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I had a nice little plan on how I’d ride out the last few days of my budget. Oh plans!
Unfortunately, my plan didn’t include boogie boards. Now, I’m not really an avid boogie boarder or anything. To be clear, I’ve really only been swimming in the ocean a handful of times in my previously land locked life. However, since I moved to California, I have been going more, and I hope the trend continues. Now that the summer heat has settled in, I can go into the waves without my toes freezing off. It’s a treat.
Last weekend, we played in the waves for awhile, and later found ourselves at some overpriced sports shop eyeing boogie boards. We didn’t purchase, because the only ones I deemed to be a “reasonable” price were obviously crap. T thought we should just get one higher quality one and share between the two of us. Frugal, but not as fun. I said we should just wait and see if we could find a better deal elsewhere.
We did. I found two boogie boards on Craigslist, one white and one pink, for $25 each. Looking up the models, they weren’t high end (maybe $50 new), but totally satisfactory for us to start playing with. I phoned the seller and arranged pick-up for later that evening.
The location was a little further than expected, since I had filtered my search to be relatively close locations. Since we were using my car (and my gas) I paid just $20 (and bought us In-N-Out for dinner), and T paid $30. It wasn’t as sketchy as I had imagined craigslist to be. The couple was young, friendly, in the middle of moving, and had a cute tiny baby. We made some chit chat, handed them the cash., and walked away with two boogie boards and smiles on our faces. It was really easy and we couldn’t have gotten the same quality buying new.
So, that means that of my $39 left, I spent $27. Except that on Thursday, in leiu of going out with friends (they didn’t get out to the bar until too late for this working gal), we went out to Mexican for $21. Really, that is only a few more than I’d planned to spend going out, but still, it wasn’t necessary. I think I had a few dollars left from another month in my entertainment fund, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. I haven’t balanced the books yet.
On top of that, we spent another $5.50 yesterday (saturday), but it was $5 well spent. In fact, I think that adventure deserves a post of it’s own. I’m ending the month $16 over budget, yet again. Not horrible, not great.
I feel caught in my web of lies!
No, not really. But I think the time has come to tell T about this blog. It started really as a hobby and I sort of anticipated it dying after a month or two. I mean, I’ve always loved to write, but how much could I write about personal finance? Read any of my early entries and you can see how much effort I put into it. (Heck, even read some of my current entries!) But it hasn’t died yet. I don’t see it dying any time soon. So… now what?
I have many good qualities, but being a completely open book simply isn’t one of them. I occasionally keep weird random secrets about things that don’t even matter. Like a book I’m reading, or a store I visited, or something totally weird. Not secrets, per se, more of a “if they don’t ask, don’t bring it up” sort of thing (and no one has asked “Do you write a blog?), for no reason whatsoever. This isn’t to say I don’t try to be better about this. I do try to be open., though it goes against my nature. I guess I’m afraid of being made fun of for it, even though I know his character and I know he wouldn’t. I don’t know where I got this neurosis, but it is in my head that writing=weird, and writing on the internet for strangers to read = extra weird. And you know, maybe it is, but everyone is a little weird.
My desire for privacy is very much ingrained in me. Middle child syndrome? Perhaps. I’ve always had secret hiding spots for my diaries, poems and other writings when I was a kid. I don’t like to share my goals/dreams with people until I know that I’m really going to go after them. I simply don’t like people to know all my thoughts.
Maybe he secretly already knows. One day we were talking about some TV show, I think “The Office” as we were walking together, and he said something like “Why don’t you start a blog about it?” My heart jumped into my throat, and I wondered where it came from. Maybe I was just being opinionated about something random. Sometimes when my dad gets on a political rant, I tell him he needs to start a blog, “www.creedthoughts.com” (reference to the Office, again, which he loves).
It just is reaching a point where I should retire my blog or tell him about it. (Or maybe that point was like… 9 months ago.) Of course, this means revealing the nitty gritty details of my finances, which we haven’t exactly done, but isn’t a big deal since we’ve talked about it in non-detail enough.
So how do you do this? How do you say, “Honey, I’ve been writing a personal finance blog. For the past year.” Advice appreciated!
It is nearing the end of the month, the most difficult time of my budget. While I’ve already exceeded my food budget, all that I have to do to meet my overall budget is get through the weekend. The overall budget is what really counts to me.
What do I have left? Basically, I have $14 left budgeted towards “personal” items (beauty/hair), but I don’t want to spend that because I’ll need a haircut next month. (Side note: Frugal or Cheap–cutting your own bangs with non-hair scissors?) Other than that, I have $39 left for “misc”, and nothing left for anything else.
With that $39, I need want to do:
- Go out tonight: T has arranged for some of his friends to meet up at a bar near where I live, then he’ll come stay with me. On a weeknight, yay! I’m also happy because his married friend and wife is coming, so it won’t be just 4 guys and me or something lame like that. Anyway, $15, or less. I’ll eat first and have just one or two drinks since it is a work night.
- Feed us at least one yummy meal this weekend: I’m thinking I think I’ll buy stuff for these calzones (thanks Spilling Buckets!), which will require
- tomato sauce
- mozzarella cheese
- sausage or pepperoni (check prices!)
- spinach (for salads and calzones)
Maybe $12? $15? We’ll see. If I have money left, I’ll could get some more exciting salad toppings.
That is it! I think it will be cooler this weekend so we are going to do some easy hikes for fun. Maybe we’ll drive downtown and explore that one day too. Or if it is hot again, beach time! I have enough other food to survive on, and if we do decide to indulge in alcohol, we already have stuff to make little summery drinks ourselves.
I also was given an extra $50 for gas money, since T’s mom and sister used my car to cart us around to universal studios, the Tonight Show, and other destinations. This isn’t in my budget, but I’ll probably fill up on gas this weekend and use that. Well, not directly since I like to get the cashback, but in my mental accounting, I’ll use that.
I’m excited because I really have the potential to meet my budget. I’ve only been using official budgets for a couple months and while I’ve been close for a few months (withing $20) this may be my first month meeting the budget!
So yeah, I could get a case. I could, you know, be CAREFUL with them. I’d rather just buy cheap ones. I don’t wear them as a fashion statement (well, not really, though I may purchase trendy ones), I don’t wear them as a status symbol, and I mostly wear them at the beach or in the car. Designer sunglasses? They just aren’t my thing. There is so much more I’d rather spend my money on. Sunglasses for $25 to $50, I might consider, but that is probably the limit.
I do (sort of) get why a person wants designer sunglasses. You can wear them a lot, you can love them a lot. Just like I do (sort of) get why a person might carry designer handbags. It just isn’t something I do. There is no way that is in my budget, and it isn’t something I place a high value on. So I’ll stick to my cheap-o sunglasses, and have only momentary pain when I find them squashed at the bottom of my beach bag.
PS – I know the shape/style of my sunglasses is sort of “out”. They were purchased for sailing, so functional. I’m kind of glad I have a good excuse to get cuter ones.
Work has been really busy lately. This is good. It keeps me engaged. My mind has been on work when I’m out of work, which is ok. I can push it to the side when necessary, but it keeps my wheels turning and my mind active. I like it a lot. Since work is on my mind, and work is how I earn my money, I am going to write about work issues today.
I’m working with six people on my current task. Three of them I think are quality employees and I enjoy working with them a lot. One of them is probably a good employee, but he seems more “politic”-y, and it annoys me. Someone has to make status charts for managers, and I guess I’m glad it isn’t me. Another one seems to lack the skills and understanding of the task, or she’s been busy with another project. I can’t tell which it is.
The one I’m working most closely with consistently drives me crazy. He seems nice (I think–I can’t tell with those quiet ones. Sometimes they are secretly not very nice.), but he’s done so many things that irritate me. One day he said that it became apparent that “his part” would include X, Y and Z functions, which was essentially the whole task (or all the interesting parts) leaving me with the crap work. (I insisted we stick to the original plan of splitting up the functionality because it wasn’t that hard to do.) He did his part slightly wrong, and I noticed it first and asked him to make a quick fix. I thought it would take an hour. He fixed it wrong, then sat puzzling about how to fix it properly until I told him exactly what to do. Also, he is always asking me so many questions! It isn’t that I am unwilling to answer them, but usually they aren’t anything I know anything about, or that he should expect me to know anything about. I’ve only worked on this task like 3 days longer than him, so it isn’t as though I’m some magical expert.
In a way it is good, because I am a bit of a control freak, and being marked (unofficially) as the lead gives me more control. I can make sure things are done to my standards without worrying about him. It is also annoying because he asks me questions and expects me to figure out the answers, when he has the same capability as I do. I am not senior. I am new to this task too.
So, if I only really enjoy working with half your team, are they the problem, or is it me?
I hope I get a chance to give his manager some sort of feedback about his work. At my last job, we got to fill out evaluations for some of our peers to help with the salary/performance review process, which I think is valuable. Of course, the only people I filled them out for were people I really liked, and the one guy that wasn’t very good at his job must not have put my name down as someone who worked with him closely. Even though I did, for several months. He was a real pain to work with, stating in a meeting that he was providing me with updates to the model to test when he hadn’t even talked to me in like 2 weeks. And he was supposed to test his on dang model. Loser.
Anyway, I probably won’t ever get to provide any feedback on this coworkers performance. It isn’t as though I can whine to managers that I don’t like working with him. Then I look like the difficult employee. It wouldn’t reflect well on me.
What do you think? How do you handle difficult coworkers?
This is probably old hat to long time Los Angeles residents, but T and I recently decided we’d start actually taking flyers from people who always were offering them to us in Santa Monica (and elsewhere, but we often stop by the farmer’s market on weekends) for free movie screenings. We’d always ignored them before, but why? Since I moved here, I’ve only been to one move (Sex and the City) because it is just too dang expensive.
It seems they are only weeknights, but the locations aren’t all that far (especially from T’s) and we might even get popcorn while we watch. Has anyone ever gone to one of these? Tonight, we are going to a screening of Will Ferrell’s upcoming movie, Step Brothers. I also have a flyer for a Thursday night showing of Mama Mia, but haven’t RSVP’ed. Free, except the ever increasing price of gas!
I want to explore the rest of the city a little bit, so I found these podcasts which I hope will guide us through downtown L.A. one of these weekends when the temperature is a little cooler. (I’m a podcast nerd.) This past weekend, it was so hot we just chilled at the beach/pool. I even went into the ocean, and the water felt comfortable! At the recommendation of a reader, I also plan to check out the Griffith Observatory in the near future, and I want to see the modern art area at the LACMA (pay what you wish after 5 pm). My rent may have close to tripped when I moved from the midwest to L.A., but this is a great place for twenty-something to have a great time (even if I don’t go out to the clubs much)!
P.S. – Thanks for the bra tips one post back! I’m totally clueless on that sort of thing, and I appreciate the suggestions. Macy’s it is (at least to start)!
This post will not help YOU find a quality strapless bra. Rather, I am wondering if you can help me find one! In the heat of the summer, I’ll be wearing more tank tops and need to get at least one new strapless bra. I’m willing to spend big bucks on this (big bucks meaning up to $50).
My current strapless bra (from Victoria’s Secret) worked well when it was new, but it has seen quite a bit of wear and how sometimes slips down. Not attractive or comfortable, and it is ready to go in the trash. Or at least be converted to a strap-only bra.
I’m scoping out this convertible bra from Victoria’s Secret, though I will probably go to the store to try it on. I think I know my size, but I always hear statistics saying that many women wear the wrong size.
Do you have any other recommendations?
My apartment doesn’t have air conditioning, so I’m sitting out on my balcony as I write this (Thursday night). It is still 77 degrees and it is 9:12 pm. Usually I don’t even miss A/C since I’m close enough to the ocean that it doesn’t get too hot. I got a report from my old apartment, summarizing my energy costs throughout the year. I spent roughly $30-$40 in the temperate months, and up to $80 in the cold of winter (slightly less in the summer). How much does an old box fan cost to run per and hour? Did you know that L.A. actually has a rather small carbon footprint for its population? This is mostly due to the temperate climate, not to any real efforts of the citizens.
Speaking of my balcony, I love it, even if it just has two camp chairs and an empty flower pot (maybe I should try a cactus). My hummingbird feed has been extremely popular in the last few weeks, since the near-by flowers on the sidewalk went out of bloom.
Speaking of heat, it is going to be 80 this weekend, even close to the coast. We were going to go for an easy hike, but I think a day at the beach is in order instead.
By the way, I had ice cream for dinner today. Yes, that is it. No, not a lot. I wasn’t hungry so I went straight on to desert. I had tuna salad on crackers plus a healthy serving of steamed (microwave) veggies for lunch, so the veggies are covering for the ice cream. So it is alright. Besides, it was absolutely FREE because I was a winner in Sugarlaws Häagen-Dazs giveaway, worth $3! (Sorry, it is over, but she does offer many nice recipes for free!)
That’s all for today. Since it is Friday, no serious topics will be covered today. 
I met up with a coworker, who we will call Kevin, from my former job this week.
“So what are you in town for? Vacation?”
“No… Sort of for work.”
I looked at his outfit (casual) and unshaven face, perplexed. My old company does have customers here, but I didn’t think he’d be here by himself. Certainly not by himself and without a razor! Apparently, since we’d last talked (January) he had quit his job at our old company, went to Europe for two weeks, traveled around the US a little, moved to the SF Bay area, and is in the process of founding his own start-up. Wow!
He semi-offered me a job, though he seems to be in the very early stages of the start-up. Some capital but probably not enough. A few people, but maybe not enough (he seemed to many good contacts, but few commitments). I couldn’t tell for certain if he was offering to hire me because we were meeting for a friendly lunch, of if he was offering it because he really wanted to invite me to be a part of it. I suppose you don’t just invite anyone if you don’t mean it. It sounds like he had a list of people he wanted to recruit, and I think I was on it, but maybe not in the top “must-have” section.
It is worth noting that Kevin is someone I really admire, both in business and as a person. He’s smart, he’s got a good “get things done” sort of attitude, and he works hard. He wasn’t my manager, but my manager basically pawned me off onto him, and a lot of my assignments were directed by Kevin. His idea is good, but the whole prospect frightens me. Higher risk, higher returns (or no returns…) He has the entrepreneurial spirit that I just don’t seem to posses, and it’s inspiring.
The whole thing sounds a little crazy, especially to someone like me. (If you can’t tell, I like security and stability.) Of course, I couldn’t quit my full-time corporate stint (could I?), but with all the layoffs around here, it is nice to have someone desiring my skills. He mentioned part-time, especially in this initial phase. Now that is something I may be able to get on board with. I could make some extra cash this summer and work on something interesting and rewarding. I don’t mean to get ahead of myself (only had a one hour conversation about it!), but it is an option worth considering. This would be a new step for me, both in personal finance and personal growth.
My initial thoughts:
- How many hours? Do I really want to make this kind of commitment? Start ups are intense (or so I hear) but fun.
- How much money, and how to go about negotiating? Start-ups really seem to be a different breed, one I’m not very familiar with.
- The ideas: I’m supposed to listen to a 1.5 hour webex pitch next week, and I’ll get a firm picture of what Kevin is proposing, his various ideas, what I think the viability of them is, how inspiring they are, and where I might fit in.
- The people: Who else is involved that I know (at least one from my last job), who is involved that I don’t know? How many people?
I am not going to go further than that with my analysis yet. A high percentage of start-ups fail (over 80%, maybe), and this is a very green idea and his first start-up attempt. A real analysis of how much capital is involved and the business plan would be in order if it was a choice of whether or not to quit and chase him. My exposure to that risk is lowered if I am doing this part time. Part time is still a huge time commitment though, and I wouldn’t want to get involved if I would disappoint someone I really respect. That would be the biggest risk at this point.
But the potential rewards? The (statistically) most likely scenario is that the business fails after some period of time, and I walk away with some amount of cash for my part time work, and life goes on. Another option is that the company is successful and I can be a gazillionaire due to stock options. Hehe, ok, probably not. Seriously though, another option is that the company is viable and I can work for someone I respect on something I enjoy, away from the reins of the big corporate companies. [Disclaimer: I like my company, and I respect my manager. The idea of working for Kevin just sounds nicer than my cubicle, but less practical.]
If anyone has done a lot of freelancing, consulting or worked at a start-up, please chime in with your experiences and thoughts!
P.S. – Sale on summer clothes at Banana Republic… I think I’m going to resist, though I have a $25 card so we’ll see.
Personal finance experts typically suggest having the big financial talk before marriage.
Having dated T for approaching 4 years (!), I think having a formal money pow-wow is completely unnecessary. I’m (obviously) all over my finances, and there aren’t secrets. He knows I have student loans (not the amount), he knows I have savings (not the amount), and he knows I prioritize retirement accounts above a cash build up (presumably, for a house). He also knows that while home ownership is not at all my dream right now, I’d be willing to compromise at a later date. He also knows roughly how I’m spending my money, because even if we don’t spend every day together, we certainly know the details of each others lives.
I know he has zero loans, a small Roth IRA, and some undetermined amount of savings. It could be $10k, it could be $5k, it could be $20k. I have no idea, but it doesn’t really matter to me. I know how he spends his money (carefully) and neither of us have credit card debt.
Why not the amounts? I’m not quite sure, but I originally refused to say the number because of his mom! She (naively) once said not to marry someone with student loans. I don’t know where that old-school thought came from. I do ” understand “don’t marry someone in a financial mess”, but paying off my student loans simply is not the best thing for me to be focusing my money on. Of course, T can see the bigger picture. He can recognize that, even strictly financially, what I’d bring to our life together is much more than student loans. And beyond the finances, I’m invaluable. Right?
My student loans will never be a burden on us, nor am I going to change how I feel about him based on the exact amount in his bank. It’s something, and that is nice to know, but it doesn’t matter.
More than the amounts and various balances, the important thing is that I know his character and he knows mine. We have similar priorities and values when it comes to both money and life. We are both savers, but we believe in splurging in the same categories. Money may be the number one cause of fights (and divorce), but I think that is because most (non-pf bloggers) aren’t smart about money. We aren’t a statistic.
My thought isn’t “don’t talk about money before marriage” but rather, “I don’t plan on having an official money talk.” We have talked about various money topics as they come up, and it has always worked fine for us. In the case that money is rarely discussed, of secret debts (or secret assets), “the money talk” makes more sense.
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