Hard to believe when I looked at my paycheck today (I get paid twice monthly - the 15th and the last day of the month). It was $600 over what I usually get, and it looks like I got bonus and retro pay. I thought I got all my bonus and retro pay already. Normally I don't look a gift horse in the mouth, but I have a very weird feeling about this - the payroll coordinator's last day is on Friday. A little bit of fun and games as she leaves? No reason that I can see to be singled out; I'm not a friend nor an enemy. Wonder if someone else got "treated" in this way?

I'd better figure it out and offer to give it back if its a mistake... before it gets comfy in my checking account.

Ever since I got the large checks I haven't done a darn thing with the tip box. I think I might take a break from putting something in this month. Still have to find a Christmas gift for sister. Wonder what to give someone who seems to have everything and no space to put it?

Right now I'm concentrating on diet and am in the middle of my second week of workouts. I did a lot better this week than last. My muscles feel thick and I feel tired. The diet part is starting to impinge on the frugality part - a breakfast which I'm not used to eating, two smaller mini-meals which hikes my lunch budget by several bucks. Oh well, with good health - like a lot of other commodities - the cheapest man pays the most.

Mom's retirement benefit, that mysterious Employee Trust Fund, came in a lump sum today. $137.39. Mom didn't believe much in 403(B)s, I guess, and they must not have matched. Its also taxable, so it came with a Form 1099-R. Round and round into the ING account it goes and what it interest collects, nobody knows.

Bought my November I-bond - $500.

Boarded a tiny bus for the commute this morning. We got a young woman (5 yrs out of being a girl) who clearly didn't know bus rules. Came on a commuter transit bus with not one, but two full large suitcases. (Must've been one hell of a weekend). There were no seats, so she parked the baggage right next to the bus driver, partially blocking the entrance, and sat on top of them. Sigh.

Why the driver didn't force her back is anyone's guess. The bus was too packed to yell something clever (who would hear me?), so I just tried to transmit a telepathic signal. A big clean taxi, a friendly taxi driver who is paid and is happy to take on a pretty customer, driving to the airport in comfort and quiet, no one kicking your suitcases. Maybe the subliminal signal will help her think again the next time.

Ha.

Spending log - $1.65 coffee + $6.00 lunch
Saving log - $137.39 + $500 I-bond

Yesterday we re-visited the hosts from Thanksgiving. We just didn't get enough time to chat with them Thursday because they were being good hosts. They are a couple, the husband is a very high-end wood craftsman (desks, cabinets, tables), the wife used to work for Microsoft (we'll use husband and wife to distinguish them from us), but her health grew bad and the agita about MSFT grew tough to take.

They also asked us for advice on husband's business for marketing and advertising ideas. Husband's business has been falling off as of late. Jobs that husband easily closed on in one meeting are now getting the "wait and see" answer, which is usually a Seattle style passive-aggressive no. DH and I gave them a few ideas, but nothing earth-shattering.

I'm a little worried about them. They took out a second mortgage to rent increased shop space. Dangerous position, if you ask me. They also asked us, yet again, about buying a house. I don't want to buy a house. Even when the inheritance comes in, I still don't want to buy a house right now. It was hard to answer them without being impolite. I see and feel the economy constricting, especially in that husband's business. All the rich smart money is slowing down, waiting for the economy to turn one way or another. It's really no time to take on debt. Assets can shrink but debts never do, unless you pay them.

I got a claim form from Prudential Financial, the same insurance company that sent sister and I each a nice check last week. It has to be another insurance policy. Sister thought it might be the same policy, but why would they send a check first and then the claim form? She told me that she'll call and ask.

Actually, not quite true, I just bought needs: milk, onions, celery, and a cup of coffee from the grocery store; canned cat food from another grocery store. With me, its never a full blown Buy Nothing Day, but an eternal Buy Very Little Day. Saves money in the long run because you never binge.

Why do they call it Black Friday? Yeah, I know, but BF was the name given to the stock market crash in 1929. To my ears, today's nickname just sounds creepy.

Ate, drank, and made merry at a friend's house outside of Seattle (Issaquah, if you know that area). Brought a tasty 3 grain pilaf (wild rice, quinoa, kasha), and during the potluck, I did my bit as the gravy maker. Gravy is pretty simple, but mysterious enough to be nerve-racking, I guess. The real trick is knowing that you can expand the quantity of it using chicken stock.

Most of the folks there were former Micro-softees, and a few years ago it was buy this and bought that. With their reduced means, they've become more interesting.

My new-found wealth in my ING account now brings in interest of 1.44/day. Now I can afford a small coffee every day for the rest of my natural life.

I had another good workout so I made a fateful, not very frugal step. I signed up for four months for the use of a personal trainer at the gym. It will be $1941. Ulp!

It was with decided nervousness that I brought it up with DH. (Our finances are separate, but this is big.) Au contraire, DH told me, this is one of the most frugal things you can do. You want to get more active and slim down, you figure that a gym is the next step (I don't have a car, so I walk everywhere or I catch a bus. That takes care of endurance, but my weight is still high), but you don't have any experience with workout machines. Paying somebody to spot you, point out your mistakes, encourage you and keep you from cheating is da** frugal because you'll get it done with no fuss. The frugal part means that since you've put money on it you won't blow off workouts. And what good is inheriting money but not being healthy enough to enjoy it?

Funny how I'm starting this during the holiday season. I figured as long as its not January, I've got a jump on temptation.

Ah...settling down for a 5 day weekend. Nice.

Put 47$ in the bank from my tip box. That felt nice, too.

I put the two big checks of last week in my ING account for the moment. It's going to earn far more and be tied up far less than it would in my regular bank.

This last Sunday I really window shopped with a very different eye. Everything I looked at I could afford, which makes things a lot more difficult. The siren sings louder when you know you have a lot more unearned money in your accounts. I can see how people blow windfalls so quickly. It is easy to say, "just what I always wanted. I'll take it!" the first time and then over and over. After the sixth over, its gone. Generic advice about budgeting 10% for your treats then stopping when you're done makes a lot of sense to me. I also have to say, "I already have that and I'm happy with it."

Didn't think about money, didn't handle any large checks, didn't hear anything from sister. I just read the newspaper, drank coffee, grocery shopped, ate grocery samples, planned for Thanksgiving, cleaned the house. I have a very short week next week, just Monday and Tuesday.

Thanks, suedavids - I found out that Bob Brinker broadcasts on KIRO 710 1-4pm on Sat and Sun. I'll check his radio show out.

Spending log - 1.65 coffee + 4.38 lunch + 26.34 groceries + 104.35 gym membership

But not for a long time. Okay, it was weird and scary, just like others had said in a thread in the forums. As I trotted those three block to the bank, I clutched my purse just a little bit tighter, kept my head down, growled sublimally, and didn't let anyone come within three feet of me.

Figured that if I was depositing it in my bank, I might just as well visit a teller. She took one look, made a couple of key strokes, glanced at my signature and boom it was done. Blase, like she had done it before. Probably figured that the honest person would personally deposit the check and the criminal would just put it through the ATM.

I plan on consolidating most of my inheritance bits (and I count grandma's dispersement as inheritance) into my ING account until I figure out where I really want to put them.

Got my lunch paid for; this was very nearly a no-spend day. This afternoon at work I was on a field trip to a bank, helping process pledges to the non-profit I work for. They had a good reputation - "a banker's bank" - I was thinking of starting a bank account with them. Then I saw math mistakes and I am re-thinking that possibility.

And in the mail today I got another check from Prudential Financial. A death benefit from Mom. I called sister to ask whether she got one. She did - one penny more. I knew mom loved her best. Another chunk hits the ING account.

I mean I had an extremely lucky day.

In the morning, I won a gift certificate for a night at a Seattle downtown hotel.

I slipped away for lunch and talked with my lawyer friend who managed to talk to my sister before the farm auction. He had some good insights. She definitely wanted to honor dad's vision. However, the only way that we could know that would be if he had written it down. We didn't find it, and it wasn't in the will. Are we going to have to get it using an Ouiji Board?

Got a lot done in the afternoon.

Came home.

Got my 3M package
Got 2 checks from my cousin who had the power of attorney. One for 450$ and one for $9171. Time to put it in the savings account and figure it out.

Got back to work yesterday. Felt like I got hammered with requests (grrr), but I managed to get a fair amount done. I just have to take it slow, mix it up (easy project, hard project), and remember my predecessors magic words, "no one dies if it doesn't get done today."

Today was a lot better after about 9 hours of sleep. I went to the gym for the first time ever. The trainer was very nice - we did mostly the weigh-in, the measurements, the setting of goals. A revelation to learn what an ab crunch actually is. It'll be quite the little project to get my weight down.

On the other hand, three years ago it was quite the little project to get my finances in line. I never balanced my checkbook; I had two little 403Bs, 1 little, 1 medium, 1 large credit card balance, and about $1500 in student loans. It was a turning point for me when DH gave me my PDA for Christmas. Three weeks later I found a free, really good checkbook program

http://www.freewarepalm.com/financial/mycheckbook.shtml and put my info in with a quavering hand. I had a positive net worth, at least, but barely. This, at 40.

I started with the basics. With the PDA, it became important for me to reconcile my checkbook and to put what I spent in. I learned how I spent my money. It became very important that my credit card balances and student loan balances went down and my 403B contributions went up. When my student loan finally got paid off, that letter stating so was almost as valuable to me as the degree that I got with it. I made small investments, put little amounts and whatever bonus I got into a savings account which grew a little.

I wanted to cultivate some savings and a little investment so I knew what to throw extra money into after my debts were paid.

I learned about the debt snowball, and hit my accounts one at a time (although I did manage to put more than the minimum in each of the others). My worst one with the worst interest, which the cc company refused to lower, I transferred to a $0 balance offer. The debt didn't quite fit--so I made payments on the leftover debt that had to stay on the icky card, while paying low amounts on the balance offer. It was a bit dangerous, the 0$ interest after six month was okay compared to the icky card, but I was lucky. I had a couple of 500$ emergencies, not several $1000 ones.

I paid off my debts and now I'm manipulating my savings, tinkering around the edges.

It leads me into gramma's gift. I feel somehow that this is a dress rehearsal for the inheritance to come. Do I shore up my savings vehicles or go in a new direction? Do I throw it all in at once, or do I dollar cost average and spread out my payments into things?

Well, Nut's at it again. He's thinking about suing for back pay. I have no idea how far back. I do remember putting letters in a file saying to Nut "don't come back". Dad was always the pay as you go type, and if he didn't pay you it was a sign that you shouldn't show up. I'm thinking its either another try to get some bucks or to distract us from the fact that he was stealing stuff. Whatta Nut.

He and his father were at the auction. His dad bought a dead truck, I think.

Turns out that that pilot crashing in the trees in Milwaukee was within 6 blocks of sister's house.

Grandma, who is 95 and is living in skilled nursing care, is going to begin dispersing her assets. $10,000 in a few weeks, with the possibility of $10,000 more in March. After setting it in a 6 month CD to decide what to do with it, I'm going to have to get a financial planner.

It's raining money here, but today was a no-spend day. I'm down with a cold and I'm running on vitamin C packets, Airborne tablets, little oranges, and hot decaf chai. Bleggh.

Sister called last night. The farm auction went off without a hitch. The farm equipment that was still there (!), tools, pig iron, things in the sheds, guns, and the household stuff that sister and family didn't take went for about $20,000.

She told me that she had a pretty good conversation with the executor and got caught up. The second parcel got two estimates - one with house, grounds, and land sold together, and one with most of the land split from house, barn, sheds, and 20 acres. If my sister gets the house and a bit of the cash equal in value to what I get in cash, it turns out that the numbers work if she really wanted the house - she would probably get enough cash to fix up the house, should she choose. Now she's a bit frightened - so far the creditors for mom's medical bills haven't come forward. If that holds it means that my sister and I will inherit in the very high $200,000s.

Sister was hoping that the decisions would be made for her in such an obvious economic way. And a couple of the distant family relations still in east-central Wisconsin really want her to keep the house. They told her that she wouldn't come back if she just took the cash. (Like me) That could well be, but I told her that it was her life. If she had plans for the house, fine, but don't take on a house just because people want you to.

DH was on a funny work schedule, so he was at work today. My opportunity to do something that he is lukewarm about. I saw Good Night, and Good Luck which I enjoyed very much, but I missed the matinee. Yikes! 9$.

Got the shoes at G.I.Joes today for 40$ and a sports bra for 30$. All I have to do is find flipflops for the shower and I'm set.

The farm auction was this afternoon. I wonder how sister and the executor got along? Haven't seen any Breaking News on the Milwaukee Journal site. Fingers crossed.

Feel like I'm coming down with something. Figures, its three days after my flu shot.

Not much happened today. I took the plunge and bought a gym membership to the gym next door at work. Gotta pick up some decent gym shoes. The ones I have are beaten, have holes, and have no ankle support. I have about $263 left of my paycheck, but I'm waiting for my sewer/water/gas bill, which should grab about $120 of it, so I really have about $140 left for gym shoes.

I was staring at the starlings in the trees across the street from my bus stop, but didn't take into account the birds in the trees I was under, waiting. My jacket got spluched. Yuck. Stupid bird with good aim.

Spending log - 1.65 coffee + 5.00 lunch (wonton soup)
Saving log - 4.00 tip box + 40.00 3M DRP