to like the exercise of analyzing the charts without a ticker symbol or frame of time.

I asked a few questions:

Which stock would you buy below based on the nameless & dateless charts? (listed 1,2,3,4)

How would you rank them in order of technical characteristics?

Would you avoid buying of any of the stocks below based on price and volume?

Would you short any of the stocks below?

Overall, many of you struck out and did not get the analysis right but I do have to say a that a few of you did a wonderful job.

The best response in the comments that I could find clearly comes from Alex who runs a blog on his google pages.

He nailed every chart (I wonder if he figured them out) as a few of you did.

#1 is the strongest buy. The last candle on #1 sets the high of the chart, therefore it’s moving into uncharted terrritory with no overhead sellers. Also, the last dip down to the 40-period line was on low and decreasing volume, thus few sellers there. Then it spiked off the 40-period MA with strong volume. Then it continued the uptrend for 5 candles.

#3 would be my second strongest buy for similar reasons, but I’d like to see what the next few candles do.

#2 & #4 I would leave alone because of the heavy selling volume on the last dips. But I wouldn’t short them because they are still above the 40-day MA.

I had to hide Aurelien’s answers for chart #3 as he guessed it: AAPL.

Steven Mac may have summed up the approach to the analysis the best by saying:

While the exercise is based upon price & volume alone or techincal aspects, for the record I wouldn’t move into a position unless I can see at least:

1) Risk-to-Reward.

2) RS Strength

3) Industry Group/Sister Stock Information

4) Fundamentals on Ownership

5) Overall Market Direction Factor

Overall – it was a great exercise and a wonderful success. I plan to do more of these in the future (possibly bi-weekly if everyone stays interested).

The original snapshots of the charts I uploaded on Friday are highlighted in blue (on the charts below). As you can see, #1 (BIDU) and #3 (AAPL) were super successful and #2 (MS) and #4 (BSC) broke down.

Proper risk/ reward setups and sell rules would have saved you from losing large amounts of money in MS and BSC so don’t worry if you got them wrong. Worry if you got it wrong and then avoided selling a clear loser.

I lied... 2008 BAH available now!

2008-06-25T13:24:00.001-07:00

Maybe it is Wednesday already in Japan, but anothernavywife has informed me that 2008 BAH rates are now available!
We got a pretty good bump around here; the Hampton Roads area seems to have had an increase of approximately $100-125/mo., fluctuating slightly based on paygrade, of course.

Hooray!

Tips for All Your Small Space Issues

2008-06-25T01:23:00.001-07:00

Given the size of my small apartment, space is always an issue. Our apartment is essentially one big room that encompasses our living area, eating space, office, library and pet homes (we luckily also have two bedrooms). Within our small space, I consider it an engineering marvel that my closets don't spill out the minute you open the doors. Whether I'm shopping for paper towels, sleeping bags, sports equipment or just a new hand bag, the question always pops up: "Where are we going to put this?" I considered buying an armoire for extra storage, but then realized I didn't have the floor space for it.

It's not just storage space that causes problems. Try asking two people put away five bags of groceries or simply cook a meal in a ten-foot by six-foot kitchenette. Try enjoying "Rock of Love" in the living room while someone else is attempting to write a 30-page legal paper that's due tomorrow in the same room. Luckily, despite our lack of space, B and I have managed to make our small apartment work.

And given that many of you are living in small urban spaces with roommates (or someday will), I thought you could use some tips for getting along and living in a place that actually fits your budget, if not your lifestyle.

Tip one: Give stuff away. If you like to shop, and your space is limited, you're in trouble. I have imposed the following rule to prevent my closet from overtaking my living space: If I can't fit the new items in the closet or home, I must give old stuff to friends, family and Goodwill (or the Salvation Army) to make room. (I've also heard that Freecycle is good, and certainly e-bay is another option if you have valuable things). I stay away from throwing clothes, shoes, accessories or household items in the trash if they're still usable. If I can't stand to part with anything, I don't deserve the new goods.

Let's apply this rule... if I go shopping and come home with two bags of new spring clothes, I automatically weed through my closet and pull old pieces. You'd be surprised at the old stuff lurking in your closet. I still find clothes from college (which means they're about eight years or older) in my closet. I don't wear it, but for some reason I can't let go of it. Well, tough. Now, if I'm not wearing it, I can't keep it. Someone out there probably needs my old sorority T-shirts and sizes-too-small mini-skirts more than I do. (I kid. Typically, it's my old work clothes, warm sweaters, winter coats and gently worn shoes that make their way out. I gave away the minis long ago.)

One other cool idea: A friend of mine had a bunch of clothes, accessories and make-up in great condition that she had shrunk or just didn't want to wear/use anymore. She invited us all over for dinner and drinks, then opened up her closet and let us all pick what we wanted. I got some amazing work clothes and she got much-needed closet space back. It was a win-win for all.

Tip two: Buying stuff isn't always an option. I would really like a tent for when we go hiking and camping, instead of always borrowing my parents' huge old complicated one. But I seriously have nowhere to put it, so I can't buy one. Same goes for my eating nook (I really want an actual table, with chairs that have backs), kitchen appliances (we have the smallest coffee maker EVER), seasonal apartment decorations, a treadmill, a rocking chair, a bigger TV screen, an entertainment center... you name it, I can't buy it. And that's fine by me, because I probably can't afford it anyway. What I have fills my living space to the brim. And that's enough.

In terms of household items, I would like to be able to buy some non-perishable things in bulk, like paper towels, toilet paper, soaps, shampoos, etc. But for now, we just have to say NO! because we can't handle it.

Tip three: Organize with removable shelves and bins. Is there any storage problem that Rubbermaid can't help with? Check out their Web site for new ideas for your closet, junk drawer and shared spaces. I optimize all my space with extra sliding drawers, bins, etc. Come to think of it, I will be buying more today to organize my coat/cleaning supplies/wrapping paper/board games storage closet.

Tip four: Keep it clean and uncluttered. I am never in a worse mood than when my apartment is cluttered or untidy. And with only one main living area, that seems like always. The slightest amount of clutter - office papers, coffee cups or junk-mail - on one surface makes it seem like my entire apartment is in chaos. Not only does a messy apartment make me cranky, it also makes me feel like I want to move to a bigger, more expensive one. Keeping the place clean goes a long way towards making me feel content, so if you feel trapped in a tiny apartment, try cleaning and uncluttering before you think about getting a bigger place or buying before you're ready. It might help you stick with your lower rent place.

Tip five: Understand your personal space needs. I grew up in a family of six. In college, I never lived with less than six people. I like a full house, I like contact, I like constant conversation. B, on the other hand, was one of two kids, and prefers to be a little quieter, a little more solitary and have a little more space. Our different upbringings play out like this: If he's in our small kitchen, I like to be standing a few feet away from him, chatting. He feels claustrophobic if we're both standing in the tiny kitchen together.

When we first moved in together, I think we were both surprised that the other felt so differently about personal space. But we talked about where our needs come from, and we respect them. In the end, I learned the value of having quiet time to myself (which sometimes requires me to get outdoors for a walk or just sitting down by myself with a good book), and B learned to appreciate having someone nearby with whom to communicate.

Whether it's roommates or a loved one, living together can be difficult. Living together in a small space can be even tougher. Communicating about, understanding and respecting personal space needs will help make life easier.

.....

I could probably ramble all day, but I hope these five top tips will help you better appreciate your small, tight, unloved apartment or condo a bit more before you grow out of it.

In addition to the tips above, here are some sites that can help as you look to furnish or rework your small space:

For those of you with small-space love, give us some of your best tips!

Gratuitous publicity, or something

2008-06-22T01:22:00.001-07:00

My blog was recently reviewed on debtconsolidationcare.com, a site which claims to be "the internet's first get-out-of-debt community" and boasts ninety thousand or so members. While this may be the case, not a single hit on my sitemeter has come from this community since this review was published. :-) I cannot vouch for the Debt Consolidation Care's expertise or competence, and my browser settings really don't work well with their page, but maybe you'll have better luck than I did. I use Mozilla Firefox with ad-block on Windows XP, and have blocked most video sites by default. Nonetheless, some of the scripts affiliated with the site kept hanging my browser. Just be cautious.
I *can* tell you the Debt Consolidation Care community is based out of Calcutta, India, based on the time of the emails received (usually after 10PM Pacific) and my site stats, so take that as you will.

I'm obviously not getting paid to write this review, but am doing at the request of one of their staff members, one Liza Jolie, who has been, shall we say, very relentless in her emailing. So here it is. I'm sure my link to their site will make a huge difference in their traffic. ;-)

House Flipping In The Real World-Part 4-Back In The Hood

2008-06-20T01:22:00.001-07:00

The fourth part in the sad, sad story. See previous posts to get up to date.

My lawyer called on the first Tuesday in December and said the foreclosure was final, or almost. Freddy and Celia had 24 hours to get out or we called the sheriff and he threw their stuff out on the street. Pretty harsh but my patience was pretty thin. The lawyer had sold the house on the courthouse steps and I, since I held the note, was the buyer. There is much made in real estate flipping books about buying houses on the courthouse steps. Unless I am really missing something, don't waste your time. What happens is this--the mortgage company sends notes to the owners saying they will be foreclosed on unless they pay, the owner can't or won't pay, the house is sold on the steps and the highest bidder will be, in 99 out of 100 times, the mortgage company because the mortgage company holds the note. Now, if you want to outbid the mortgage company, feel free as the mortgage company will be ecstatic since they will get paid when you buy the house because they have the mortgage but you won't get much of a deal. A bit complicated but makes sense if you think about it. The bottom line is don't waste your time hanging around the courthouse steps.

I gave Freddy and Celia 48 hours and showed up on Thursday. Since I hadn't been in the neighborhood for awhile we had a bit of a reunion. Mercedes and Hector were home for lunch and waved. The couple up the street, an elderly brother and sister team, came over as well as the two women living across the street, Cynthia and Alice. Carolyn, who lived on the other side and was never out of her robe and cigarette, came over as well. Carolyn's mother, Jennifer, was my first and best tenant and I asked about her. Got a laundry list of medical problems and doctor opinions. Told Carolyn to give Jennifer my best.

Finally it was time to go inside. We all huddled on the back porch, leaning forward, trying to peek inside. I put in the key, pushed and heard the tinkling of broken tile. A groan went up from the crowd. I got a look saying Push Harder and gave the door more shoulder and heard a sound that indicated the need for a new door in the near future. We all pushed our way inside half expecting to find a dead body or a live body with a gun but all we found was a really messed up house. The tile in the kitchen and bath was shot, it looked like somebody had rolled refrigerators back and forth. There were holes in the ceiling in the kitchen, bath, one bedroom and the living room. Seems Freddy fancied himself an amateur electrician but couldn't hook anything together that worked. An attempt at interior decorating failed as they painted the whole inside peanut butter brown. Three kitchen cabinet doors were off their hinges. And there were no doors. There were no doors left to any of the rooms, including the bathroom. Carolyn asked the obvious, "Why the hell did they do that?" Nobody had a clue.

Carolyn turned and said softly, "You poor man." which made me a feel a bit better. Actually I have seen houses in a lot worse shape and said so. Carolyn said, "You poor man" again.

We went out of the house and into the garage which contained the front end of a truck with no wheels. The bed of the truck, also with no wheels, was in the backyard. Randy, Carolyn's husband who worked at a convenience store, had now joined us and said Freddy had been running a chop shop. Carolyn had thought Freddy was building choppers and had to be brought up to speed on the difference between choppers and a chop shop. "That explains a lot." she said.

Carolyn also said softly, "He beat her." Cynthia chimed in "And she just took it. Should've thrown the bastard out but she alway let him back in." Freddy was exposed. And I hoped Celia had enough sense to finally leave the guy and go home to Mom and Dad but I doubt it.

A moment of silence and then Randy broke the ice. "What a f**king mess."

Tears For Lehman Brothers

2008-06-19T13:21:00.001-07:00

While Lehman Brothers attempted to put on a strong face at the height of foreboding rumors about its financial condition and criticism from short selling hedge fund managers, inside the firm nerves were stretched to the breaking point. Far from feeling like would-be masters of the universe, Lehmanites were struggling to contain their feelings of fear and desperation. At one point, tears were shed.

"I was reading these stories and crying at my desk," a young associate who was drinking at a small bar on the lower east side last night.

She was not alone. From fixed income traders to equity analysts, Lehman Brothers employees report that two weeks ago the firm was, well, emotional.

"You'd get on the elevator and it was like you could cut the tension with a knife," a longtime Lehman vet told DealBreaker.

Lehman employees exhibit a high degree of sentimental attachment to their firm, an attachment they say was only strengthened by recent difficulties. "I think we all kind of pulled together," said the associate. She then turned back to the bar and ordered a couple of shots.

"For Lehman," she said as our glasses clinked together.

custom homes

2008-06-18T06:34:00.001-07:00

Custom home building is a very expansive field. Sometimes, all of the decisions you need to make can be incredibly overwhelming. For people like me, a pre-set floorplan may be a better move. I found this page about Schumacher Homes and it was pretty helpful. Anyone else have other recomendations?

tags: home building, home builders, home construction, house construction, real estate, homes, houses, builders, construction, contractors

Machinations

2008-06-18T01:20:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling very pleased these days about my retirement contributions. With the new job came a healthy pay raise, and since my involuntary contributions as well as my workplace's contributions are done on percentage, they've gone up 30%, to $814 per month. I'm also putting in $500 per month myself, so I'm now getting nearly as much in retirement contributions as I am living on. This is astonishing to me.

I've got an automatic contribution of $200 per month to the Roth, and I'll max it out by the end of the year. And I'm now saving plenty of money. So I'm casting around for ways to get more money into my retirement accounts. I don't want to contribute so much every month that I have to rely on other money to live, but the 403(b) is the only other option after maxing out the IRA to get more money into a tax-sheltered account.

So here's my plan. I use about $1800 per month to pay all the bills, rent, groceries, contribute to the Roth, etc. So my plan right now is that once I have a comfortable amount saved up, I'm going to change my retirement contribution amount for that month from $500 to $2000 or $2500 - essentially my whole paycheck after about $470 in pretax required deductions - and live on my saved-up money for one month. Then I'll change it back the next month and save up my money again. Then when I get another $2000 or so saved up, I'll have another "no-income" month and put it in the 403(b).

This sounds pretty good to me but I'm also kind of chicken about not having the money coming in. But I think I can prep ahead of time and make sure the bills money is in the bills bank account, and the living money in the living expenses bank account, and I've got my ING debit card in case there is an emergency. So perhaps next month... :)

Cold Weather, You're Out

2008-06-17T01:20:00.001-07:00

Dear Chicago:

I don't know what I did to piss you off, but I'm writing to let you know that I've absolutely had it with your attitude. I WILL NOT, no matter how cold, snowy or downright nasty you get, WILL NOT wear my down parka another minute until at least October. I refuse! You may have gotten the best of me this winter by jacking up my heating bills to over $200 each month, leaving permanent salt stains on all my clothes and shoes and halting my driving lessons with your "ice storms," but mark my words, frienemy, your frosty days are numbered.

Watch out Chicago. Because as soon as your cold snap ends, I will be out on your town with a vengance.

Regards,
Nicole

Start planning for your final expenses now

2008-06-16T01:20:00.001-07:00

I know this post topic is kind of morbid, but this issue is very important. Recently, Mr. Dimes and his family had to bury his grandmother, who died suddenly but not unexpectedly right around Christmas. She had a modest funeral and burial, and her final expenses clocked in around $8,000. My mother-in-law fronted the money and will eventually be reimbursed when the estate has been settled, as the grandmother did have some real estate and other assets which could be sold to cover the expenses. Not everyone is so lucky, though.
I recently had a client whose mother died unexpectedly who was requesting over $16,000 in funeral assistance. Her mother owned no property, had no life insurance, and had done nothing to prepare for her final expenses in advance. While the client has siblings, neither individually nor collectively can they afford the costs of the burial. Their mother desired to be buried in the family plot in an area where real estate is very pricey and the burial costs are over half the cost of the funeral. I had to help a grieving client find an alternative to the burial she wanted in order to have something she could afford. This was not a particularly fun experience. Please, for the love of your survivors, do not do this to them. Plan for your final expenses now and let your family members know where they can find any information about plots, policies, final wishes, etc. Deaths are difficult enough without creating financial stress and trauma for a grieving family.

Here are a few ways to ease the financial burden on your survivors:

Consider prepayment of funeral expenses: If you know where you want to be placed upon your death, consider buying a plot in advance, and make sure your survivors know where it is. You can also prepay for the funeral, casket, and other mortuary services rather than requiring your relatives to front the expenses at the time of your death.
Have a life insurance policy specifically for funeral expenses: Both my client's mother and my husband's grandmother had small ($10K-$25K) whole life insurance policies to pay for their funeral expenses, but for one reason or another had let them lapse and when they died, there was no money. If, however, you make sure that you (or someone else) is paying on them and don't let the policies lapse, they can be sufficient to cover burial and funeral costs.
Consider less expensive methods of body disposal: Burials are getting to be insanely expensive, and so are funeral plots. Cremation, on the other hand, is a more frugal alternative to standard burial, and is less harmful to the environment. Some people don't like the idea of cremation for religious or other reasons, but it definitely costs less. It also has the added benefit of allowing for portability of remains; for example, if you want to be buried a great distance away from where you died, ashes are much easier to transport than an intact corpse.
Have a specific set of assets designated for funeral expenses: This would definitely require either a will or a joint account with a person most likely to survive you, but it could solve the problem of a family member having to front expenses and then wait for reimbursement. If you create an account specifically for funeral expenses, then a family member or the executor of your estate should be able to access those funds in order to pay for your funeral. If you're going to do this, you might as well make your wishes known as well as what should be done with any money that remains, in order to keep your relatives from donating your body to science and then flying off to Cancun with your funeral money.

While not fun, death is an inevitable (and expensive) part of life, and you can help your family tremendously by making provisions for what to do when it happens.

Woo Hoo! Free Beer!

2008-06-14T01:17:00.001-07:00

I love company-sponsored Happy Hours. I drank less than I would have normally, but it was darned hot yesterday.

I came back to my boyfriend’s house to change my shirt. I got salad dressing splatters all over the front of it trying to scarf down a yummy $7 salad from Chicken Out. (Milan Cutlet salad with the tasty tasty balsamic dressing) Not really the way I wanted to meet the rest of the team working the global contract, know what I mean?

Then I walked to the bar the lads had picked out since it was in the neighborhood and proceeded to order a Shandy. I have no idea why bartenders do not know what a Shandy is, but it’s pilsner and lemonade, and the Brickskeller in DC has it printed on the menu. (Therefore nearly everyone in DC should know about it because nearly everyone has been to The Brick at least once. But I digress.) I love them on really hot days. It gives you a good buzz and refreshment without making you stupid too quickly. (Always important at these corporate networking events.)

I paid the for the first one while I waited because I don’t carry my corporate credit card around and I wasn’t expecting to be the senior consultant attending. I had a second Shandy and called it a night, but it was easily 20ozs of beer in the two drinks I had. More than plenty to lubricate a good conversation with my fellow employees.

If you like beer cocktails at all, I HIGHLY recommend a Shandy. I suppose you could do it with a hefeweizen as well. I’m the kind of person who squeezes half a lemon in mine and not just a single wedge so I flip for lemonade.

All hail the summer drink you can drink all night, avoid not look like a teetotalling prude no one wants to know, and still not get *too* drunk. (Opting for a Shandy may reduce Foot-in-Mouth Embarassment, but I don’t guarantee that it will stop it 100% of the time.)

ps- I then did Indian take-out dinner for me and the boyfriend and walked home. It was just over $25. I gave the waiter $30 and instead of $4+change, he just gave me $5! YAY! And because I had that huge salad at lunch, I only ordered lamb samosas for $6 instead of a full $12 entree. Portion control AND money well-spent. Total food budget was $37, adding in $4 for the Shandy and $1 tip, and a merry little walk!

Now up to 6 ING accounts...

2008-06-12T13:17:00.001-07:00

I am a huge fan of ING Direct and have been for a long time - I joined in June 2001, the summer before I left for college, and my first account was named the "oh shit fund". (It is still called that.)

Well, I am now up to six accounts with them, having opened an Electric Orange account a week or so ago, and yesterday opened yet another savings account in order to hold my credit card payoff money. I have about $5700 on a 0% balance transfer and decided to just save it up and hang onto the money until it expires next December to earn a little more interest. Once it's paid off, I may start doing some 0% balance transfer arbitrage stuff to earn more, but we will see. But to keep that money separate, I opened another account. You can open as many savings accounts as you want under one customer number, and give them all different names, and they will have different account numbers so you can direct deposit into specific accounts. So right now I have my "oh shit fund", a house fund, a credit card holding account, an Electric Orange checking account, and two accounts for CashDuck which hold tax money and business savings. This should be enough accounts for me in a while.. I just do so love to have every dollar in its place!

Oh you temptress, TIAA-CREF

2008-06-11T13:18:00.001-07:00

So I wrote previously about how I am trying to structure my contributions to cram as much money as possible into my retirement accounts this year. Well, TIAA-CREF just sent me a letter about this year's contribution limits for my 403(b).. and my 457(b). What what now?

Apparently I have BOTH a 403(b) and 457(b) set up for me through my work plan. I am not sure what a 457(b) is, but it appears to do the same thing that I am doing with my voluntary contributions to the 403(b). And my maximum limit on it is $14,740. Which means, total between the two, I could put away $30,240.

This has opened up whole new possibilities of cramming money into the account! I am tremendously excited. (Especially since I found out that you can only change your allocations once a quarter, and thus must plan more carefully.) So I think I will wait and see how things shake out in the next couple months as there may be some changes in my life going on, but I might be able to get a whole lot more money in there! (This would also save me a fortune in taxes, given how much self-employment income I have.) Very interesting...

Is The GOP The Anti-CEO Party?

2008-06-11T01:17:00.001-07:00

Is John McCain trying to make headway with the activist investor community? Activists have been among have been among the vocal critics of lavish executive pay packages at public companies, and most of the biggest names among the activists favor Democrats in this election. (Carl Icahn, who said Barack Obama would be a terrible president, is an exception.)

Today John McCain is speaking to a small business conference on economic issues. He is expected to hit the usual Republican notes, calling for lower corporate taxes and opposing hiking capital gains taxes. But he's also going to take a shot at "excessive" corporate pay and severance packages.

"Americans are right to be offended when the extravagant salaries and severance deals of CEOs ... bear no relation to the success of the company or the wishes of shareholders," his prepared remarks released in advance of the speech say.

It's not just talk. He's going so far as to endorse the hardest versions of the "say on pay" proposals that would require shareholder approval of a CEO's pay.

"If I am elected president, I intend to see that wrongdoing of this kind is called to account by federal prosecutors. And under my reforms, all aspects of a CEO's pay, including any severance arrangements, must be approved by shareholders," he will say.

McCain wants low corporate taxes, regulated CEO pay [Reuters]

Tax Time

2008-06-08T13:15:00.001-07:00

Phew! My taxes are filed. I'm glad to be done with them for the year. If you haven't filed yours yet, get moving. You only have about a week left!

I filed my taxes using H&R Block online. As many of you know, my lovely Aunt Mary usually files mine for free, but I ran out of time to send them her way this year so I filed online. For those of you accustomed to having financially savvy relatives or friends do your taxes, the experience was little daunting; I wasn't 100 percent certain I did everything right. Still, it was very convenient to file, took less time than making a trip to the nearest tax place and included a computer-generated error checking system, which comforted me a bit. It was difficult, but I only filed a 1040-A. I'm sure if I had more complicated finances, I'd use a professional.

So... now that you're all filed, what are you doing with your double whammy tax return and tax refund this spring? I'm predictably putting into the savings account, which will be a nice bump towards helping me achieve my savings goals this year, but I'm sure others have bigger, more exciting plans (exotic vacations? new refrigerators?). Share them!

Avoiding Life’s Worst Debt Traps

2008-06-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Building personal wealth is not hard if you understand math. All you have to do is take in more money than you spend. Yet, life isn't as simple as a math equation and there are various personal factors that can uproot even the best-laid plans. Cash, for instance, may be plentiful when we are single and working, and become scarcer when we are married with several children as dependents. Life also can have a way of throwing unexpected curves like layoffs, disease, divorce, and more. For those occasions, we have to turn to savings or loans to help us through the rough patches. So, how can we make the road a little smoother if we're not blessed with stunning good luck? Good financial planning can help you stay ahead of the game.

Financial Planning

The time to plan for your future is now. You may be in college, just graduated, or just divorced - it doesn't matter! There are certain milestones everyone wants to achieve and can plan ahead of time to finance. Things like a wedding, the birth of a child, or retirement are all events that can be planned ahead. Begin to learn how financial products work and how you can make your money grow. The earlier you start, the more it will grow through the power of interest. Find a financial counselor and get a financial check-up yearly.

You should review your insurance needs with them to see if you are covered enough in case of an accident, a health emergency, or the death of a spouse. Insurance is one area that many people fail to investigate until it is too late. Look ahead, and find out what insurance you should be carrying and make sure it covers you in case something unfortunate happens. This is the best way to help you smooth out the path ahead, when the future is murky and you don't know how good your luck might be.

Word of Mouth Doesn’t Work.

2008-06-04T13:11:00.001-07:00

Hey, check out this shampoo.? Look at this new game.?? Try the ice-cream there.? How often do you get recommendations and actively seek them out?

Sure there is a chance that your word of mouth marketing efforts might bring you business and branding, but how many times do they work?

Seth Godin has a few thoughts on why sometimes there are problems in regards.

Sometimes, what you do is done as well as it can be done. It's a service that people truly love, or a product they can't live without. You're doing everything right, but it's not remarkable, at least not in the sense of “worth making a remark about.”

What's up with that?

He then goes on to list some reasons why some things spread virally work out better than others.

Some of the reasons are fairly obvious.? Perhaps it's not something that you would talk about naturally, or perhaps you're with the wrong group at the time.? Anyways, this is a quick little article and I would recommend it.

Thanks To Our Sponsor: Pod6r Media Network Blogging pods are about to take on a whole new name.

Porn tax proposed in California

2008-06-01T13:10:00.001-07:00

You knew it was just a matter of time. State lawmakers all across the country have tried piecemeal taxation of various sectors of the adult entertainment industry.

Now some California lawmakers are going for the whole enchilada. They want to tax all aspects of the Golden State's $4 billion a year adult entertainment industry.

Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Montebello), the bill's chief sponsor, says the 25 percent tax could raise as much as $665 million in tax revenue a year.

It would be imposed on pornographic movies, strip club fees, pay-per-view films, sex toys and the like.

The money from the so-called porn tax then could be used for anything related to education, law enforcement, health care and social services, basically anything paid for from the state's general fund.

Similar but unsuccessful proposals have been made in previous legislative sessions. This year, however, the idea is attracting more interest from lawmakers due in large part to California's $15 billion budget deficit.

Porn tax pros and cons: Supporters say the proposal is akin to existing "sin taxes" on alcohol and tobacco.

Opponents say the tax, which would be added to corporate and sales taxes they already pay, would force many in the adult entertainment industry to move, probably to neighboring Nevada.

There's also the constitutional question. Legal opinion on taxation based on content is mixed.

You can review the California bill, AB 2914, yourself here. Read other blog and media comments on the proposal at:

The Volokh Conspiracy ;

Freakonomics ; ; ; ;

New York Times ; ;

Reuters ; ; ;

Stockton Record ; ;

OC Register ; ; ;

Modesto Bee

Pole tax possibilities: A similar, but more limited, tax on adult entertainment was enacted here in Texas last year.

Lone Star State legislators authorized a $5-per-patron fee, aka pole tax, on strip clubs. The money, an estimated $40 million a year, is to go to anti-sexual-assault programs and health care for the uninsured.

However, in March an Austin judge found that the tax infringed on First Amendment rights of freedom of expression and declared the tax on exotic dancers unconstitutional.

Judge Scott Jenkins wrote in the March 28 decision that the fee, "while furthering laudable goals, violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and is therefore invalid."

Texas is still collecting the tax while the case is on appeal.

And that setback has not dissuaded at least one Pennsylvania state representative. In fact, Paul Clymer, a Republican from Bucks County, plans to introduce a similar measure for Keystone State strip clubs in the coming weeks.

Clymer has reworked his proposal, paying attention to the problems found in the Texas law, and says, "I'm in full confidence we've made the proper refinements for this to pass constitutional muster."

Join the business, drink the koolaid!

2008-06-01T01:09:00.001-07:00

During the first meeting, I learned that I was talking to a sort of affiliate marketer.? I also learned that there was a startup fee, as well as a monthly fee for the program.? Once you are in the system, you can make money in two ways.

First, by selling stuff and collecting an affiliate fee.? Secondly, you can recruit others to sell the junk and collect a referral fee.? And it's only going to cost you a set up fee of $126 and a monthly fee of $50 to keep your website running.? I don't know about you, but this has bad idea written all over it.? Especially when I got to the second meeting.

This time there were two people involved in selling me this system.? The same person from the previous meeting, and someone higher up the food chain came to talk to me.

They began talking, and half an hour later they were repeating themselves profusely; however, their circumlocutory speech was not the real issue.? They mentioned that setting up your business, and getting sales would pay for itself in the first month.? “Okay,” I asked, “So how do you get sales on your site?”

The two looked at each other, then at me before saying, “Well, how would YOU get sales?”

I mentioned I would find some relevant keywords and bid on them in Google Adwords to direct people to my targeted pages.

The two looked at each other, then at me.? They had no idea what I was talking about.? So I asked again what they did.

The way they get products sold from their site is to buy it themselves.? Now at 10% to 50% commission that means they are buying somewhere between $100 and $500 on their sites each month.? All this was to gain some sort of PV (or Point Value in their strange little world) witch somehow gets transformed into cash back.

The money with this is made of course once you get enough noobs under you to buy their own products.? Then you will get a small chunk of change from their sales.

I asked to see the backend of one of their sites.? I wanted to take a look at how much control the pupetmasters gave them.? But of course this must lead up to another meeting!? So I'll let you know what happens if this meeting ever does.

I feel bad for all of the people who drink the koolaid without knowing what they are getting themselves into.? Which sounds like a lot of people are doing with their ‘pie in the sky' wishful thinking.

Quick Political Fixes That Don't Work

2008-05-31T01:09:00.001-07:00

Going to post another article that is pretty good but pretty boring but has a lot of meaning so read it. I'm too busy right now to do it all myself since I just added a possible lawsuit in Florida over my late uncle's estate. Just gets better and better.

But I realized when I saw this article at MarketMinder.com (full disclosure--I do business with these guys) that none of you have ever seen or been under price controls. Hope you never do because they don't work, ever. Read on.

The high cost of cheap food

Published: October 24 2007 20:37 | Last updated: October 24 2007 20:37

In 1973 Richard Nixon, US president, under political pressure because of rising domestic food prices, banned the export of soyabeans. The policy had predictably dire results, but today, with the world in the grip of another bout of food price inflation, governments worldwide are rushing to distort the market with subsidies and quotas, price controls and export taxes. They should stop.

In the run-up to its presidential election, Russia has imposed price controls on basic foodstuffs, and plans an export tariff on wheat. China already controls prices; other importers, including Egypt, Jordan, Bangladesh and Morocco, are increasing subsidies or fiddling with their tariff regimes.

The simple problem with all these actions is that they distort the market. Price controls and export tariffs make production less profitable, which discourages increased supply and can make shortages worse. Subsidies stimulate demand so it does not fall into line with higher prices. All distort the terms of trade within a country. Farmers suffer at the expense of city dwellers – especially perverse in countries with high rural poverty, such as China.

None of this is too bad in the short term. If food prices fall back, price controls become meaningless, subsidies can be withdrawn and export tariffs no longer make sense. The more pernicious problems will appear if food prices stay high. With more demand for protein from fast-growing Asian middle classes, lunatic policies to subsidise corn-based ethanol and the legacy of underinvestment during long years of low prices, that prospect seems likely.

For exporters, distorting the market in favour of domestic consumers harms the balance of payments, lowers investment and helps rivals. Nixon’s ban is often credited with creating Brazil’s soyabean industry.

For net food importers, who can keep prices down without shortages only by offering subsides, the risks are much more serious. Cheap food is an open-ended fiscal commitment – once in place it is politically impossible to withdraw – that can play havoc with a budget. Developing countries have improved their fiscal position in recent years. They should not throw that away.

Rich countries, where food is a small part of total consumption, have less to worry about, although they should beware the ratchet effect as food importers increase subsidies and food producers tax exports, driving up world market prices still further. But leaders in the developing world, no matter the political pressure to bring down the cost of grain, should resist. Cheap food comes at a high price.

Theme and Gleam

2008-05-28T01:08:00.001-07:00

I've moved the new theme for Aridni out of the sandbox and onto the main page.? While this isn't exactly the final product, I wanted to get it launched as soon as possible.? There will be a couple smaller changes with some color tweaking and minor spacing issues resolved.? As well as some ‘big ticket' changes.? Primarily with the image on the top left, I'm not liking the weird moon looking shape.

On the right, there is a new feature for Aridni called ‘Bookit!'? With that you will be able to see what books we most recently reviewed and read.

Well, that's all the news for right now.? Have a good day.

Todd

Suburban Hell Hits the Budget Again

2008-05-25T13:07:00.001-07:00

First off, you have to remember, I don’t cook at home. I am staying with a friend while my apartment undergoes renovation. I feel funny about taking over his kitchen, so I don’t. I usually buy my lunch because otherwise, I’d never leave my desk, ever. It comes from working in a call center. You get measured on your availability to take calls so I almost never get up.

At any rate, not only do I need to pay for a lot of gas to get to my new job, but the insult to this injury is that there’s really no place to pick up lunch out there. I have to either walk, which would be ok if my allergies weren’t freaking out right now, or drive to someone place to get food.

Driving means hopping into the car and trolling the industrial park for its small delis for something tasty. Frankly, I’m starting to think I SHOULD pack my lunch, but I hate cold food and I still haven’t figured out the kitchen at the new gig. It took me 3 days to find the coffee and vending machines because no one showed them to me the first day and the second kitchenette I was using was so tiny there was nothing in it. Not even a plastic fork.

So I’ve surveyed the places to dine and I think the local supermarket, the furthest away from the office of the ready options, is the best place to eat for freshness and price. But it’s still not cheap. I’m going to start bringing my own diet sodas soon and I’ve already started keeping some snacks in my desk so I don’t freak out with hypoglycemia. I’ll have to plan things a lot better, but I know what’s going to happen. I’m going to get so busy every day that I’ll forget to eat let alone make a market run to stock up.

UGH. The motivation to be frugal is flying out the window. I miss the convenience of urban areas, hopping down the street and grabbing a pack of mints or a soda. POOH ON YOU, SUBURBS!

Lesson here? Adjust, Accommodate, Adjust. I hate a wrench in the works, but I must strive to remain ever flexible.

Biggest Purchase of the Year!

2008-05-24T13:06:00.001-07:00

I confess, I splurged. I bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner. I was totally reluctant at first; after all, at more than $400, it's my most expensive purchase of the year. But after my first apartment sweep (and five canisters of horrifying gunk pulled off my floor), I absolutely love it. It's worth every single penny. Vacuuming could very well be my new favorite sport. Which is weird for a girl who spends most of her time away from home...

The Cost (or, How I Paid for this Beast)
As you can probably guess, I didn't pay the whole $439 by my lonesome. B and I agreed to split the purchase, which was nice since he could probably live with another $40 vacuum that doesn't pick up anything (eh, guys). On top of his portion, I used a $50 gift card (cha-ching!). With that help, I was able to buy the Dyson outright (not on credit). PS. Love the feeling of ownership, rather than credit card debt!

At the Store
As for my purchase decision, I was between two vacuums - the Kenmore progressive, ranked #1 by Consumer Reports and priced at $375, and the Dyson Animal DC17, which received rave consumer reviews here (gracias), from my brother - an inventory manager at Best Buy - and on many Web sites, priced at $550.

I visited several retailers online, including Amazon, Best Buy and Sears to scope out pricing and reviews. I ended up at Sears, determined to buy the Kenmore model (though deep down I wanted the Dyson).

While browsing the aisle, B and I discovered the Kenmore needed new filters every ten months; we added up the cost of filters over five years and found they added an additional $210 to the price of the vacuum. That brought the total five-year cost of the Kenmore model to $585 (plus tax, of course). I was bummed, but at that point, the sales lady stepped in and told me she had a Dyson on close-out pricing... and so the magic began.

Sears had a Dyson model with attachments (the Sears-exclusive fully equipped DC-14) for $439 - it requires no additional filters or extra parts, and comes with a 5-year warranty. She demonstrated some nifty features, like the crazy long hose and ghost-busters extendo-arm, and then had me vacuum some dirt off the floor. I kid you not, at this point, I was in the center of my very own "as seen on TV" commercial. Sweet.

At that point I was sold, though still a little skeptical of how great a vacuum could really be. I mean, I already vacuum my floors every week. Would there really be that much of a difference? We packed up the cool-looking Dyson into the Eclipse and headed off into the sunset, with just a twinge of buyers' remorse.

The Proof is in the Pudding (THIS THING ROCKS!!!!)
OK, you're bored, I know. But I have to tell you, this vacuum is freakin' amazing. I pulled what looked like an entire additional cat off the floor. It was like I never had vacuumed before; like there was a science project happening in my living room. Poor B was trying to study and I just kept shoving the full canister in his face shouting, "Look! Look at this gunk! Can you believe it? Can you believe we're living in this???"

My carpets are clean, less smelly and less full of cat hair. If you are a pet owner, I would definitely recommend getting the Dyson, especially if you have frequent visitors with allergies (I do - my mom can't visit for more than a half-hour at a time; though I'm hoping she can get in a full hour now). Sure, there are probably more pressing things to spend your money on, but if you're living in an apartment, and your vacuum breaks and it's the only appliance you are actually responsible for and you have the money set aside (wow, that's a lot of "ifs"), then I would splurge.

I think it's safe to say I'm obsessed. (You should have seen me cleaning the thing after I used it; it was like my dad cleaning, waxing and polishing a car.) If you ever want to come over and watch me vacuum, you totally can. Maybe the next time I sweep, I'll take a picture of the full canister to share so you can share my obsession.

Until then, what new items are you randomly obsessed with? What's the best big purchase you've ever made? Ever had a bad case of buyers' remorse? Enlighten us!

Debt Consolidation: Easing the Burden

2008-05-24T01:06:00.001-07:00

There's no doubt that while having a certain amount of debt is normal and a way of life for most of us who live in North America, some of us have gone over the line where we can pay back what we owe in monthly payments. Before any further discussion of this unfortunate situation can take place, it’s necessary to note the facing a debt burden is something that can happen to anyone. It’s not just the people who don’t know how to manage their money that can get into trouble, but those unfortunate ones among us that are faced with the loss of a job, a family illness, or a host of other unexpected circumstances that find themselves falling behind.

Types of Debt

It matters what kind of debt you have, and as you might have guessed, there are several different kinds although most of the debt that the average person finds themselves facing is what’s called unsecured debt. This includes the one that most of us struggle with in one way or the other—credit card debt. As well there are those unpaid student loans that have a way of gathering interest like a stone rolling down a hill gathers moss, and tax debts as well as medical or legal bills that have gone unpaid.

It happens more and more that people find themselves unable to see over the mountain of debt that they’ve created for themselves. Most of them are good people who would love nothing better than to find a way out and there’s help out there. Debt relief agencies like?Delray Credit Counseling?are experts at studying people’s individual debt circumstances and then helping them find a way out.??

What to Do About It

?The best option is to speak to a professional that can help. A certified debt counselor is the right choice. Professionals like those at http://www.delraycc.com are the people that can listen to your situation and help you find a plan to get you back on track. To start, all you need to do is apply to a local debt consolidation program—they are either usually private or non profit agencies that will supply a free quote on the time and interest that will be required. It’s really quite simple and once a plan is in place, you stand to save a substantial amount of interest on the payments and shorten the time it will take to pay the money back. The debt consolidation company that you select works with your creditors to design a repayment method that will both satisfy them and start you back on the road to financial freedom.

There’s a good reason that this is the best option and it’s simple. By consolidating you debt, you avoid having to claim bankruptcy. While bankruptcy does erase many of your debts, it does not take away some of the ones that can swell to large proportions like child support payments and student loans. As well, once you’ve filed either the Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 versions of bankruptcy, you credit rating is affected for up to ten years and you will find it considerably more difficult to get a personal loan, a mortgage or even a job.???

State muni bond tax system upheld

2008-05-23T01:05:00.001-07:00

States and municipal bond managers are breathing easier today.

The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that it's OK for states to exempt the earnings from the bonds they issue, but collect taxes on bonds issued by other states. We blogged about this case back in October and November.

Forty-two states offer such exemptions for their municipal
bonds. An estimated $2.5 trillion
is invested in the municipal bond market. And nearly 500 mutual funds invest in bonds from specific
states to take advantage of the tax ; breaks.

The 7-2 high court decision (Justices Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito dissented) overturned a Kentucky court ruling that the state's tax breaks for its bonds violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Not so, wrote Justice David Souter for the court majority:

"For the better part of two centuries states and their political subdivisions have issued bonds for public purposes, and for nearly half that time some states have exempted interest on their own bonds from their state income taxes, which are imposed on bond interest from other states. The question here is whether Kentucky's version of this differential tax scheme offends the Commerce Clause. We hold that it does not."

All you legal eagles can read the Supreme Court's muni bond decision here.

Additional coverage and perspectives are available at:

Wall Street Journal ;

WSJ Law Blog

Reuters

New York Times

Bloomberg

Associated Press via Kentucky.com

Los Angeles Times

Forbes

House Flipping In The Real World-Part 6-Fixing Things

2008-05-21T13:04:00.001-07:00

When we last left the smashed up house, Cynthia was working away, scraping and painting the inside of the house. Alice was having tests for liver cancer and things weren't looking good. I was reduced pretty much to buying supplies and staying out of Cynthia's way.

I got a few calls generated by the dyslexic 'For Sale' sign in the front yard. Two separate individuals wanted to see the house, set up appointments and neither showed. Then two Sunday afternoons ago I got two calls. One from my realtor handling another house (I have three) saying we had an offer and then a call from Marion. Marion sounded like 'Mame' and wanted to see the house that Cynthia was working on. Made an appointment and they showed up--three generations of Mame. Marion, her daughter Patricia, and Patricia's daughter.

In the real estate business, you indulge in some rental profiling and can size up your customer pretty fast. Given my track record, I wasn't very good at it but learning fast. Marion, late 50's, loud, no ring, no husband, Toyota, pretty well dressed but not my style. May have a few dollars laying around. Patricia, blond, young, 23-25, four year old daughter, no ring. She was a nanny. Not exactly Bill Gates but then I figured out I didn't really need to care because I was not going to carry the credit risk. No more playing banker for me. If they didn't get financing, no sale.

I stood outside and let the trio take a look around after I told Marion the price. They came out and I told them about everything that had been done within the last three years--new electrical service, basically new plumbing, heating and air conditioning (originally the house had space heaters--stay away from those), new paint in and out, and all new windows. Marion indicated they had seen every house in the neighborhood and the price was right and they took it, full price. Patricia wrote a check for $500 as earnest money and we agreed to sign some document later.

Patricia called three days later and we met. She had a document that basically said everything would be working in the house when she took possession. I xed out a few things and signed. Patricia looked concerned but signed it. Sue assured Patricia that the house would be in order.

Later I told Sue that I think I gave away the store to Patricia. Sue said, "She's just a nervous kid that knows nothing about houses or buying a house. You were pretty nervous when we bought our first house." I said I had a lot of reasons to be nervous. (See Category 9-Buying a House for 30% Off.)

So that's were we stand. I have a check for $500, a one page contract, and Patricia is working with her lender. The good news is that the lender called yesterday to discuss the closing. We traded messages. So if the whole thing goes through, great. If not, not really out anything since Cynthia is still working. As for the $500 I'll just give it back if the deal falls through--I'm not that big a jerk.

Tomorrow, we'll figure out the financial return.

Simply College Answers Our Student Loan Q's

2008-05-21T01:04:00.001-07:00

While I typically spend my weekends dining, drinking and catching up with friends at social functions, I spent much of this weekend at the Kellogg School of Management's
Women's Leadership Workshop in Evanston, Ill. Kellogg is one of the world's top business schools, and I was honored to be a participant. The session featured valuable classroom workshops on negotiations, interviewing techniques, values-based leadership and relationship dynamics for leaders.

I'm going to reflect on those themes and share learnings from the workshop in coming days, so look for more on that. In the meantime, I noticed that many of the women attending the session were grappling with the issue of funding and student loans. Serendipitously, I had already been working on a story about college loans with the good folks at Simply College, a company that specializes in simplifying financial aid for those applying to college and graduate school.

Since the job market's looking pretty glum these days, and the news about student loans has been drab as well, I posed some questions about loans to Rene Bolti, Vice President of Simply College, and an educator with 17 years’ experience creating and administering programs and services for elementary, secondary and higher education. I hope you find her answers helpful.

Here's the Q&A...

1. In layman’s terms, what’s changed in student loans over the past six to twelve months?
Probably the most significant change is a new trend toward eliminating loans from financial aid packages of students below certain income levels. As a result, students at many top-name colleges may find themselves being awarded grants (which don’t need to be repaid) instead of loans.

But, the vast majority of students attend colleges that still include loans in the financial aid equation, so unless you are accepted at one of the top-tier, no-loan colleges, you’re likely to have to grapple with the question of student loan debt.

Although some lenders are exiting the student loan market, there are still many education loans available through a variety of lenders, including federal loans. In fact, the maximum annual limit on federal loans and grants for undergraduate and graduate students has recently increased, making the loans go further toward paying for a year of school.

2. What are three things I should know about college loans today?
1) There are many different types of college loans.

- Federal Stafford loans are available to students who complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

- A family’s financial situation determines whether a student qualifies for subsidized or unsubsidized Stafford loans. (In subsidized loans, the government pays the interest while you’re in school; in unsubsidized loans, you’re responsible for the interest that accrues while you’re in school.)

- Federal PLUS loans are a low-cost option available for parents of students.

- Private loans, made directly by banks or specialized lenders, which tend to be the most expensive option, are available to students and parents to fill any gaps that remain once financial aid has been awarded.

2) Not all education loans are taken in the name of the student; some are student loans, some are parent loans, some need to be co-signed by the student and a credit-worthy adult.

3) Private education loans need to be researched for terms of repayment, length of repayment, total cost over the life of the loan, special qualifying characteristics (like minimum grade point average), and whether all terms and special offers (like interest reduction based on a certain number of on-time payments) are guaranteed for the life of the loan.

3. Can’t parents help their kids navigate the process?
The financial aid process is complex and overwhelming, even for parents who are college-educated and highly motivated. It is a multi-step process requiring attention to timing and detail, with many significant decisions compressed into a very short period of time. To minimize the anxiety and stress inherent in the process, it is beneficial for parents and students to work together, using trusted resources, to be sure they pay attention to each critical component.

Our program, Simply CollegeTM offers a step-by-step workbook/organizer, “Financial Aid Simplified”, to guide students and parents through the entire financial aid process beginning as early as January of junior year in high school, including researching scholarships and loans, completing required forms, comparing financial aid award offers, building a “college life” budget, and more. Go to www.simply-college.com to view video segments that accompany each tab of the workbook.

4. Is the financial aid process different for grad students?
The financial aid process for graduate students typically includes the FAFSA (to make federal loans accessible), but also may include looking for fellowships, assistantships and private loans. FinAid.org has a page dedicated to information for graduate students, including information on specialized loans.

5. Are working professionals at a disadvantage when it comes to loans?
While it is true that income will determine eligibility for certain loans and grants,
working professionals might consider financing their graduate degree through a combination of: employer tuition reimbursement, fellowships, grants, loans.

If you research the possibilities, you’re likely to be able to put together a package that meets your needs. In addition to discussing all possible funding sources with your selected university’s financial aid office, be sure to discuss assistantship and fellowship opportunities with your selected department.

If you are currently employed, talk to your human resources department about tuition reimbursement options (even if you’re unsure whether your employer has a tuition reimbursement program). As mentioned above, finaid.org is a good source of information and fastweb.com has loads of scholarship opportunities, including some for graduate students.

6. If I’d like to quit working and go to school full-time, using student loans, what special considerations might I have to take?
Giving up a salary and returning to the classroom full time will mean making some adjustments to your current lifestyle as student loans are unlikely to equal your salary. Each person needs to weigh personal responsibilities, career aspirations and financial goals when considering full time graduate study and how best to finance it. Here are some specific questions you should ask.

- Is there an alternate source of support available while you’re in school, like a spouse or parent? Even if it’s a loan from a family member, the terms of repayment and amount of the loan would likely be more favorable than any formal education loan.

- Is it possible to work part-time to cover basic living expenses while in school?

- Will a post graduate-degree job in your field draw a salary sufficient to afford and justify educational loan payments?

- Do you already have employment prospects that will be enhanced by a graduate degree?

- If you need to take an educational loan, how soon will you be expected to begin repayment?

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To read some of my personal thoughts and other research on college loans and education, click here and here and here.

Good luck with your applications!

Setting Up House

2008-05-19T13:04:00.001-07:00

The following is a guest post from Kimber Chin (http://businessromance.com/) who writes romance novels based in the business world. She also blogs at http://www.nolimitsladies.com/.

As a romance writer, I LOVE this time of year with so many couples getting married and buying homes. It makes me think back a decade when the hubby and I were doing the same.

We didn't really know what we were doing but figured out some cost saving tips along the way. I thought I'd share them with you.

Basic White

Before our wedding, friends and family asked us about our dinner pattern. I said white with pink flowers (having found a beautiful pattern at an antique shop). We received just about every color pink and every kind of flower available, nothing matching.

If I could do it all again, I would have chosen basic white. White is white, it always matches and even if the plates are different shapes and sizes, they still look good on the same table. Break a dish? No problem. Buy some other white plate. Want color? Add a charger plate or fancy placemats with matching napkins.

Classic Furniture

This is something the hubby and I, being antique freaks (and careful about the environment), did right. We bought classic furniture, usually used (estate sales and auctions). The pieces are made of real wood and real metal. They can be sanded, bent back into shape (don’t ask), and refinished. It did take time to find them but every single one has a story behind it. Oh, and we can resell the furniture today for more than we paid for it. Not bad.

A loved one and his wife went to one of those no-money-down furniture places. Instant house but by the time the payments came due (a rude awakening there), the veneer off the furniture was already peeling.

To spruce up the classic furniture, we use trendy pillows and runners.

Ask For Plants

I am the plant pusher. You want a plant? Come to me. I'll give you one of my babies (all tested to go two weeks without watering). There are many of us out there so please, don't pay for plants. Simply ask around. Someone will happily give you more than you can possibly take care off. Oh, and in cute little pots too

What advice would you give a young(ish) couple starting out?

Oil At $100 A Barrel--Maybe Not So Bad This Time

2008-05-18T13:04:00.001-07:00

I see no reason that oil is so expensive but it is. And that is a fact, for now. But, as screwed up as some people think the world is right now, it could be worse. It could be the 1970's when the whole engine fell off the track. Here is an article from the London Times that gives some insight as to why now is different.

Gerard Baker

It's human nature to imbue inert numbers with profound significance. We celebrate 18th birthdays and 25th anniversaries as though doing so might pause, even for a moment, the merciless ticking away of life's clock. We build buildings without 13th floors. In Asia they will go to extreme lengths to avoid any contact with the number 4. The Bible can be read like an extended number puzzle: twelve tribes, ten commandments, seven plagues, four horsemen.

In financial markets this tendency has fascinated economists. A certain number in an index or a price for a traded instrument is said to be “psychologically important”. It is believed that traders behave differently when they near or cross some round number - a $2 pound, 10,000 on the Dow Jones industrial average.

It seems implausible at first sight that hard-bitten capitalists would be victim to such unreason. Yet the idea that particular numbers matter persists in the minds of some people in the markets, which is enough to make it a kind of reality, I suppose. Sometimes, it seems, like an old horse that whinnies and retreats from some unseen spectral object, markets really do think a particular number might be haunted.

One of those magic numbers is $100 for a barrel of oil. On Wednesday, for the first time, contracts for future delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange finally recorded that figure.