March Net Worth (+7.9%) and 2008 Financial Goals Update

Net Worth

Cash and Cash Equivalent

Between a few more days of expenditures and a delightful winery tour, I spent a little more than in February.

Investments

Eh. I'm buying on sale. I have many years left. I refuse to worry about minor downticks.

I am trying to decide if I'm going to take my mutual fund out earlier than planned (I haven't contributed anything to it for years, and was going to send it to the condo fund when ready to buy; I'm trying to decide if I'd be worse off risking further downturns in the market or paying capital gains without the mortgage interest deduction to offset it).

Loan Balances

I didn't make the same progress as in February, but I'm spending much less on interest payments. So yay.

Other Debt

Still paying every two weeks. Still keeping my balances low. That said, Chase finally increased my credit limit, so I'll have room to put a few more recurring bills on my card and still stay under my personal "10 percent of limit" threshold. Hopefully this will mean faster rewards.

The Month Ahead

My cousin's wedding is near the end of the month, but I should be able to cover everything out of my trip fund. (I already paid for my dress and plane ticket.) Since I exclude my trip fund from my net worth (if I tell myself those funds aren't fungible, then I have to use them for fun), this should pass by with nothing but good memories.

2008 Goals Update

My goals were as follows:

1. Reach a positive net worth. Since I'm 48% of the way there already, I think I can safely say that I'm on track. Windfalls are helpful.

2. Continue to pursue homeownership. I've talked to a realtor and we agree that early winter 2009 seems like a reasonable time to start looking. With that in mind, I set up a 10-month lease (for the same monthly rate as a 12!) to end next April 1. If I feel confident next February, then I can give notice or go month-to-month. If I feel less confident, I can renew at a longer term.

I do still need to call my friend's fiance back, as he's a mortgage broker and can give me a sense of my options. I will do that next week. So I'll rate this a pass.

3. Push my emergency fund up to 3 months' worth of expenses. I've recalculated my base expenses given my rent increase and my lower insurance premiums. At my current contribution levels, I should definitely manage this by December, and possibly by November.

On track for three out of three. Not too shabby.

I stayed home sick today.

Since I went back to bed and slept until nearly noon, I think that was the right call.

On the brighter side, here are some good financial things that have happened to me lately.

1) I convinced my leasing office to give me a ten-month lease at the same monthly rate as the year-long one (still a bump from my current rate, but not out of line). This will give me more flexibility next year if I decide I'm ready to condo-shop.

2) I had some gift cards and gifts from Christmas that I STILL hadn't used or returned, so I went out the other weekend, merrily spending OPM, and came home with a cute aqua twinset and a desperately needed filing cabinet.

3) I found out that I AM actually eligible for USAA, and switched my car insurance. I'll be saving about $120 over six months! I also switched my renter's insurance (even though the rates were pretty much a wash) because I like bundling bills as much as possible. I'm not sure if I'll use their banking, as I am very fond of my credit union, but it's nice to have the option.

There are a few minor annoyances I'm facing, but these things helped take away much of the sting.

And staying home and getting some rest (and baking some TJ's banana bread) make things seem better for tomorrow.

When $5,000 shows up in your mailbox.

It was a bit of a surprise when I opened the envelope last night, although it would be impossible to pretend that I didn't know a check was coming. Before my grandfather passed away, he explicitly expressed an intention for his four grandchildren to receive the funds left in his checking account. (That and all other assets were included in his trust, so my uncle and my father could perform transactions on his behalf.) Still, I knew some of the money had to go to funeral expenses, and I was expecting less than this.

And of course, it's all somewhat fraught, because it reminds me how readily he donated money during his lifetime.

I still want to do something worthwhile with the money. So I'm sending all of it towards the first tier of my credit union loan, which should allow me to eliminate that debt by the end of June, 15 months ahead of schedule. Why?

It will make the biggest impact on my cash flow. This loan is the single largest fixed expense I have after rent. Even though I'll be paying more on the second tier of the loan when the first one is paid off, I'll still free up about $150 a month for savings or other loan payments. (Or, given that I'll probably sign another lease to start in June, increased rent.)

It will eliminate my highest-rate debt. The loan was made at a quite reasonable 5.9% APR, but there's a gap between that and 5% on my Perkins loan, and a still greater gap between that and my 2.75% rate for my Direct loan. And of course, tier 2 of the credit union loan is at zero percent. (Long story.)

It will improve my debt-to-income ratio for when I purchase a condo. As I said, $150 a month will no longer be earmarked toward paying off debt, which will make the lenders (not to mention ME) more confident about my ability to manage a mortgage and the other attendant costs. Eliminating my Perkins loan entirely would lower my monthly obligations by less than $50 a month, which is far less impactful.

I could contribute this to the condo fund directly, of course. Boosting my downpayment would be nice, and I'll be saving still more to that end after paying off this loan. But lowering my monthly debt payments is probably more important as a first-time buyer.

And finally, it will give me more "outs" in an emergency. My emergency fund is based on continuing to make all my loan payments at present levels. However, should said emergency last longer than a few months, I have fewer options for this loan than I do with others. Borrowers can request that federal student loans be granted a deferral or forbearance. My tier 2 loan could presumably be dropped back to present payment levels in a real emergency. With this one, however, it's "make your payment every month."

Now, in a worst-case scenario, I could initiate a balance transfer from my credit card for the much smaller outstanding loan and give myself more time to get back on my feet. I have no intention of actually doing this, mind you. But it gives me comfort to know that I now have the option.

I think my grandfather would be glad to know that I used this money for something meaningful. And I think it will take a lot of worries away from me.

January Net Worth (+8.6%)

So basically the story is: Less liquid assets, BOO! More liquid assets, YAY!

Personal Property

KBB dropped the value of my car a tiny bit.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

I benefited from three pay periods and getting my locality pay adjustment in the last pay period of the month.

My online savings accounts benefited from shifting over the excess in my overdraft fund and from the extra $200 contribution I made to my condo fund (apportioned from the "extra" pay period).

I decided to wait to boost my savings allotment (I shoot to have my overall short-term savings be 10% of my gross or higher) until the first pay period in February to give me some breathing room, but I still think this was a healthy increase.

Investments

Eh. I guess it could have been worse?

Loan Balances

Beyond the usual payments, I also made an extra $200 principal payment to my Perkins. This is at a slightly lower rate of interest than my credit union loan, but it hastens the payoff date by a significant amount.

Other Debt

This doesn't really tell the story at all. I charged a lot, paid some of it off with holiday funds, charged some more for clothes and a trip to Philly, paid almost all of it off with my extra paycheck, then charged some more for my prescription sunglasses (which will be their own entry very soon), and was left awaiting reimbursement. If not for that, my new charges would have been paid almost to zero, well before the new statement date.

I think I've decided that I'll start making a payment twice a month, once mid-statement and once after the statement closes (excluding reimbursement payments, which I'll just send over when I get them). This should help keep me on track and keep my balance below 10% of my credit limit. I'm already earning some decent cash rewards.

The Month Ahead

I've already gotten through a big birthday bash weekend (and stayed largely under my spending target). I'll be attending a play, but since I already paid for both tickets (half-price!), my dinner will largely come out of being reimbursed by my friend.

My tax refund should hit the appropriate accounts within a week or two, which will boost my savings.

With my pay raise, I finally feel like I have breathing room to deal with all my flexible expenses. I still have to plan for certain purchases (I think I should get one more pair of shoes sometime in the near future), but I'm not stressed. And that's a good thing.

Hurrah for raises.

I will see a raise and a small bonus in my first December paycheck. Yay!

The bonus, after netting for taxes, will be applied to: a) boosting my withholding so that I don't owe taxes for 2007*, b) paying off my credit card bill so that I get out of payment cycling (I invariably pay my balances in full, but lately it's just meant I charge them up again later), c) boosting my overdraft and condo downpayment funds, and d) taking about $50 for my own jollies. I do have holiday spending to do, but I have other funding resources for that, so I'd rather pad my savings accounts to meet my annual goals.

The raise is 5.25 percent, which is average, but that is strictly the merit pay increase. I will receive an additional locality pay (cost-of-living) adjustment for the first calendar 2008 pay period (which will pay out in February) of between 3.5 and 4.5 percent, so the overall total will be pretty respectable.

In the interim, I've upped my retirement contributions to 11%, upped my fixed dollar contributions to savings to keep that total around 10%, and intend to increase my charitable contributions. I won't see much more in my actual take-home pay, but that's all right.

Also, my student loan balance total will now be officially less than my annual salary. Point and laugh if you will, but that's a milestone to me.

*I'd rather risk a few dollars in foregone interest than owe taxes and have to pay fees (for e-file or certified mail delivery).

Finally!

My PLUS-style loan is DONE, finished, paid off...it is a retired obligation.

Now to tackle the rest of them.

But first, I must send a very thorough thank-you note to my dad (I made a few payments, but the lion's share of the payoff was from him).

Oh, and I got some cash gifts for some reason [grin], so I will be going out to celebrate tonight at an exceptionally expensive (but by all accounts, well worth it) restaurant. The cake there is approaching legendary.

Fun and frugality and fuming, oh my!

So, last week involved a fair amount of spending, but 'twas worth it.

* I saw the delightful Hot Fuzz at the second-run movie theater, and was able to use my free pass. Of course, I then completely undercut the advantage by getting an ice cream sundae along with my meal. I think all the Cornetto in the movie worked its magic on me. (As did Simon Pegg, but that's neither here nor there. Heh.)

* I then joined everyone for the fabulous DC Blogger meetup on Thursday. (Guess the geographic cat is out of the bag.) We shared some appetizers, and bought some Krispy Kremes, and then Nick bought everyone fresh hot doughnuts. Nick is a superhero. I was delighted to meet everyone, especially mapgirl, who is practically my neighbor (and therefore drove me home). Hopefully we'll all do this again!

* I finally broke down and bought an EZ-Pass. Since it's easiest to use a major toll road to visit my aunt, I'm going to make use of it. And I'm hoping it will save me money in the long run, since I won't be getting cash out for tolls and then frittering the rest.

* I spent much of the weekend with my visiting grandparents; they covered a lot of expenses. I did buy some very necessary bottled waters after walking around Mount Vernon.

* Oh, yes, and I bought shoes. I really needed new black loafers (as in "my heel is completely worn down and the instep has broken seams so it's not even worth trying to resole them"). I am pleased with my new pair; they broke in after a few days.

This week has been sharply truncated. I've limited my spending to groceries, gas, a car inspection, and a donation in the memory of a coworker's father. I'm actually on track to bring in my lunch every day this week (sing now, in praise of the rice bowl, delivered warm and steaming from that trader known as Joe).

And I'd be really excited about next week, because my extra paycheck is coming in. However, I think vast amounts of it could evaporate, because my car's suspension (despite passing the inspection) is not pleasing me, and has not done so for months. If I have to replace my struts, there goes much of my fun money. So I'm trying to cut back.

And into the midst of this, my friend emailed me about our trip to Philly next month (for which I've been saving for awhile). She suggested a few exhibits, which sounded interesting. But I looked up the King Tut show and discovered that the basic timed ticket is $37 with service charges. For an exhibit I might visit for an hour. In summer crowds, no less (I'm still a bit of an introvert, so that's like running a marathon).

So I wrote back and said I'd rather not pay that much if we were going to visit another museum as well, and that I'd prefer to try and get the late afternoon ticket, which rolls in an IMAX ticket for $25. I'm now dealing with the email silent treatment. Feh.

I know this is a rare exhibition, but I'm spoiled enough by the Smithsonian that I don't think spending more than $25 on any one exhibit is worthwhile. Would you do it?

Three years.

That's how long I've been at my current job (as of last Thursday, although I had no time to mention it then).

Three years ago, I wasn't a complete financial wreck, but there were decided strains.

I had depleted all my savings. (The job offer I received right before getting my master's was contingent on a long security screening, and by the time they finally offered me the position, I'd already accepted another job. But it meant that my "keep me going until March" fund ended up stretching through June.) I needed to borrow over $2000 from my parents just to cover moving expenses and pay my first month's rent.

I'd pretty much only been paying interest on my unsubsidized loans, so my balances had not shrunk at all between starting grad school and finishing. My private loans were variable, and my full repayment started just as monetary policy tightened (and rates increased).

And I'd been so burned on lousy roommates that I refused to share housing even in a really expensive rental market.

But things have really improved.

I paid my parents back within two years.

My student loan balances have dropped 20% (despite a private loan consolidation that added a big origination fee in exchange for a whole two months of lower interest rates [now replaced with my credit union loan]), and every loan is fixed at below 6% (with the largest balances at 2.75%). Thanks largely to my dad, my PLUS-style loan will be paid off within the month. I'm hoping to knock out the Perkins within two years (four ahead of schedule).

Automatic and increasing contributions to my 401(k) style plan have led me to balances that now equal 35% of my gross salary.

My $500 "overdraft account" is more than fully funded, my downpayment fund is growing steadily, and my proper emergency fund should have a full two months of expenses (including money for COBRA payments) by the end of the year.

I'm still not where I need to be. I don't have a Roth for tax diversification, I have no dedicated funds for repairing/replacing my aging car, and trying to take a third trip in a year sends my forced budget into a tailspin. And I still need to scrape up lots more for a downpayment.

But I'm glad to see where I've been from the perspective of where I am.

Oh, and the other thing about getting to three years? I start getting six hours of annual leave per pay period. Whee!

Pound foolish.

While I've managed to accumulate a few purses over the years, my usual modus operandi is to carry one bag all through the fall/winter, then switch to a lighter bag in the spring/summer. Since my beloved straw-and-bamboo purse gave up the ghost last summer (after three years' hard service), I needed to purchase a new bag earlier this year.

As I've mentioned, I tend not to buy much in the way of clothes and accessories, so when I bought things for my Florida trip in March, I did try to cut a few corners. And that included a relatively inexpensive bag. The larger one would have been $15 more, but I put it back.

However, the small bag I chose, while apparently the same size as my straw purse, was constructed with less depth. So my wallet, cellphone, sunglasses, and ID lanyard pretty much filled it to the brim. On a normal day, this wasn't such a problem.

But after I tried to add the book I'd bought for my cousin's graduation present (On My Own Two Feet, per Wanda's review), it was too crowded. So I tried to carry it by hand. And between slugging my purse, my umbrella, my lunch bag, and the book through public transportation, well...I found myself at the office with no book. I still sent the check I'd originally planned to send, but the lack of book sent $14 down the drain.

Next time, I'm just buying the bigger purse!

Also, while I don't think this particular story is that inspiring, the good people at Credit Card Lowdown think some of my posts are (along with those of 99 others). Thanks for the compliment!

And ye shall receive.

As I've mentioned a few times, I am fond of the local second-run movie theater (which also has bar and menu service).

Yesterday, I asked my friend L. if she'd be interested in catching Breach (which I found slow and deliberate, but very well done).

Since it was a Sunday afternoon, and therefore a "full price" day (which is still $4-$5 less than other theaters), the show was lightly attended. So we received fairly fast service from the staff, and they returned with our drinks a few minutes after the movie started.

This was enough for me to realize that the print was bad. Scratches down the left side of the screen made it look like every picture had been etched. So when our drinks arrived:

HC: Can you ask the projectionist about the print?
Server: It's just a bad print. We're asking for a replacement but we haven't gotten it yet.
HC: So there's nothing you can do about it?
Server: No.
HC: Well, is there anything you can do for us?
Server: I'll get the manager.
HC: That's all right. I'll just come by after the show.

I didn't expect to do anything more about it until then. However, the server shortly came back with our food. He dropped off two free passes that are good through December! I would have been satisfied if they'd just knocked a dollar off the ticket price, but I certainly wasn't going to object to a free pass.

It never hurts to ask.

Meds, Part II.

In February, I avoided paying for my recurring prescription due to an error in my favor.

This past week, I certainly made up for it.

I'd started feeling some ear pain the weekend before, and paid a visit to the (freely available) nurse-practicioner at work to have her check my ears. She recommended that I get an appointment, and my own physician's team confirmed the ear infection.

A $30 copay and nearly $70 in prescriptions later, I was on my way.

With just a few days to go on the antibiotics, I'm feeling better.

But THIS is why I have a flex spending account.

April/May Net Worth

Personal Items

Unchanged. As these are a steadily decreasing portion of my assets, I'm spending less and less time tinkering with them. When I get to a net worth of zero, I'll probably be more careful with their valuation.

Cash and Cash Equivalent

Pretty much all my checking is allocated already, but it's nice to have the funds in hand before being paid next week.

I swept some of my overdraft savings to my "true" emergency fund this week, since I'm over my $500 threshold. I really like the same-day credit at E*Trade.

Investments

Whoosh, DJIA. Whoosh, funds.

Loan Balances

As always, I keep making my scheduled payments on these loans. My PLUS-style loan will be paid off in a few months, which is very exciting.

Other Debt

I know that looks REALLY bad, but I have the funds in checking to pay my outstanding balances for the month, and am being reimbursed for a purchase I made on my dad's behalf. The "new balance" isn't out of line either. Still, I didn't really need that $40 dinner the other week. (But mmm, crab fritters and pomegranate martinis.)

The Month Ahead

I will be holing up for work projects, which means less time for fun and therefore less spending. I think. We shall see.

On a side note, I know this makes me terribly lazy, but Trader Joe's frozen jasmine rice makes me so much more likely to do rice dishes than the 40-minute version.

I've reached a milestone of sorts.

I have accrued the equivalent of 23 days of leave, when one combines my annual and sick leave accounts. This basically means that if something were to happen to me, I would have a month of income before having to tap into my emergency fund. (I would have done this much sooner but I needed three weeks of leave for family care last year.)

As much I would like to have proper disability insurance, my employer doesn't offer group plans, and all the individual quotes I've received are simply too much for my budget right now. When I've paid off some more of my loans, that will be a priority.

But for now, it means that I can use any additional annual leave hours as they were intended: for vacation. Since I can only accrue the equivalent of 30 days of annual leave before I hit the "use-or-lose" threshold, it makes no sense to hoard them. (I can accrue sick leave indefinitely.)

I'm starting by using an upcoming Federal Holiday to springboard a five-day weekend. Which includes my birthday. I'll be practicing my Lorelai Gilmore impression.

How do you handle paid leave at work?

Entertainment: Frugal and Not-So.

I did my fair share of socializing this weekend. In some ways, I was fairly thrifty, in others...ah well.

Friday

Frugal: My friend C. won a pair of tickets to see [Theatre Group Sponsored by a Certain Monarch] at [Notable Performing Arts Center]. So I managed to see a rarely-mounted (and quite entertaining) production of a Shakespeare play for free.

Not Frugal: Since the performance started at 7:30, we left directly from work and ate at the cafe at the Center. My pasta and salad weren't too pricey, but adding a large bottle of water and an individual cheesecake brought the total to almost $24. It was a tasty cheesecake, but next time, I'll probably skip dessert and just get a snack at intermission if I want sugar.

Saturday

Not Frugal: I've had a gift card to use at Office Depot for awhile, with which I was planning to get a file cabinet and a replacement ink cartridge for my printer. But since I haven't done that (file cabinets are HEAVY), I had to drive over to the library and print a coupon I needed. I only spent a dime on the print job, and I doubled up the trip with a recycling run to waste less gas, but it still would have made more sense to be ready to print at home.

Frugal: While I was at the library, I attended the Book Sale downstairs, and picked up a copy of Paradise Lost and the 1999 edition of A Random Walk Down Wall Street for $5 total. Whee! (I might have been able to find copies of those for less online, but I would have been charged for shipping, and I wouldn't have been supporting the institution that lets me check out books for free in the first place.)

Frugal: I used the aforementioned coupon to take advantage of 2-for-1 tickets at the already discounted second-run movie theater, so L. and I paid less than $3 each to see The Queen (which I recommend).

Not Frugal, But Worth It: I bought a pretty tasty BBQ sandwich for dinner. After tax and tip, I put in $12. Technically, I could have eaten at home and gotten a light snack while there, but I enjoy the dinner-and-a-movie thing.


Sunday

I did nothing but laze around, chat on the phone (unlimited long distance plan), and clean a bit, so that's a pretty frugal day.

How was your weekend?

PS. I'm continuing to monitor the student lender debacle, and will write up my thoughts sometime soon. If you want good commentary, check out Anya Kamenetz for details.

Okay, so I'm not *completely* immune to psychological effects.

The leading digit on my consolidated Federal loan, by far the largest balance (and lowest rate) of all my student loans, has just dropped by one.

I know this is not as important as, say, improving the ratio of interest to principal for each succeeding payment.

But still. It's nice to see that tangible sign of progress.

Tomorrow, I am off for my much-needed long weekend with my grandparents.

When I return, I get to do that stuff I said I needed to do ten days ago.

And then I get to look at carnival submissions for the Festival of Under 30 Finances! People have until April 4 to submit, but people who send things in early will make me smile.

People who send in entries that have only a tenuous connection to the festival topic (it's "under 30" finances, not general personal finance, investing, or other consciousness-raising) will NOT make me smile. I reserve the right to ignore any submission that doesn't meet the submission guidelines.

At any rate, have a lovely weekend. I fully expect to.

I am behind on everything.

I owe NCN a congratulatory shoutout.

I owe Michael and Jim posts.

I owe myself about four educational finance book reviews, because I owed the library a bunch of money to hang on to them. I have notes, just not posts.

Unfortunately, I also owe my bosses an article and some historical data reports this week. And meeting my deadlines for LAST week involved pushing those back. [sigh]

So I'll probably be MIA (er, more MIA than usual) this week.

But in response to English Major and NCN, here's a short rundown of my cashflow management.

I'll just get this out of the way: I force budget. So a LOT of category funding comes out of my pay via direct deposit.

I get paid biweekly, and base my "budget" on two pay periods per month. (For those months in which I have three, I do some different things which I'll explain below.)

• Gross Pay: 100%
  
• Automatic Pension Deduction <1%
  
• 401(k) Style Plan 10%
  
• Taxes 25%
  
• Life Insurance, Health Insurance, and Flex Spending <3%
  
• Charitable Deductions <1% (I REALLY need to improve this for next year.)
  
• Savings Allotments: 9.9% (of which: 22% overdraft fund, 39% condo fund, 39% emergency fund. ETA: I've moved this to 14% overdraft, 43% condo, 43% efund, as I hit my $500 target for my overdraft fund. I'll sweep the extra from my overdraft fund to my efund periodically.)
  

So my net pay, the amount that actually hits my checking account, is about 51% of my gross.

On payday, I usually log in to each bank to check that everything was deposited properly. I move $15 from my overdraft fund to my vacation/holiday account (I can't get my HR system to do this automatically).

If it's the paycheck before the first of the month:

Over 90% goes to my rent. Whee. I'm left with around $100 for my renter's insurance bill and groceries for those two weeks.

If it's the paycheck in the middle of the month:

It covers EVERYTHING else. I make electronic payments either through automatic withdrawal or online billpay. My student loan payments come due at the end of the month (or the very beginning of the next month). My utility bills are due between the middle and end of the month. (My gas and cable/phone/internet bills don't vary by more than a dollar or so a month, so the only point of contention is my power bill [usually between $20 and $45].) My car insurance is due around the same time. My credit card bill is due the next month, but sometimes I'll send a partial payment early to make sure that I don't overestimate my reserve. (I always pay in full.)

This usually leaves me with $175-$225 in unemcumbered funds. From this I take care of food, gas, and entertainment. Most of this goes to food.

I manage, despite buying lunches as often as not, because:

• I get a transportation subsidy from work that covers my bus and rail fare. So I only buy gas for personal trips.
  
• I have a relative who works for a major cell phone carrier, so my cell phone bill is $10 a month.
  
• I rarely buy alcohol. I enjoy the occasional drink, but I don't buy wine or liquor to bring home. If I'm out, I may buy ONE drink and then switch to water.
  
• I rarely buy clothes. This is easier than it sounds because I hate everything. [grin] In all seriousness, I have fairly plain and sober taste in clothes, and most of what ends up in the stores doesn't tempt. When I do shop, I try to hit the sales or Tarjay.
  
• I try to use coupons or visit the local second-run movie theater for my flick fixes.
  

I do have to restrain myself from buying tickets for a lot of concerts and club shows, however. And sometimes I'll find things a bit tight and focus a bit more on staple foods for a few days.

Finally, in those months (usually January and July) in which I have an extra pay period, a large portion usually goes to paying off travel/gift expenditures (my holiday fund doesn't cover everything), another piece goes toward savings, another piece goes toward extra debt repayment, and then I allow myself a little fun money (for clothes, shows, and such) with the rest.

It's not a perfect system. I do occasionally take money back from the overdraft fund to keep my checking balances in line (hence the name). But I keep my fingers out of my other savings pies, and my financial picture has steadily improved. So I think I'll stick with it.

Disorganization Dinged Me But Good.

1) Sometime during the course of this weekend, I lost my work ID badge. It may well be in my house, but I've moved around all the papers that clutter my entryway. I still can't find it anywhere.

I was able to get a temporary replacement without a problem, but I only have until the end of the month before I need a permanent replacement. And that requires a new employment eligibility form, with the standard two pieces of ID. Again, seemingly not a problem, but one of the ID types must be a birth certificate, social security card, or passport, and all of those are locked in my safe. The key to which was lost months ago.

Did I call to replace the key before this? No.

So in order for me to get a replacement key from the safe company in time to get a new badge, I'll have to pay for expedited shipping. $25 for being disorganized.

2) I was so flustered yesterday with all my work projects that I never properly thanked Lazy Man for hosting the Festival of Frugality. I particularly noted Elizabeth's glee over cheap chocolate and David's pledge to buy used for a year. And of course, there was my own post on Saturday's $30 Oscarfest.

3) And finally, I forgot to remind people to enter my movie quote quiz. The prize is a post on the topic of your choosing (I don't have tons of publishers sending me review copies of books or free software, so I give what I can). Technically, the contest was over on Monday, but since Michael and Ellen are tied with 3 and since I didn't post any reminders, I'm giving it one more day. There are 20 quotes. Good luck!

Losing Power Is No Fun.

Especially when you haven't prepared as well as you should have.

On Sunday afternoon, I was gearing up for a few errands when a sudden flurry of snow began. Then the lights started surging on and off. Finally, everything shut down. I checked outside to discover that it seemed to be a very concentrated power outage (about a block on each side of me was out, but I could see powered buildings just across the nearest major intersection).

This normally wouldn't be a big deal, but:

a) Sunday was the tail end of one of the longest cold snaps in a decade, and my heat is electric, not gas.
b) My regular phone is on a cable-VOIP system, and requires electricity.
c) My cell phone hadn't been recharged the night before.

I had enough juice in my cell phone to report the outage to the power company and leave a message with a nearby friend. During a break in the snow, I headed over to the still-lit store across the street for a few non-perishable things (mini cans of pineapple juice and [non-tainted] peanut butter). I figured with the bread, bananas, and water bottles I already had in the house, I'd get by for awhile. I also picked up some more matches and batteries.

When I got home, I used the rapidly fading light to find the candles in my kitchen. My flashlight, however, was nowhere to be found. So I read for awhile by candlelight, hoping that the snow (which had returned in force by this point) would subside so that I could head out to my car and use the car charger to replenish my cell phone. Before that happened, however, my friend showed up to rescue me. As she hadn't been able to call me back, she got worried and decided to check in on me. So I grabbed a few things, and she drove me back to her place. I spent a pretty pleasant night on her guest bed, and awoke in the morning to a message on my (now recharged) phone that said power had been restored.

All told, it was a minor inconvenience.

But for next time, I'll make sure to have:

A battery powered cell phone charger. The Energi to Go is the only model I know of that's commonly available.


A lantern flashlight. I'm thinking something like this Coleman.

More non-perishable food. My stock of water bottles is good, but it might be good to keep some individually wrapped energy bars around the house, as I keep my bread in the fridge and wouldn't want to have to open the latter to get the former.

I think my stock of matches and candles is more than adequate for now, but I'll revisit that later.

Sometimes, it's worth paying the money upfront for the peace of mind later.

From business to pleasure.

First off, I would like to thank mapgirl and Golbguru for highlighting my post about financing a child's college education. It actually pushed me to submit to this week's Carnival of Personal Finance, something I rarely do. 2million chose, appropriately enough, a Carnival theme. (I'm picking up my king cake in a week, so I'm all over this.)

Other than the highlighted posts, I noticed:

Ask Uncle Bill's Thinking outside the box. This is a pretty clever tactic to get around admissions requirements.

DDL from Make Your Nut's an idea to save money by patronizing crappy movie theaters. I'm not sure I could deal with this kind of disruption. I patronize my local second-run movie theater to save money instead.


And speaking of lists and bloggers, Michael has asked all bloggers to give him a list of their top 5 movies. I'm bad at doing precisely what I'm told, however. (If only because asking me to pick a top 5 is well-nigh impossible. Top 2? Okay. Top 15? Maybe. But in between those, the differentials don't mean much.) Instead, I'm going to take a similar meme I did elsewhere last year and repurpose it for this.

I'll give out twenty quotes from twenty of my favorite movies. Whichever blogger identifies the most movies by February 19 wins! I'll then write a post on a topic of his or her choice. (I reserve the right to ask for alternate topics if the initial request would require either more knowledge on the subject, or more provision of personal details, than I am able/willing to offer.) I'm putting all of you on the honor system; don't look at the comments before replying!

1) As the producer, I can fire anybody I want, and I am f****** fired!

2) Is that related to a Corolla?...Like the car?

3) Death is... whimsical, today.

4) You should be very glad I'm not 12. I was a very straightforward child. I used to spit.

5) The French have said au revoir to the franc, the Germans have said auf wiedersehen to the mark, and the Portuguese have said... whatever to their thing.

6) Some think he imagines us. Others that he sleeps, and we are his dreams...

7) F*** you, quality of mercy.

8) You know Steve, you're not very hard to figure, only at times. Sometimes I know exactly what you're going to say. Most of the time. The other times... the other times, you're just a stinker.

9) The man who folded this tube of Crest is looking for someone meticulous, refined. Anal. ... What?

10) Double negative? You mean you have photographs?!

11) Am I getting worse? Am I improving? I don't know. When I was younger, I was healthier, but I was, uh, whacked with insecurity, you know? Now I'm older and my problems are deeper, but I'm more equipped to handle them.

12) I took a course in art last winter. I learnt the difference between a fine oil painting, and a mechanical thing, like a photograph. The photograph shows only the reality. The painting shows not only the reality, but the dream behind it.

13)I warn you, madam - I know the entire Geneva Convention by heart! / Oh, how nice! You must recite it for me some evening; I play the harpsichord.

14) But I don't want to believe in something or not believe in it because I might feel bad. I want to believe in it or not believe in it because I think it's true or not.

15) I could put... I could put... strychnine in the guacamole.

16) I never did like the idea of sitting on newspaper. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants.

17) Everybody's sin is nobody's sin, and everybody's crime is no crime at all.

18) PUT THAT COFFEE DOWN. Coffee is for closers.

19) What do you do for exercise? / I pace.

20) With music you can have twenty individuals all talking at the same time, and it's not noise, it's a perfect harmony!

New and Improved.

1) Single Ma's recent redesign inspired me to retool my own layout. I've been tinkering with it for a few weeks (I had to figure out the difference between old style templates and new style templates the hard way). There are still a few minor things I'd like to adjust, but for the most part, I'm pleased with it. I've also finally set up my Feedburner account, which will probably give me some more headaches to start, but will also eventually improve services for any subscribers I may have (I don't track that sort of thing).

2) Speaking of feeds, I spent a very long time without a good reader (neither Bloglines nor Sage nor any standalone readers really worked for me.) Google Reader, however, seems like a good fit. Each feed displays with enough white space that I can scroll through entries easily, and folder management isn't very arduous either. I REALLY like the easy "star" system for tagging posts. I've heard complaints that it doesn't fetch entries all that quickly, but since I tend to do my reading in batches, it doesn't bother me. Plus, it's nice to have one login for reading and posting.

3) The recent edition of TaxAct has much to recommend it. I file relatively straightforward returns, so I don't need lots of customer support and advice. So I usually go with the free edition. And I'm still quite happy with the (preliminary) results. The Q&A section has a dropdown checklist feature that makes it easy to skip from section to section as different documents arrive. One caveat: If you want the system to recognize your exemptions for the standard telephone tax credit, it apparently requires completing the Q&A topics in order (although you can skip reviewing the data already entered).

I have to point out that THIS year, the Deluxe edition offers a student aid report function to assist with the FAFSA. Although I haven't used it, it seems like a good tool for figuring out one's Expected Family Contribution, since it takes the numbers from one's own return. (Still, in order to get the FAFSA filed before the February/March deadlines, it might be worth putting in estimates based on end-of-year paystubs, savings accounts, and the like, to generate the SAR. When all documents are in, then one could file the actual tax return and corrected FAFSA.)

4) I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the no-longer-so-recent redesign at VirtualBank. While I still think ING is the simplest choice for someone who has never dealt with an online account before, the VB interface is now nearly as clean and pleasing, with logically-arranged tabs for various tasks. And the "personal account representative" is a nice feature. It's decidedly not the rate leader at 4.6%, and they don't offer tax statements online, but reponsive transfers, good beneficiary service, and other features make me likely to hold onto it at least until I have solid cash for ELoan (the only other online bank besides EmigrantDirect that makes beneficiary nomination a key feature [if I'm wrong about this, please let me know]).

Anyway, I'm pretty much all out of ING referrals (thanks to Jonathan), so if you'd like a $20 VirtualBank referral, email me.

Other new plans include me finally getting off my duff and starting to review all those financial aid books that I checked out from the library, and trying to spotlight more news items about student aid. If you have any interest in seeing something in particular featured here, I'd love to read your comments.