Wow, I'm a terrible blogger. You guys must wonder where I go for days at a time. Mostly I just get distracted with other things - usually tv, of course. Most shows are back on after the looooong writers' strike induced hiatus
I've also been looking for a new place to live. One of my current roommates is moving out, and I don't really want to live with the one who's staying, so I'm apartment shopping. I've been looking on Craigslist for another roommate situation, and I've found a couple possibilities, but nothing that sounds like the perfect situation. I want to find something close to work, with nice, quiet roommates. I'd also like to have a good sized room and my own bathroom, but those things are more negotiable. The biggest obstacle is that the closer I get to where I work, the more expensive things tend to be. I don't have a set date that I have to move though, so I'll just keep looking till I find the right situation.
I'm also dealing with a malfunctioning laptop right now, which is not fun at all. The only copy of my budget is on that laptop, so I'm kind of freaking out because I can't get it to start up. I'm going to try again tonight. Hopefully I can at least get it to start in safe mode so I can get some of the files off it. As soon as I figure all of that out, I'll do a networth update.
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Monday, May 5, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Moment I Realized I'm Smarter Than My Parents
Just when I think my parents are starting to get it, they go and do something monumentally stupid. Yesterday my dad told me that they'd just put in an air conditioner for $16,000, courtesy of a loan from the electric company. He was so excited to tell me all about their "great" interest rate.
You know what a "great" interest rate is, Dad? ZERO.
That's what I should have said. Unfortunately I'm only quippy after twelve hours of thinking about it. I did tell him that the definition of "not being able to afford it" was that you couldn't pay cash for it. He said, "Oh, I see," in a condescending tone that told me if he'd been standing next to me he would have patted me on the head.
The stupidest part of the whole thing is that they probably won't hardly use the thing. They live in the Seattle area. No one there needs an air conditioner. They've lived in the same house for over 20 years, and they never needed an air conditioner before. What kind of logic suggests that they would need one now, and need it so badly that they had to get a $16,000 loan to get it? It defies the imagination.
That puts their debt up in the neighborhood of $50,000, not counting the stuff they've co-signed for me and my sisters or the mortgages on their house and rental property. They're just completely in love with debt. I so SO do not understand it, and I'm to the point now where I think they may never learn.
The thing that really grates on me about this is that I've been sending them money by the truckload lately, and they're just taking it and throwing it down the drain at payments for crap they don't need. I know I owe them the money - it was never really mine to begin with, and they can do what they want with it - but it frustrates me to no end to know that I'm sending thousands of dollars to people who are going to piss it away. The next thing I know they'll decide that they "need" new car smell in their life.
Good thing Battlestar Galactica is on tonight. I need something to distract me.
You know what a "great" interest rate is, Dad? ZERO.
That's what I should have said. Unfortunately I'm only quippy after twelve hours of thinking about it. I did tell him that the definition of "not being able to afford it" was that you couldn't pay cash for it. He said, "Oh, I see," in a condescending tone that told me if he'd been standing next to me he would have patted me on the head.
The stupidest part of the whole thing is that they probably won't hardly use the thing. They live in the Seattle area. No one there needs an air conditioner. They've lived in the same house for over 20 years, and they never needed an air conditioner before. What kind of logic suggests that they would need one now, and need it so badly that they had to get a $16,000 loan to get it? It defies the imagination.
That puts their debt up in the neighborhood of $50,000, not counting the stuff they've co-signed for me and my sisters or the mortgages on their house and rental property. They're just completely in love with debt. I so SO do not understand it, and I'm to the point now where I think they may never learn.
The thing that really grates on me about this is that I've been sending them money by the truckload lately, and they're just taking it and throwing it down the drain at payments for crap they don't need. I know I owe them the money - it was never really mine to begin with, and they can do what they want with it - but it frustrates me to no end to know that I'm sending thousands of dollars to people who are going to piss it away. The next thing I know they'll decide that they "need" new car smell in their life.
Good thing Battlestar Galactica is on tonight. I need something to distract me.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Preparing for a Move
I've been considering a job move for the past few months, and I've been trying to plan for it financially so that I don't create any new debt associated with the move. The absolute last thing I need is new debt.
With the job move will most likely come an apartment move. I currently live and work in Orange County, but I'd like to be in LA, so I've been searching for jobs there.
There are tons of ways this could/will affect me financially. First, there's the normal costs of moving, like renting a moving truck and buying things my current roommates have that I don't (like a vacuum cleaner). Plus I'll need a deposit for an apartment; I should get most/all my deposit on my current apartment back, but I may not get it until after I have to pay for the new apartment. Also, I plan on renting a 2BR apartment and finding a roommate, which means I may have to front the whole rent for the first month or two. Finally, I could potentially be with out a paycheck for a few weeks, depending on how the pay schedule works at the new job compared to my current job.
In order to offset some of these costs, I've been beefing up my emergency fund. Instead of the normal $1000, I've got it up to $2400. When I combine that with the $555 I currently pay in rent, and the ~$400 snowball I have from my income each month, I have almost $3400 to cover me until I find a roommate and get my current deposit back. That feels a little too close for comfort, and it really makes me wish I had a fully funded emergency fund, but barring any major disasters, I should be okay.
Thinking about all of this makes me wonder what the heck I was thinking the last time I moved. I packed my car and drove all of my belongings from Seattle to Orange County, without much thought about what I was getting myself into financially. It seems crazy to me now, and I probably racked up some debt in the process, but looking back I'm glad I did it. Like a lot of very expensive things in my life, I'm glad I did it, I just wish I'd done it a little differently.
Anyway, I'll keep updating as I make progress on the job front and the apartment front. :)
With the job move will most likely come an apartment move. I currently live and work in Orange County, but I'd like to be in LA, so I've been searching for jobs there.
There are tons of ways this could/will affect me financially. First, there's the normal costs of moving, like renting a moving truck and buying things my current roommates have that I don't (like a vacuum cleaner). Plus I'll need a deposit for an apartment; I should get most/all my deposit on my current apartment back, but I may not get it until after I have to pay for the new apartment. Also, I plan on renting a 2BR apartment and finding a roommate, which means I may have to front the whole rent for the first month or two. Finally, I could potentially be with out a paycheck for a few weeks, depending on how the pay schedule works at the new job compared to my current job.
In order to offset some of these costs, I've been beefing up my emergency fund. Instead of the normal $1000, I've got it up to $2400. When I combine that with the $555 I currently pay in rent, and the ~$400 snowball I have from my income each month, I have almost $3400 to cover me until I find a roommate and get my current deposit back. That feels a little too close for comfort, and it really makes me wish I had a fully funded emergency fund, but barring any major disasters, I should be okay.
Thinking about all of this makes me wonder what the heck I was thinking the last time I moved. I packed my car and drove all of my belongings from Seattle to Orange County, without much thought about what I was getting myself into financially. It seems crazy to me now, and I probably racked up some debt in the process, but looking back I'm glad I did it. Like a lot of very expensive things in my life, I'm glad I did it, I just wish I'd done it a little differently.
Anyway, I'll keep updating as I make progress on the job front and the apartment front. :)
Monday, March 24, 2008
Tire Crisis Averted
Last Wednesday morning I went out to my car to drive to work and saw that my driver's side rear tire was flat. All I could think was: Crap. That sucks.
I was a little freaked out about the financial implications - I thought I would have to buy a new tire, and I thought I remembered that you can't buy just one new tire because it will make the car unbalanced or something, so I thought I'd have to buy two or four tires. I was trying to figure out where to go to research tires while mentally draining my emergency fund by hundreds of dollars, but I was also trying not to worry about all of that too much yet, so I just got to work putting on the spare.
When I tried to loosen the lug nuts, however, I couldn't. Like, really really could not. At all. I put all my weight on the lug wrench, pushed and pulled in every way I could think of, and none of the lug nuts would budge.
Apparently I am a weakling.
I called my roommate to see if her boyfriend could come over and help me out. She couldn't get a hold of him, so that was not an option at the moment.
The next thing I thought of was to call a tire place and see if I could sweet talk them into sending someone over to help me. Since I thought I'd probably have to get new tires (the thought of repairing the flat one didn't occur to me), I hoped they might help a damsel in distress if they were getting some business out of it.
The first place I called was half helpful. The guy suggested calling a tow truck (which was not helpful because I didn't want to spend the money if I didn't have to), but he also suggested that the tire might be able to be fixed without buying a new one (which was very helpful because I didn't want to spend the money if I didn't have to).
The second place I called was actually where I'd just gotten my oil changed the day before. I'm not sure why I didn't think to call them first, but they were EXTREMELY helpful. They're a small independent shop about six blocks from where I live. They sent a guy over to my house, he put the spare on, I drove to their shop, and they fixed it for me and only charged me $20 for the whole shebang. Wahoo!
Crisis averted.
I was a little freaked out about the financial implications - I thought I would have to buy a new tire, and I thought I remembered that you can't buy just one new tire because it will make the car unbalanced or something, so I thought I'd have to buy two or four tires. I was trying to figure out where to go to research tires while mentally draining my emergency fund by hundreds of dollars, but I was also trying not to worry about all of that too much yet, so I just got to work putting on the spare.
When I tried to loosen the lug nuts, however, I couldn't. Like, really really could not. At all. I put all my weight on the lug wrench, pushed and pulled in every way I could think of, and none of the lug nuts would budge.
Apparently I am a weakling.
I called my roommate to see if her boyfriend could come over and help me out. She couldn't get a hold of him, so that was not an option at the moment.
The next thing I thought of was to call a tire place and see if I could sweet talk them into sending someone over to help me. Since I thought I'd probably have to get new tires (the thought of repairing the flat one didn't occur to me), I hoped they might help a damsel in distress if they were getting some business out of it.
The first place I called was half helpful. The guy suggested calling a tow truck (which was not helpful because I didn't want to spend the money if I didn't have to), but he also suggested that the tire might be able to be fixed without buying a new one (which was very helpful because I didn't want to spend the money if I didn't have to).
The second place I called was actually where I'd just gotten my oil changed the day before. I'm not sure why I didn't think to call them first, but they were EXTREMELY helpful. They're a small independent shop about six blocks from where I live. They sent a guy over to my house, he put the spare on, I drove to their shop, and they fixed it for me and only charged me $20 for the whole shebang. Wahoo!
Crisis averted.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
My Emergency Fund Is About to Come in Very Handy
When I got home from work yesterday, I pushed the button to turn on my computer and then...
Nothing happened.
Literally, nothing happened. Complete silence. No lights or sounds whatsoever.
After checking the stupid things (the computer was plugged in, other things plugged into that outlet were working, etc), I started to panic. Just about then, my roommate came home and said that her computer had done the same thing a couple of months ago, but since she had her laptop she hadn't worried about fixing it yet.
One phone call to a computer geek friend later and we found out that a series of fluctuations in power had caused damage to our computers' power supplies. Basically every time the fridge turned on or the vacuum cleaner was run, it fried the computer a little bit at a time. The cost to fix it should be about $30-50, unless the motherboard was also damaged, which I think would be another $80.
I'm pretty attached to my computer, so this is stressful for me, but I'm trying not to think about it too much and just be really thankful for my emergency fund.
Nothing happened.
Literally, nothing happened. Complete silence. No lights or sounds whatsoever.
After checking the stupid things (the computer was plugged in, other things plugged into that outlet were working, etc), I started to panic. Just about then, my roommate came home and said that her computer had done the same thing a couple of months ago, but since she had her laptop she hadn't worried about fixing it yet.
One phone call to a computer geek friend later and we found out that a series of fluctuations in power had caused damage to our computers' power supplies. Basically every time the fridge turned on or the vacuum cleaner was run, it fried the computer a little bit at a time. The cost to fix it should be about $30-50, unless the motherboard was also damaged, which I think would be another $80.
I'm pretty attached to my computer, so this is stressful for me, but I'm trying not to think about it too much and just be really thankful for my emergency fund.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Parents and Finances: What Do I Say?
I mentioned last week that I had a frustrating financial conversation with my mom over the holiday weekend.
A little background:
My parents have always been okay with money. They make about $75k a year between them, they have no car payments, their mortgage is only about $850 a month (with 8ish years left), and they have enough saved for retirement, but they have $35k on a HELOC. After listening to me ramble about personal finance like it was going out of style, a couple months ago my mom asked me to show her how my budget worked and how to set one up for herself. The first thing I did was ask her to think about what was important to her and what goals she wanted to set, but she sort of dismissed the idea and just wanted to do the budget. I walked her through the rest of the process and I've been giving her advice little by little (when asked) ever since.
Then this weekend she asked me about her savings accounts at credit unions. She has two savings accounts at two different credit unions, but doesn't use or need them for anything specific. She puts $25 a month in each of them to keep them active so that if they have an emergency and need to buy a new car, they can get a good rate from the credit union.
Basically she wanted to know if $25 was a good number to put in there, but there were so many things wrong with the whole scenario, I hardly knew where to start. All I could think was, EMERGENCY THAT WOULD FORCE YOU TO BUY A BRAND NEW CAR ON SHORT NOTICE????? Are you kidding me??
Of course I didn't say that. I tried to be polite and tactful about pointing out that she not only didn't need to buy a brand new car, but that she also didn't need to get a loan for one, and that there was no emergency that would FORCE her to do this, but the conversation quickly devolved into pointless arguing. Mom said that "at their age" they would never buy a used car again, and I said that the entire point of any of this was to not go into debt. I told her I couldn't understand what kind of emergency she was even talking about. She said a car accident. I said that's what insurance is for. She said they won't pay enough to cover a new car. I said they don't need a new car, and the argument went in circles from there.
I don't know if I'm not explaining things right or if she's not listening to me, but somehow the message is not getting across. I kept obsessing about this conversation for the next few days, trying to figure out what to say to her.
In the end I think the root of the problem is priorities. She and my dad have not sat down and figured out what their financial priorities are. They say they want to retire early, remodel their house, and buy a new car or two, but they already have $35k in debt. At the rate they're paying it off, they'll finish the same year they want to retire, and that's without buying any new cars or remodeling the house. If they do everything they're talking about but don't give up anything else to do it, they're on pace to be in debt when they retire, and I can't figure out how to get them to see that.
It's very frustrating to have them ask for my advice and then not take it. I know that I can't make them change their behavior, and that they're predisposed not to listen to financial advice from their daughter, but I don't want to give up trying to help them. I'm going to visit again for Christmas in a couple weeks, and I'm sure personal finance will come up in a conversation at some point. I want to say something that will spark a realization, but I don't know what that is. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
A little background:
My parents have always been okay with money. They make about $75k a year between them, they have no car payments, their mortgage is only about $850 a month (with 8ish years left), and they have enough saved for retirement, but they have $35k on a HELOC. After listening to me ramble about personal finance like it was going out of style, a couple months ago my mom asked me to show her how my budget worked and how to set one up for herself. The first thing I did was ask her to think about what was important to her and what goals she wanted to set, but she sort of dismissed the idea and just wanted to do the budget. I walked her through the rest of the process and I've been giving her advice little by little (when asked) ever since.
Then this weekend she asked me about her savings accounts at credit unions. She has two savings accounts at two different credit unions, but doesn't use or need them for anything specific. She puts $25 a month in each of them to keep them active so that if they have an emergency and need to buy a new car, they can get a good rate from the credit union.
Basically she wanted to know if $25 was a good number to put in there, but there were so many things wrong with the whole scenario, I hardly knew where to start. All I could think was, EMERGENCY THAT WOULD FORCE YOU TO BUY A BRAND NEW CAR ON SHORT NOTICE????? Are you kidding me??
Of course I didn't say that. I tried to be polite and tactful about pointing out that she not only didn't need to buy a brand new car, but that she also didn't need to get a loan for one, and that there was no emergency that would FORCE her to do this, but the conversation quickly devolved into pointless arguing. Mom said that "at their age" they would never buy a used car again, and I said that the entire point of any of this was to not go into debt. I told her I couldn't understand what kind of emergency she was even talking about. She said a car accident. I said that's what insurance is for. She said they won't pay enough to cover a new car. I said they don't need a new car, and the argument went in circles from there.
I don't know if I'm not explaining things right or if she's not listening to me, but somehow the message is not getting across. I kept obsessing about this conversation for the next few days, trying to figure out what to say to her.
In the end I think the root of the problem is priorities. She and my dad have not sat down and figured out what their financial priorities are. They say they want to retire early, remodel their house, and buy a new car or two, but they already have $35k in debt. At the rate they're paying it off, they'll finish the same year they want to retire, and that's without buying any new cars or remodeling the house. If they do everything they're talking about but don't give up anything else to do it, they're on pace to be in debt when they retire, and I can't figure out how to get them to see that.
It's very frustrating to have them ask for my advice and then not take it. I know that I can't make them change their behavior, and that they're predisposed not to listen to financial advice from their daughter, but I don't want to give up trying to help them. I'm going to visit again for Christmas in a couple weeks, and I'm sure personal finance will come up in a conversation at some point. I want to say something that will spark a realization, but I don't know what that is. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Stress Relief Tip: Get Your Finances on Auto-Pilot
The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me, so I went about ten days without looking at my finances. This is the longest I’ve gone without looking (and adjusting and obsessing) since my financial revolution. During those ten days, I kept thinking that I needed to look at my budget and my online bank balance to make sure that all of the bills were getting paid and that nothing odd was going on.
I was sure I’d have some sort of mess to clean up. I wasn’t even sure what that mess would be – maybe some bill was late (or close to it), or maybe there’d be a transaction error in my bank account. The thought was stressing me out more and more as the days went on, but I just didn’t have a second to sit down and take care of things.
When I finally got a chance to look, it turned out that there was really nothing for me to do. All of my bills are on auto pilot, so everything had been taking care of itself. All I did was check off a couple bills that had been paid and enter a grocery receipt. That was it!
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