You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2008.
I finally made an appointment with an eye doctor in town. I was going to get both a contact lens fitting and an eyeglasses exam, but balked at the price of the contact lens fitting–about $150 even after insurance! I think it is lame that my insurance doesn’t provide better coverage for contacts (as they are “elective”). On the other hand, I don’t really need the fitting now, as I had one through my insurance at my old job just before I left in December. (You could make an argument about how this choice is an example of how high deductible plans with health savings accounts make the consumer make better financial choices when it comes to their health rather than choosing whatever because it costs the same to them.)
I never wear my glasses, except sometimes at night and when my contacts bother me (rarely). Because of that, I always opt to use my insurance money towards contact lenses rather than glasses. This time, I’m getting glasses, and I hope an updated style will make me more inclined to wear them I get $100 towards the lenses and $70 towards the frames, which I know isn’t enough, but I have money in my health savings account to cover the rest.
I’m looking for advice on how to pick out frames for a good price that are a little more in style than the ones I currently have (from my junior year in high school!). Do you usually just buy them wherever you get your eyes checked, or is there somewhere in particular I should be shopping at? How much can I expect to pay for frames and lenses (roughly)? Any other tips??
The class I longed to skip a few days ago turned out quite fun. It came about that a lady at my table received her layoff notice that very day, and she shared her story with the group. She also mentioned that financially, she did not need to work, which made the lay off a bit easier to take, though I’m sure she still felt quite rejected/hurt/awful about it. Having money in the bank makes those blows sting a bit less.
She went off on a bit of a tirade, claiming that the company was a sinking ship, that our prices were too high, that we could no longer compete. We also have lost two large contracts recently, though none in my division. My department in particular is awaiting awards (or downselects) for several contracts. While I do think her tirade was more emotional than factual, there was some truth there. It scared me, at least a little. What if we do lose all the contracts that are in the air? What are the chances of that? Do we know how we stack up when compared to our competitors? Someone does, I’m sure, but not me. If we win the program I’m on, it is the future of the company. If we lose it, I’ll have to get on board with something else.
I’ve never worked at a company that wasn’t in a bit of a booming phase. That isn’t saying much, since my professional experience just started a couple years ago. When I left my last company, the program I’m on was going downhill. We were way over budget (and had not yet revealed the extent to our customer) and a little behind schedule. Still, I felt even if we lost the contract, I’d be able to market myself elsewhere in the company fairly easily. I had connections.
Is my job secure if we lose the program I’m on? I really don’t know. I think it is, but I’m not completely confident. Honestly, there isn’t much I can do about it if it isn’t. I’m saving money, being prepared, and doing the best I can. I’m young, hardworking, and bright. I’ll be fine. Right?
While puzzling over my asset allocation, I had a realization that the dollars in my Roth IRA were “worth more” than the dollars in my 401k, since I’ve already paid taxes on them. Somehow my asset allocation should account for that, right? Which got me to thinking, if I ever do roll my old 401k over into my Roth, it’ll show up as a decrease in my net worth, even though truly, it isn’t. [I still haven't fully implemented my planned allocation... I'm a bad financial housekeeper!]
People have a variety of ways of calculating net worth. Many people include their cars, houses and possessions. I currently don’t, but if I had a house or a nice car, I may. Given the recent swing in housing prices, perhaps I would hesitate to include appreciation of my home, as it won’t really be an investment anyway. I don’t include short term savings (gifts, insurance, etc), but do include my (measly) newer car fund . I once heard someone argue that they don’t include any retirement accounts, because that was money they couldn’t touch for 35 years. If I did that, my net worth would be in much sadder shape, as I’m really focusing on retirement savings for the next few years. Or more accurately, the next many many years!
I do think it is common to include your 401k dollars as regular dollars (right?). I don’t think it matters that much, as net worth calculations are generally to track your own progress, not for bragging rights. As long as a person is consistent in their net worth calculations, it shouldn’t matter all that much. For example, at the end of each month, I have almost $1500 sitting in my account for rent, and the check will go through about a week after I update my net worth charts. However, within another week, I”ll get another paycheck that will boost the net worth back up. It isn’t until the second paycheck of the month that I really see the gains. I’ve always counted my rent money in my net worth, so as long as I am consistent, it doesn’t really matter.
What do you think?
I’ve been salivating for some new work clothes ever since I started my new job and moved to a city where the shopping choices are endless. Last night, T drug me to the mall (seriously, it was his idea–he’s trying to update his wardrobe too).While attempting to shop two weekends ago I did not purchase a single thing–the sales were small and picked over, and full price seemed like too much. However, new sales started at Banana Republic and almost everything was marked down a little bit. Did you know that the prices on the website are sometimes a little lower and that the stores won’t match? Still the in-store selection was much better and obviously there are no shipping costs.
After trying on about 20 things and liking about 10 of them, I purchased 4 items: 2 short sleeve shirts, a cardigan, and a super cute sweater. At an average of $40, the total was about $160, and after tax, a painful $175 for a spring wardrobe update. Still, I’m quite happy with my purchases. The cardigan in particular was much needed (my current ones are old and the longer chunkier style of a couple years ago). Work is COLD so I will wear it often. The other things will get a lot of wear as well.
As far as budgeting goes, that means I’ve used this months remaining budget ($30), next months budget (which I previously upped to $75) and pretty much all of May’s budget as well. Woah! This should be fine, I can last until June or later without shopping. It is easier for me to get a couple things at once when there are sales. Also, $100 of my economic stimulus check might go towards work related clothing or other “fun” spending, with the remaining $500 going to the e-fund.
Following my rule of donating at least one older item of clothing for every item brought in, my closet will be faced with some downsizing this weekend.
The month is coming to a close and I’m running out of money in pretty much all areas of my budget. I have $20 left for grocery, and in theory, I’m supposed to buy groceries for the first week in April out of March’s budget. I have no food for the rest of this week, I’m going to the store tonight.
Entertainment and miscellaneous categories, which I planned to use for any overruns, will be eaten up by my vacation this past weekend. I really want to buy some new work clothes this weekend, as T has some free time to help me pick out nice things, but $30 isn’t going to get me far. Would it be ridiculous to take next months clothes budget before next month started? I’m a budgeting failure, though I started out the month so well!
I got my first utility bill since moving into my apartment on January 15th. I’m not sure what the hold up was, but I didn’t question it. It was about $28, including a $10 “new account few” (annoying) for sewer, water, trash and some random “service fee”. I’ve yet to get an electricity bill, but again, I’m not going to question it unless they turn off my lights. I budgeted $30 for utilities, so this seems to be right, unless they surprise me with my first electric bill.
Worse, I got a bill from IBM for $118 for not returning the broken laptop battery when they replaced the old one under warranty. I’m a little annoyed at this, because I sent the whole laptop in, and they sent it back saying “battery is not functioning”, but did not replace the battery for me, even though it was still covered. After a phone call, they sent me a battery, and I remember with regret what I did with the old one…
The movers had come to my apartment in Iowa, and they left the small box that I’d yet to get DHL to pick up. I was throwing out other junk, so I thought to myself “They haven’t asked for this back. They probably don’t care what I do with it. It’s cold out and I have no room for this in my suitcase” Then I threw it in the garbage, along with other junk not worth moving cross country. Imagine my dismay to get a letter a month later requesting the battery. Sure, it was stupid of me to just toss it, but I am only claiming 75% responsibility. They should have just replaced it when they had my laptop! And I moved across the country!
This isn’t in the budget. I’ll just take it out of savings (not efund, just general savings), no big deal, but still annoying. So far this year, I have spent $157 on stupidity/disorganization ($118 + $39). Let’s hope this is the end of that!
(New idea: Maybe I can buy a battery off the internet for less than $118 and ship them that… Hmmmm… I see them for about $50 with shipping on ebay. I’m going to contact them ASAP!)
I had a nice four day vacation in northern California this weekend. We toured some wineries, attempted to visit Alcatraz (it was sold out for days!), toured the city, and went for a very short hike in the redwoods. (I would have liked to hike further, but the rest of the group wasn’t very ambitious.)
Here were my traveling costs:
$15: Parking for the day we drove into the city
$20: Wine from Nappa (at a discounted price because of the tasting fee we (my parents) paid
($25): Money from T to reimburse me for random gas money and the fact my plane ticket was mysteriously more expensive
$40: Cash spent on one dinner and other random travel expenses
$13: Airport spending. It is like another country in there with a horrible exchange rate!
$11: Taxi to airport, including tip (a good price, however I had a friend pick me up last night, as the minimum fare from the airport would be $17.50 pre-tip!)
I spent about $75 (plus $175 for the ticket), well under my estimate of $150. My parents paid for a lot of the more expensive things. I’m torn about that. While I know they make enough money, they aren’t wealthy and I am not sure how much they have saved for retirement. I suppose I just have to trust their judgment.
Vacationing with parents (or any other people) invovles a little more compromise than I would like. I’m very much a “do it yourself” type traveler, and get annoyed at overly “tour” like excursions. I think my parents are more typical American travelers who don’t mind paying a premium to have someone else do all the organizing. That being said, I’m sure they would have allowed me to plan our whole itinerary if I wanted to step up to the plate and do it, but I chose to take a backseat on this trip.
I have no trips planned for the future yet. I’m thinking we’ll do some more small trips, maybe some hiking/camping within driving distance. Eventually I want to go see the Grand Canyon. I don’t know where or when my next international vacation will be, but unfortunately probably not this year.
The month is coming to a close, and I’ll have to figure out exactly where in my budget that $75 can come from. I can use a little from travel, a little from entertainment and a little from “misc” and I think that I’ll be able to come out close to even, but my travel fund will be empty until next month.
One of the most annoying parts of going on trips is getting to/from the airport. When I lived in Iowa it was about a 20 minute drive, so asking a friend to do it wasn’t a big deal. Still, I dislike asking for favors. Parking at the airport was just $5/day, so for short trips I usually just parked and paid.
For this trip, I asked a friend to pick me up Sunday night, but I didn’t request a ride to the airport today. We aren’t that close and I felt it was an imposition to ask him to leave work early. I had given him a ride from the airport once before, so now we are “even”. Or something.
I live really pretty close to the airport, but it still involves either a .7 mile walk + a bus (or 2 buses) to get there. The online estimate said it would take 30-60 minutes by bus. Ug. T lives further, but there is a direct bus for just $4, so he is taking that. I was going to brave my bus, but decided against it and scheduled a taxi. It really should be less than $15, but I’m a bit nervous about traffic.
I just wish public transportation was easier and more convenient. In NYC I took the subway all the way from my friends apartment on wall street to La Guardia. I felt like such a self-sufficient traveler! Then again, I would have paid $15 for a taxi if that was all it was going to cost me.
I’ll be out through Sunday, so don’t expect to hear from me until then!
I need a new haircut really badly. I’m considering going to a “hair academy” and getting it cut by students. I used to go to one back home when I was in college. While it took an excruciatingly long time, I was always satisfied with the end result, and even more satisfied with the price.
But do you get what you pay for? It isn’t that I’m completely unwilling to shell out for an amazing haircut, but I’m afraid I’ll go to a real salon, shell out the big bucks, and not even be impressed. Then again, I don’t exactly want to spend 3 hours getting my hair cut. I have been checking yelp.com for reviews and I could just take a leap of faith. But what the heck does “$$” mean as opposed to “$”? Seriously, can’t they just say how much a basic cut will cost me?
Have you ever gone to a hair school? Are you willing to pay more for a (theoretically) better cut?
What am I doing to “recession proof” my life? Nothing. I’m focusing on how much I drive, but I’d do that anyway. I’m saving more cash, but I should have been doing that anyway. You can’t waterproof your shoes after it has started to rain, so why is everyone talking about “recession proofing” now? The keys to recession proofing your life seem eerily similar to standard personal finance basics: Live within your means, build an emergency fund, invest for retirement, and invest in yourself to help stay employable. These are things most personal finance bloggers and readers probably already were doing. If they weren’t, they should have been, regardless of the recession.
I don’t know what to say about the fed rate cuts or the bailouts. Which seems to be fine, since no one asked for my opinion anyway. From my vantage point, earning 5% on my savings was better than 3%. On a very personal level, I don’t like the rate cuts. However if they truly are saving the economy, then I’m glad they are happening.
Are they though? That is a big “if” up there. I don’t know. I’m pretty well versed in personal finance topics. But economics at a national/global level? Please. I haven’t had an econ class since high school, and I have to cross my fingers and hope that the fed knows what they are doing. If I were an economist and had convincing arguments on why they were wrong, I would feel responsible to speak out about it. There are economists doing this (I think) but not loudly enough for mainstream media to pick up on it. Many personal finance bloggers are speaking out against the fed’s actions, but to be honest, I don’t give most of them (including myself) much credit, unless they have some credential other than writing a blog.
I don’t understand why average people feel the need to cut spending in a recession. And by “average people” I mean responsible people who already live within their means, which I suppose aren’t “average” after all. However, they are the average blogger and my average friend/acquaintances. They are the average person that I know. I understand trying to use less gas or maybe buy a little less to offset food/energy prices, but… I guess i just don’t get it. If I wasn’t overspending before, can’t I just continue not overspending?
Perhaps I’m being too snooty about this, and I apologize for that. To me the recession really only means higher gas/food prices, so I put just a little less into savings this month. For some families, it might mean they eat a little less this month. I don’t mean to be unsympathetic, but I’m (so far) quite insulated from the more painful effects of a recession. I hope I remain insulated. In the mean time, I should find a reputable charity and donate something to help those who are more heavily impacted. What do you think about a local food bank? I’ll put it in my April budget.
I get so impatient with my goals. I decided having an emergency fund of $15,000 was important to me, but it isn’t an exciting goal. Once I reach $15000, what do I get to do? Feel secure that I have a nice sum of money in the bank? While that gives me peace of mind, it isn’t exactly thrilling. It’ll probably take me more than the rest of 2008 to accomplish this goal!
From here on out, it’ll be as boring as auto-depositing an allocated amount into my account each month, then updating the sidebar by similar quantities each month. No more tax refunds, no more reimbursements for moving, no more signing bonuses. I know that making it simple and automatic is good, but I’m convinced I would thrive on more complicated and involved process! Slow and steady is BORING!
I just feel like there isn’t a lot for me to do towards these goals, other than just try to do well at my job in hopes of a promotion this fall. I have about 7 months to earn a promotion, and I still am having a lot of self-doubt about how well I will be able to do this job. I know in my last job my manager was much more impressed with me after 18 months in than he was at 6 months. It is hard to come up to speed and become a valued team member in just 6 months, at least in this particular job. I might be able to do it, but I might not. I’ll certainly try. If I don’t get a promotion in late fall, then the yearly salary reviews are in February.
Wasn’t this personal finance stuff more fun when I could at least count on my retirement portfolio to actually increase in value?
The tortoise and the hare fable talks about how slow and steady wins the race. But if the stinkin’ hare would have just been steady, he would have won. Fast and steady will win over slow and steady any day!
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