Anybody else see this article? Or have to deal with a toxically gross office refeer? Its the one downfall with being frugal. And the personal refrigerator? We already have it...reader, meet the cooler.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38280769/ns/business-bloomberg_b...

I'm thankful that during the summer, we only have 7 people on our floor; this year a couple of people are on vacation, one on a PTO day. I appeared to be the only person to use the floor fridge today. Thank you, jeebus! And my typical lunch/snack these days is brown rice, tofu, hot sauce, along with 2 pieces of string cheese individually wrapped.

And for laughs I posted this article on our refeer. Come October, it might not be so funny.

Found money
6/21/10 - $0.01 (sidewalk)
6/22/10 - $0.02 (road, floor)
6/23/10 - $0.33 (car wash concrete pad, Safeway floor)
6/24/10 - $0.24 (road, parking meters, planting strip)
6/25/10 - $0.12 (curb, Safeway floor)

Broke $48 in found money today. I started this tracking and more seriously finding money on 7/14 last year, so I have 19 days to "find" $1.98 if I want to hit $50 for the year. Quite doable.
$48.02: 1,067 pennies, 42 nickels, 176 dimes, 42 quarters, 2 $1 bills, 1 $5 bill, 1 10 pence coin worth 15 cents.

This and that are happening. I planted sugar peas (var. Alderman) against the south wall under my kitchen window. The packet claimed the peas will grow 6-8 feet. They certainly did that! I see them growing above my kitchen window. It looks restful, rather than scary. Pea pods are developing and we should be eating in a day or two.

The Milwaukee Film Fest has still not cashed my check - been a couple of weeks. Wonder what's up.

Thursday, I deposited $45 from my tip box this month, giving me over $1100 in immediate savings. I probably will be using most of it next month to keep my credit card paid off. The weekend cow trip was inexpensive - $75 for 2 days of minivan and gas, $60 hotel room first night, and $40 for several meals on the road - but will expand my credit card bill a bit.

Work has slowed a bit, but the gossip is passing through. One of the VPs (whom I'm not fond off) was pushed to resign. The VP himself had "let go" his admin last year, who didn't like him either. The admin got picked up by HR as a spare worker. She worked with us for awhile, and worked in other departments. She and I shared an elevator today and I mentioned (I thought slyly) "good that you survive your enemies." She laughed and told me that many, many of my co workers expressed the same sentiment.

After this round of performance evaluations, HR told us that the plan was for a 2% pay raise, but that they are holding it off implementing them until October in case the medical premiums shoot up. Right now, I'm thinking that employment is like a game of musical chairs. The music stopped; if you are in a seat, its all good.

Was at 167.4 before cow trip. I went up to 169, and am back down a bit at 168.4. I was tempted and ate a bit more than I hoped these last weeks, so only being up a pound is a win.

Excited about the Greenwood Car Show tomorrow!

Its been a week. Apologies! So let's see...

Film. Sister enjoyed my tale of the film and said, "hey, submit it to the Milwaukee Film Fest in the fall". So we did - at least screenwriter friend applied, slipped the DVD in, and I paid the submission fee. $50. We also applied to Chicago, which is happening a couple weeks later. Since the film was made by a student, student fee was also $50. Chicago, though, suggested an additional $2.50 as "protection". I used to live in Chicago; "protection" made me laugh. Oh well, if dead men can vote in Chicago, they probably can make movies too.

Beef. We are going to "visit" the beef that we bought. Since our little consortium put a down payment on a whole cow, we can pick the animal. I plan on pictures, although I'd rather pick the steer that looks like it might be involved in a tractor jacking, if you know what I mean.

Work. Performance evaluations are done! Now its the final push for the end of fiscal year pledges. Instead of a bus pass, we are going to get work Orca cards. A bit more pricey a month, but much more flexible - it will work with 4 different transit systems. And because it does that, the card

stores when and where it was used. And it because it does that, a co worker asked the basic question of HR - Are you going to monitor our trips? We got a confused answer.

Printer. I have been printing all the Paris photos out on the $20 HP printer I bought at the Greenwood yard sale. I got medium-end (not highest, not lowest) HP paper. Works great! But so far its $15 for 100 sheets, and I ran out of ink - $45 cartridge which should last for 500 pictures. Yikes! I have to console myself by breaking it down.

(15$/100) + (45$/500) = 15 cents for paper + 9 cents for ink. 24 cents per picture. That makes me feel better.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot. I had some good luck finding money over the last week.
$45.93: 1,018 pennies, 41 nickels, 163 dimes, 41 quarters, 2 $1 bills, 1 $5 bill, 1 10 pence coin worth 15 cents.

Tuesday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.06 (sidewalks, road)

Wednesday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $1 matches
Found money - $0.21 (sidewalk, bus stop, Safeway floor)

Thursday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $15 groceries
Found money - $0.13 (coffee shop floor, sidewalks)

$32.84: 814 pennies, 31 nickels, 135 dimes, 30 quarters, 2 $1 bills, (1) 10 pence coin worth 15 cents.

Attended an in-house supervisor's training, mostly to review new HR policies. One problem with working for one company for 10 years is that, really, you get the policy manual straight away, read it for a little bit your first week, then put it away. Time to think about printing out a fresh copy every five years or so.

Anyway, one of the big changes in hiring was that the new staff will undergo a credit check from HR. Mostly for accounting and operations, they figure the sales team, not so much. A bit of a chuckle here, the fundraising staff (the non-profit version of sales)...well, they fundraise. They might not handle money super routinely, but they certainly have been known to bring big checks to the office.

And HR is looking for 'below standard' credit histories. Whatever that means. They weren't particularly clear about what they are looking for - and I think they are they are trying to figure it out themselves.

Thursday
Saving log - $0 tip box + $1725 tax refund, dividend check
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $10 lunch
Found money - $0.12 (parking meter, road)

Friday
Saving log - $7 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.36 (parking meter, sidewalk, road)

Almost at $32...
$31.96: 791 pennies, 30 nickels, 129 dimes, 30 quarters, 2 $1 bills, a 10 pence coin worth 15 cents.

How rainy and stormy was it today? So rainy and stormy that the mayor rode up to the bus stop on his bike and took the 355. He nodded at me as he rode up; I nodded back.

I figured that I would be late for a training, but if I got commented upon, I could always say that the mayor was late too.

Heard from the production company (the one with the Emmys) that the HDef transfer was ready, and I pick it up Monday morning.

Only gossip in the financial issues today. Rumor has it that one WA bank is in such bad shape that unless they get a buyer by mid-April, they will be taken over. I have to say that at least rumors imply that there are some cracks in the fiscal omerta. But the lovely

gossip about this bank is that the bank president resigned because he was not allowed to take a spring break vacation. You know, dude, if you fail in getting a buyer for your bank you will be taking a spring break, and a summer break, and a fall break. I expect that since he's a fat cat he will land on his feet (they always do). Who can hope for a 1yr or 2yr break in employment...after all, he's probably considered "talent". Methinks its the opening shots to a lawsuit and scheudenfruede-tainment for years to come.

Interesting timing with this bank and work. We received a corporate gift check and a letter from this bank. Felt a little queasy about cashing it ... the bank employees might need the money more than we would.

Thursday
Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $11 groceries
Found money - $0

Wednesday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.03 (road, sidewalk, parking meter)

Tuesday
Saving log - $12 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.03 (road, sidewalk)

3/11 - no car, 2 mi walk, 13.5 mi bus
3/10 - no car, 3 mi walk, 12.5 mi bus
3/9 - no car, 3 mi walk, 12.5 mi bus

Finding pennies, but I haven't been looking all that hard. I'm still not 100% after Saturday. Maybe by the weekend I'll pick up my ambitions. However, I'm finally under 170. 168.8 as a matter of fact. I owe it to the food poisoning diet plan.

$28.45: 724 pennies, 27 nickels, 143 dimes, 29 quarters, $1 bill, 1 10 pence worth 15 cents.

Haven't been writing much because not a lot has been happening fiscally. Why rack my brain trying to figure out the creative way of saying nothing's happening?

But today a couple of fiscally, recession-y things did happen. First off, I'll remind you that I work to book pledges and data to my non-profit, our large local node of a national system (ends in -Way). In the course of my job I asked one WA-state bank (bank #1), who took over another WA-state bank which had been closed by the FDIC (bank #2), about whether we can expect data from bank #2. Nope, I learned. The FDIC canceled the pledges as part of shutting the bank down. Makes sense once you learn it, but very interesting nonetheless when we have a fair number of WA-state bank pledges and WA state banks are in such shaky shape.

Then in the mail tonight I got a pleady note from Chase about Debit Card Overdraft Coverage. "Soon we can no longer provide this coverage automatically" and "your everyday debit card transactions will be denied" if you do not have enough money available to cover a purchase.

Hahhahahahahahahaahaahahaaha. (stop to gasp.) Wow, what a threat. I've bounced one transaction in 5 years. Stupid $35 overdraft fee protection is a bug, not a feature.

Monday
Saving log - $1700 tax refund
Spending log - $0 coffee (free)
Found money - $0.03 (sidewalks, bus stop)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $7 apple, magazine
Found money - $0.01 (sidewalk crack)

Saturday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $0
Found money - $0

3/6 - no car, no walk, no bus
3/7 - 1 mi car, 4.5 mi walk, 3 mi bus
3/8 - no car, 2.5 mi walk, 14 mi bus

Last few days, I've been a feeling like karma has been dancing around my head like Will Farrell in a too tight hideous 70s knit. Like

this.

Saturday:
Good - sunniest, warmiest weather of the year so far. Bad - laid up all day with a case of self induced food poisoning. The day before I packed my lunch with the last of a bean stew. Quit when you are penultimate. Nothing ucky - just shivery, achy, and sleepy. Slept all but 6 hours that day.

Sunday:
Good - Enjoyed the Oscars, got a lot of ideas for refreshing the Netflix queue. Bad - not enough bad dresses. I'll have to make do with Quentin Tarentino's girlfriends' pink pjyama black boa fetish number or Charlize Theron's cinnabon bustier.

Monday:
Good - Filed my taxes. Am getting a refund! Bad - late for work, meeting meeting meeting, big set of errors hitting the fan at around 4 pm today.

Clank clank clank.

Friday
Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $18 groceries
Found money - $0.11 (Safeway floor)

Thursday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $10 lunch
Found money - $0.02 (2 different parking meters)

Carless challenge:
3/4 - no car, commuted by bus 12.5 miles, walked 3 miles
3/5 - no car, commuted by bus 13.5* miles, walked 1 mile
*the reason why my commute is so variable is that I often get off the bus 1.25 - 1.5 miles from my stop, then walk home. Longer commutes mean I didn't walk. .

Work eased up a bit in the last two days - a lunch with friends helped, and so did the fact that I could really buckle down and get done what I really wanted to get done. Yay.

I discovered, upon looking at a photo of the

writer who is behind "Ask an Uptight Seattleite", that I know him. Matter of fact, he is my bus marker for the 8:35 number 5. So he, along with the current mayor, lives within 4-5 blocks of me. Will it get me a sidewalk? Probably not.

Final observation, this time fiscal: I bought tuna on a good deal - 10 6 oz cans for $5. I walked down the pet food aisle to checkout and noticed the price of Fancy Feast - 10 3 oz cans for $6.50. Fancy feast, indeed.

Wednesday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.04 (parking meter, parking lot)

Tuesday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $20 groceries
Found money - $0.25 (sidewalk, road, grass, Safeway checkout)

Monday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee +
Found money - $0.38 (parking meter, sidewalk, bus seat)

DH asked me how my day went, and I said:
"If I had a gun, I'd be on CNN right now."

Yikes, he said.

This is the month that I'm the busiest - each of my four tasks I'm charged with reaches a peak. If I'm to decide about one more $100 issue, you are really going to read about me on CNN. Time to send the email to not bother with the "quick question", or even the not so quick question. They might sound quick, but you've just knocked me out of my concentration for a good 20 minutes. Rinse and repeat, and the day is shot.

And the worst part? No one on my death bet list has died yet. Then again, I don't think anyone's has. I've come within two degrees, and I thought for a second DH had Haig, but nope.

I'm doing the carless challenge, but since I'm already carless, I'm counting trips that I take with DH, the amount of bus I use and the distance I walk. So,

3/1 - no car used, used the bus 13 mi, walked 2 miles.
3/2 - no car used, used the bus 12.5 mi, walked 2.5 miles
3/3 - no car used, used the bus 13 mi, walked 2.5 miles

And finally, $28.16: 711 pennies, 27 nickels, 112 dimes, 29 quarters, $1 bill, 1 10 pence coin worth 15 cents.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $0
Found money - $0.24 (bus stop, sidewalks, gutter, elevator floor)

At the all staff meeting this morning HR presented the benefits survey - who likes what and how much. HR was a bit surprised that the 403B was less popular than the dental plan. And a couple of people commented that they needed "more choices".

I rarely see eye to eye with HR. I'm not that surprised that the 403B slipped in popularity - I don't remember when I took the survey, but if your scared spitless about opening the envelope because you figured you lost a bundle, and you're frightened the match would disappear, you'd be inclined to think the 403B was less of a benefit.

However, I really don't know about the more choices. I get the feeling that if we had all the choice in the world it would hardly matter.

What I really see is a bunch of people signing up for 403B, saving money diligently, but with no knowledge, no advice, no training on what you can do on the website, no discussion of how to create and manage a portfolio, and no tips. I show my co workers a thing or two of what I learned, and they are amazed. All the choice in the world won't replace a spot of financial planning.

Wednesday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $8 lunch
Found money - $0.02 (sidewalk, Safeway floor)

Tuesday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $9 cat toy
Found money - $0.10 (gym counter)

Yesterday I broke an exciting barrier. My current workplace 403B (non-profit version of the 401K) broke six figures. Its still fragile, ready to be knocked down to five figures at the slightest dip in the stock market, but its a cause to celebrate tonight.

Also confirmed in my Vanguard that my 2010 Roth has been set up.

Last Saturday, V.I.'s favorite toy got eaten by the vacuum cleaner, so I got her a new one. Its a cat dancer, with a fresh toy mouse. Within 3 minutes, new mouse got de-tailed.

Monday
Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $9 yogurt/trail mix for desserts
Found money - $0.45 (sidewalk, under bus seat, parking meter, Safeway floor, vending machine)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel + $0.75 apple
Found money - $0.10 (sidewalks, road)

Well its 2010. Anybody else get a creepy feeling as a 2010 date popped into the news, work databases and what not? Like I should be on Saturn while perusing the calendar. Of course it should be 2010! And I'm posting from a cold, rainy, dark, dreary, boggy, foggy place...maybe I'm on Saturn. It sure feels like it. The Saturnians around here are practically throwing dimes and pennies on the streets today.

Was successful at all the small stuff today - fixed a database just using compact and repair; checked Vanguard to make sure that the 2010 Roth is going to be funded sometime this week; more 2010 tax 1099s arrived in the mail today.

Bigger wheels are turning - there is enough interest on many, many fronts for a beef fest year 2. Only this time instead of buying 100 lbs (1/4 cow), its 400 lbs (full cow). We are still eating the 40 lbs - just finished the beef ribs (fantastic) - so unless the purchase can go in the summer or fall, I don't think I'm in for the full 40 lbs. But I suspect that I inspired, by my buying and storing 40 lbs of beef in my top freezer, others to think that they can also buy and use 40 lbs. For certain, it will be a lot easier to deal with 10 households who want to buy a lot than 20 households who want to buy some. We'll see what the timing issues are, how many other people we can get in on the deal.

Tuesday
Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.03 (sidewalks)

Monday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $12 lunch
Found money - $0

Well, the 38th day in a row finding found money was not to be. I found nothing yesterday, but got back on the horse and found three pennies today.

Abandoned most of the frugal principals yesterday. I was going to decline a lunch screenwriter friend and lawyer friend's partner, but I sniffed the lunch that I had in the work fridge - it turned, and I thought, "a bought lunch with friends would be money well spent."

Work is picking up - I expect that it will be hopping by Thursday the 31st. This year is shaping up to be a strange one: more antsiness about making sure that the credit card is charged by the 31st than in previous years. Also, we are seeing a rise in bad credit cards again, as in 2007.

DH joined our death bet.

Tuesday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $11 last Christmas gift
Found money - $0.13 (road, sidewalk, bottom of puddle)

Monday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $0
Found money - $0.04 (under bus seat, sidewalk)

Did a frugal reconnaissance mission this last Sunday afternoon: I rode the

light rail all the way to SeaTac. (I have a bus pass that includes the light rail) The ride took about 40 minutes in relative comfort, it ended up one escalator ride and about 200 feet from the spiral parking lot. Everything was reasonably well marked and delinated - the sidewalk was covered from the elements (a bit breezy), continued along the outer edge of the spiral parking lot, skirted past the elevators of the parking lot, hooked up to the mezzanine - up 1/2 flight to the United Air counter, down 1/2 flight to baggage. It was a little 1/4 mi walk on concrete w/no people mover belts, so I'd pack light and be prepared, but frankly its a two minute walk further than the far edge of the spiral parking lot. Definitely something to keep in mind if I coming in.

I also walked back and checked out where to go away from SeaTac - turns out that the light rail station is over Tukwila International Blvd where the hotels are - one covered crosswalk away.

The potluck and white elephant sale happened at work yesterday. It was great because most everyone brought their potluck "A" game. My pumpkin ginger raisin turnovers v.2 disappeared entirely. Interesting gift was unwrapped at the white elephant sale: vinyl records! Had to steal that as a Christmas gift for DJ friend. DJ friend and I flipped through the records - Bee Gees, Diana Ross, Chuck Magione, CCR. DJ friend is in the process of picking up re-mastering skills as the first step to using the records for remixing, so he's planning on re-mastering the vinyl for practice. Wonder who gave away the vinyl?

Thursday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $20 buy-in to the death bet + $20 shipping sister's Christmas gift
Found money - $0.24 (parking meters, sidewalk, bus floor)

Wednesday
Saving log - $2 tip box (replaced the 20$, BTW) + $50 Drp
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $110 Christmas gifts
Found money - $0.08 (sidewalk, parking lot, under Coinstar machine)

Nearly finished with Christmas shopping - two more small gifts and I'm done. We had the work holiday lunch and the half day afterward; the lunch itself was very low key, nothing too fancy, no alcohol, only a moderate amount of rah rah. I won a little something in the drawing - a free Sunday brunch for 2, including 2 mimosas.

Coin rescue is proceeding apace: $13.50, 320 pennies, 13 nickels, 59 dimes, 11 quarters, and 1$ bill. Several other co workers confided that they look for change too. Just what I need, more competition. One even told me that she plants a quarter in different places just to see how long it takes for someone to pick it up. Most places, the quarter disappears quickly, within hours. She tried planting a quarter at Westlake Mall a couple of years ago and it took a couple of days for that quarter to disappear. That opens up a whole new area of economic experimentation I hadn't considered. I could imagine the halflife of a quarter on the sidewalk as a recession indicator.

The death bet caused quite a stir, so I asked the organizer about it as I bought in. Turns out he got the idea from a friend of his at Amazon.com, where the employees have held one for years and years. Our organizer wanted in on it, but figured, well, why not just start another one? Our organizer's friend at Amazon held, for this year's death bet, these: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon. Yowsa! Full house. Anyway, I'm putting my list in the comments. Its a reasonable mix of ill and ill will.

Tuesday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $22 groceries
Found money - $0.14 (gym table, parking meter, sidewalk)

Two recessionary items of note:

I haven't been looking in on 4 wk T-bills for a few weeks. Tuesday is when the T-bill auctions occur; sale occurs on Thursday. The interest rate of this week's 4 wk T-bill auction, and last week's: $0. Not just pennies of interest after the 4 weeks are over. You will make absolutely no money. I've made 15 cents these last two days - pretty good compared to that!

I finally did find a pretty good way to research the health of one's credit union

here. You can look at your bank, also - check out the sidebar at the site.

Others are sharing a funny, dark mood this holiday season - I've joined a friendly death bet at work. Not us - you pick 10 celebrities that you think might cash in their chips in 2010, you pay in $20, and you monitor for 2010. If you have somebody on your list, you get assigned points based on how old they were - 100. In other words, Lindsay Lohan would be worth far more than, say, nearly anybody else.

Friday
Saving log - $4 tip box + $50 drp
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $1.60 2 apples
Found money - $0.02 (bus stop, parking meter)

Thursday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $0
Found money - $0.03 (bus step, gas station pavement, parking lot)

Wednesday
Saving log - $7 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $13 groceries
Found money - $0.02 (floor of grocery store checkout, parking meter)

gifts on two fronts:

1. Christmas - got the Christmas gift from sister of mustard, coffee, hot sauce. Not mixed up, of course. We especially treasure that jar of horseradish mustard; my sinuses won't stand a chance. Also got two very cool looking stainless steel coffee mugs decorated in a kind of Mayan glyph design. All ready for 2012!

Waiting for the spiral stakes to arrive for me to send to sister. I've sent several small gifts along with the dutch oven...heck, the dutch oven is a fine gift on its own...so if its late, its late. No biggie.

Moving on the other gifts for DH's family. They will not be as creative as in past years. Several parts of the family tend toward the food gifts, which I frankly like. Less stuff to kick around. (Body fat doesn't count. )

MIL will be an issue. She's mentioned no food, her tastes are kind of tricky, and I don't feel that I know her well enough for a fun basket of smallish stuff with a theme. No sense of humor, so no Festivus pole ; and I don't feel like I can handle the fallout if I'm truly mean.

And its not as if I'm a goob in this department. Giving gifts can be pretty easy for me - I bought an apple today for a co worker as a surprise to her, and the apple was (magically) just the way she liked it - crisp, sweet/sour, and cold. I can promote thoughtfulness, good will and holiday spirit just like that & all for a grand total of $0.80.

I think I'm overthinking this gift thing.

2. Tax season. Got one of my 1099-DIV this evening. Tax season is opening with a bang!

In other news -

DJ friend is working and mastering the Internet radio station's second compilation CD. He's becoming a music impressario on the sly - the CDs he is producing are becoming even more important calling cards than the radio station ... Interesting to me because I thought the CD was dying.

Still is cold! I ran an errand during lunch, then walked back to work in the frigid weather. I walked past a woman walking in flip flops. Not only is it so 2006, it risks a wicked case of frostbite.

Tuesday
Saving log - $50 DRP
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.01 (gym floor)

Wednesday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $21 groceries
Found money - $0.28 (sidewalk, bus seat, between the sidewalk cobbles)

Right now its just watchful waiting. I bought a bit more gym time with the credit card last month, so I'm slowing my spending down (even more) and I have $700 in my bank savings account. I'd like to see if I can withdraw as little money as possible from my ING account.

Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. We are having the Duvall duck friends over. I picked up a few t-day specific groceries (cranberries) tonight and will keep buying. I saw a recipe for maple pear upside down cake and was intrigued, although the 11 tbsp of butter made me do a double take. (I'm 172, with a hope of being in the 160s by the end of the year.) I really enjoyed the roasted cranberries last year and it was fast, so I'm making that again this year.

Work is definitely heating up as it has every November since I've blogged - I see a lot more special event checks and much less

fake pledging than in year's past.

Not much money news. My 403B is heating up to close to 6 six figures. Stocks are creeping up also. Real estate? Well, the arsonist is still around - hundreds of neighbors attended a community meeting last night hosted by the Fire Department. First order of business: noting that the meeting site (a local church) is at over capacity, and note where the fire exits were. We are to call 911 if we smell smoke, etc, and not to worry about over reporting.

I heard a fire truck as I walked home tonight.

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $5 coffee, bagel, apple
Found money - $0.01 (sidewalk)

Monday
Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $2.00 2 coffees + $10 lunch
Found money - $0.02 (sidewalk, bus floor)

Busy at work counting pledges. It feels like more than last year, but that's only a feeling. As I walked to my bus to work this morning I wondered if Seattle has a mayor's residence, or whether he uses his own house. And if he uses his own house, how much security? This is not an idle thought - I now walk past the house of the guy who won. (the fence around it is tad junky, if you ask me) I guess I will find out the answer to both of those questions shortly. Increased security can only help catch the arsonist, though. I wonder who would win?

CD has matured - I think I will renew it for 6 months. The money will be for a down payment on a house, so its return of investment, rather than return on investment. The interest rate is depressing - in the 5-10K size range, the amount of money I'd make in interest rivals what I find around town. ($1.50 - $3). My found money totals are at $7.89 since July 15.

I haven't eaten all that much of the beef, and its a lucky thing - I got a call from the person who wants to trade for fish. I still have some beef to trade!

Saving log - $8 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.17 (2 nickels, 7 pennies on sidewalk, road, bus floor) + yesterday $0.05 (various sidewalks)

Not much has been going on - sister got the dutch oven, the no-knead bread recipe with other stuff - a Bad Cat day calendar and a little pocket planning calendar with a plastic cover for rain, and a recipe pamphlet that we got for the beef. Sister is interested in making a similar thing to give to her CSA and farmer's market customers.

Work is getting very, very busy ... and that's nice. Election day was yesterday - I live about 5 blocks from one of the mayoral candidates. Thankfully, Seattle's low key about political publicity. If it snows, beware, that street is one of the least plowable in the city.

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee
Found money - $0.16 (sidewalk, bus floor, crosswalk)

Not quite 2 years ago, I decided to improve my cardio and test out my long distance walking. I did it in part to save a bit of coin (nothing cheaper than walking), but mostly I did it as an emergency preparedness tool. If an awful thing happens, a couple of energy bars, reasonable shoes, and three hours will get me home.

This

video models what might happen to the Alaskan Way viaduct should a slightly more powerful earthquake hit Seattle than the 2001 Nisqually quake. The commuter bus that gets me closest to home gets to downtown from West Seattle using the viaduct. I wouldn't be on the viaduct at that time, but clearly if I was expecting it to come to my stop and take it home, not a chance that day and for many months thereafter.

Saving log - $0 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $47 lunch for 2
Found money - $0.12 (sidewalk, road, gas station parking lot)

Two good little semi-financial moves happened at work today.

1. Bought some supplemental accident insurance through AFLAC, taken pre-tax out of my paycheck. For all you worriers out there, if I'm run over by a car while picking up change from the crosswalk, I'm covered. Now I only have a $20/ paycheck increase.

2. We learned today that if we catch H1N1, we can use catastrophic time immediately. Normally we use 3 days of PTO, then we can use catastrophic.

Thursday
Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $.75 apple
Found money - $0.02 (sidewalks)

Wednesday
Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $2 afternoon mocha
Found money - $0.04 (next to parking meter, behind a bench, sidewalks)

The 2% payraise came in this payday - it was an increase of about $32.00. Work seems to be busying up for the season, so I feel like I'm earning it. Lately the change in season has been affecting me too - its been very hard to wake up in the morning when its still dark.

You might remember the saga of one of my stocks. The company was spun off from my bank (2007), did moderately well, but the stock, being young, did not pay a dividend. Said company then was bought by another, which does pay a dividend, but has no re-investment program. I figured that I will eventually find out who the new transfer agent was ... I have. Same transfer agent as my KO stock, making that super convenient. Still no-reinvestment, but I did set up the account so that the dividend gets put electronically into my account.

Friday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $9 lunch + $20 copay
Found money - $0.16 (parking lot)

Thursday
Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $5.50 magazine
Found money - $0

It wasn't the full moon today, but it could've fooled me.

Act 1. It started when both of my employees called in that they weren't coming in, shifting the work to me, and today I had scheduled my physical this afternoon, so it wasn't that I could do their work all day. Luckily my boss was available and I could take off at 2pm and make my 3pm appointment (phew!).

Act 2. All this week I heard that the auditors were doing fine, they were satisfied, blah blah blah. At 11:30am one of the auditors comes by and asks me to explain 4 detailed transactions and how I calculated them. Did they look at my online calendar and say, "11:30? Perfect. Lets screw her over." It took me an hour to explain what I did and what that transaction represented (non-profit accounting 501, flipping between Excel and Access), culminating with an attempt to go into where I get the national data from. Link to get the original data bombs out. Grrr. She went away, and I bought a lunch and scarfed it down by 1pm.

Act 3. Same auditor returns at 1:30pm asking a different question on a different transaction. Auuugh! Luckily a couple of directors could answer some of the auditor's questions and she went away again.

At 1:59 pm, I slipped out while the getting was good. It turned out that I was a bit early for the physical.

Physical was undergone with no issues - matter of fact, I thought my blood pressure was going to be high (auditors!) because the last time it was checked it was high. 130/88. Not perfect, but much better than I had feared. Also got the listen to the heart, the Pap, the cholesterol test, and a couple of shots - DPT and seasonal flu. The doctor seemed happy to see me.

I had an interesting moment when I stepped on the scale with the nurse - I joked that it would be a lot better than it would have been 4 years ago. (It was by 35 pounds). The nurse asked how I did it, I started with the food diary, and she said, "I could never do that."

I interpreted the comment the way I wanted to (ie. That's difficult and I'm impressed with your skills), but I have to wonder how I would have taken it if I had heard this comment from a health professional when I first started. Say what you want about a trainer, none of them would ever say never.

The blood drawer was a hoot. We cracked wise about our day, me about the auditors, and she about the oddballs she got that day. As I was leaving, I said my final shot, "thank you, you've been a great audience. We'll be here all week - don't forget to tip your waitress."

Thursday
Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $4.50 coffee, breakfast sandwich + $16 groceries
Found money - $0.02 (crosswalk) + $0.01 (sidewalk)

Wednesday
Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $9 fruit & veg
Found money - $0

Discovered a pleasant surprise at work - if your performance was above a certain level you will get a 2% raise starting in mid-October. It means to me 35$/payperiod. I can live fairly well with my paycheck right now, so its time to look at the increase in paycheck and increase my savings accordingly. And mutter a silent prayer of thanks. With so many losing their jobs, having a job is cake. Getting a raise is icing.

Now what to do with the extra savings? Put it in the bank, I guess. Wouldn't it be nice during these "extend and pretend" times to find out the super-secret list that the FDIC uses. I can't say that this list is the

super secret list, just a reasonable guess of those banks closer to the edge. Keep your savings under the limits, in any case. Oh yes, credit unions are better, but some have problems too. I'm searching for that list, but somehow that is less gossiped about.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $4.50 coffee, chocolate croissant + $1.75 iced coffee
Found money - $0.10 (under a bench)

Sad, in a sense. I spotted the dime under the bench from the bus, so I got off the bus at the next block and walked over to pick it up. Kind of funny that I can even spot change from the bus - but the bus has to be stopped.

Today I participated in a day of service - I was part of a project helping a non-profit by stuffing a jump rope (in a plastic bag) into another plastic bag and sealing the bag with a label. Repeat 4500 times. The 15 of us made for efficient work - we got done in about 5 hrs. The jump ropes will be given to every kindergarten kid enrolled in the Seattle school district. So if we didn't get the label on perfectly, well, no 5 year old would notice. The non-profit in question is working on lessening childhood obesity.

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.73 coffee
Found money - $0.07 (coffeeshop counter next to the non-fat)

Tried out the new trainer - I think it will be a good fit. Knee was okay on the ball squats - we are not pushing it quite yet. I've been jogging off and on for a few blocks yesterday and today and it felt pretty good. I got several new homework assignments from the new trainer. I'm going to go through my appointments to clear the decks by Nov 1, when we expect a lot of work to hit.

For laughs, I texted my sister and got one back. Lotsa fun for a nickel.

Found the seven cents, but I put in the coffee person's tip jar. - I'm buying goodwill. I'm counting it as found, just spent right away.

The fundraising temp staff are here on their first day, so the energy level at work has doubled.

Monday
Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.75 coffee + $3.29 forks
Found money - $0.01 (chiropractor's office) + $0.01 (Goodwill parking lot) + $0.01 (underneath Safeway vending machine)

Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.90 bagel (free coffee) + $2.90 large iced tea, apple
Found money - $0.02 (floor of Pete's coffee)

Made a nickel the hard way these last two days! Would have thought that the Goodwill parking lot was prime for change finding: very busy, cash business, kids, people shifting money from hand to pocket and leaving in a hurry. I found a penny, was expecting to find much more.

I went to Goodwill again to buy forks. Got 15 for $3. Last April, several co workers complained that the temp staff stole all the forks. I bought 8 forks at Goodwill after the temp staff left. Opened the work silverware drawer in the last few days: one fork. Look in the mirror, thieves. Quit blaming others.

BIL and DH's sister have firmly decided to visit the Oshkosh EAA next year in 2010. "If not now, then when?". I emailed them and invited them to stay at the farmette, and sister emailed them and invited them to the farmette. We'll see. Just a little warning: if you decide not to attend EAA for a day or two, sister will work you in the garden. We joked that we were in a re-education camp.

Sister's birthday yesterday. She got her b-day gift from us but she chided DH: if you are going to use popcorn as a packing material, don't use oil! She and the neighbor at the farmette are getting tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, and squash, squash, squash. She's beginning to be a regular at the Tuesday farmer's market and picked up another customer near the farmette, losing a non-payer in Milwaukee. I suspect that that's the benefit of the farmer's market - advertising to pick up weekly customers.

Yesterday I got my library visit in before the Seattle libraries furloughed for the week.

Kitty is settling in even more. Ate more dry food (at least she's cheap, sister said), and after she begged a little from my plate (I have SUCKER tattooed in cat on my forehead), played for a few minutes with the mouse on a stick, totally DESTROYED the little plastic bag containing catnip that I put on my dresser, explored the kitchen and the tops of the washer and dryer, tolerated a bit of brushing, wants to snuggle on the bad as soon as the lights are down. In other words, a full day, and not that shy. She does have an unusual habit - she is quite the tail swisher when you pet her and you think you better stop otherwise you'll get a claw in your hand...but she doesn't growl or attack. Tail swishing must mean general excitement. Think I will call her V.I.

Saving log - $6 tip box
Spending log - $14 dim sum lunch + $4 grocery
Found money - $0.04 (glass countertop at work)

You might have noticed the found money line that I've added in the last two weeks or so. I thought it would be fun and useful to see where and how much I find.

Today I found change in an odd place. I rarely find any at work, and I really don't like to find any at work. Did someone actually lose the money, or misplace it? Four pennies isn't a big deal to me, but these days you never know. In addition, I found it on top of a cabinet at waist level, non-floor money, so feels like not fair game ... at least compared to sidewalk money.

But I found it in on a glass cabinet in a public place and found at 5:30 pm, when most everybody was long gone.

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $13 groceries
Found money - $.01 (floor of women's locker room)

Cost cutting at work continues. Our employer puts up to 5% of our salary into our retirement savings. This is different than the 403B match. Anyhow, that 5% is dropping to .5% starting the last 1/3 of the year (Sept - Dec). The money saved is to be re-deployed to pay for our health insurance premium. January of next year, both this 5% and the 403B match is going to be "discretionary".

Bummer, but not a surprise compared to everything else that is happening.