Layout:
Home > Archive: July, 2007

Archive for July, 2007

50 dollar transfer

August 1st, 2007 at 05:22 am

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $8 lunch

Quiet day - meetings got canceled right and left, and because my trainer's in Florida on break I have gym later this week. Did I get a lot done? Nope, got some but mostly I was putzing around and the day dragged a bit. I love being not busy, but its really bad for me.

The banker from WI called me back. The way we are trying it is to set up the joint account as a Payee to my WA checking account. Manual transfers, of course. Wouldn't want to be transferring dollars monthly. So I set it up and transferred 50$ to WI, then alerted sister to see if it worked.

Looked at the receipt for the groceries that I bought last night. I got a .05 credit for using the cloth bag. I'll have to remember that. Not a lot, but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as grandpa used to say.

can we walk?

July 31st, 2007 at 04:41 am

Saving log - $5
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $4.50 curry

Found an interesting tool.

Text is http://walkscore.com/ and Link is
http://walkscore.com/

It assesses the walkability of any address in the United States, giving you a score between 0 to 100. My home address got a 75, my work address got a 91, sister's address was a 62, the farmette got a 0. Check it out - we are still trying to figure out how you get a 100.

I managed to use my cloth bag at the grocery store today. The grocery store was nice about using my bag, and I'm happy that Clif bars are back at .99 apiece.

Paid the sewer, water, garbage bill - $123/ month. I remember when it was in the $80 range 3 years ago.

Only three people were kicking around the department today - it made for quiet times, good times to put in a couple of phone calls.

Call 1: into the Wisconsin Bank that sister and I have a joint account with. I want to be able to electronically transfer dollars from my bank to this account. I figure that mail is slow, and control freak that I am, I want to see both ends of the transaction. I've set up my WA account for bill pay to this bank. We'll see which is easier - pushing money out of my WA account to this WI account, or vice versa.

Call 2: Arranging the pick up of the canning jars. I will be driving (gasp, driving!) Thursday morning. Haven't heard word as to how the berries are doing. A quick look at some of the brambles in our neighborhood tells me it will be another week or two.

Kung fu at the grocery store

July 29th, 2007 at 02:55 am

Something you don't see every day. The HT Oaktree market near our house is having a grand opening (wha? we've been shopping there off and on for 6 months).

Dragon curled up in back of the martial artists...


And the teacher busting his moves.


Inside, the best price on Rainier cherries this year at $1.99/lb, peaches and nectarines at $.79/lb. DH and I also picked up 2 more cloth shopping bags with HT on them - they were giving those away if you bought more than $5.

We still haven't gotten in the habit of bringing our own bags to the grocery store. Sigh. One of the times that I collect plastic bags is that I often stop and do a bit of grocery shopping during my nightly walk from the bus. Maybe, just maybe, the HT cloth bag is small enough so that I can put one in my purse.

Rule of 72 with a twist

July 28th, 2007 at 11:56 pm

So I taught lawyer friend about the rule of 72 a couple of days ago. (Look, he had lawyer training not math!) I'm sure I'm singing to the choir here about it, but as a rule of thumb it states that:

You can expect an investment to double when the percent of return x the number of years = 72.

Examples are -

If you are earning 8% on an investment, it will take 9 years for the investment to double.

If you have to double your return in 6 years, you have to earn a yearly return of 12%.

Big Grin It'll take a lifetime for your checking account at 1% to double.

Exciting, when you first think about it! But the twist that I thought of last night was that the rule of 72 is double edged. It works, unfortunately, with anything with an interest rate on it.

So if the inflation rate is a consistent 3%, it will only take 24 years for your cost of living to double. It means that that 22K that I made when I first got out of college in 1984 and that 44K that I make now spend about the same. Depressing, isn't it?

It also means that if you owe 10K on a credit card at 10%, and you make the minimum payment at 2%, 9 years from now you should owe 20K, more if you actually charged something else. Assuming no fees, hah hah.

You've got to work hard to make the rule of 72 work for you - it works hard against you most of the time.

poof

July 28th, 2007 at 03:51 am

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $4.50 curry

In the past two days, my paper profits dropped about $4K. Most of the drop was in the Vanguard taxable account, my 403B had a fair amount of ballast in bonds and cash, so those didn't drop so much.

I did a good job of moving my excess money in my checking out to savings - I'm running on about $60 until the end of the month. Too bad weekends are my worst time for saving.

Free entertainment

July 26th, 2007 at 06:09 am

Namely, the Greenwood Seafair parade tonight. Seafair is a two week celebration culminating with hydroplane races. All over Seattle, neighborhoods hold parades and events.

The bead guy, selling a little bit of Mardi Gras in July.


The theme of the parade was the Greening of Greenwood. One truck took it to a funny turn.


Cheerleaders...


Drill Teams...


Bands...


Careful listening to the bands provides for its own entertainment. Five years ago, one of the school bands played School's Out for Summer. No one, though, dressed like Alice Cooper, but you still had to give them props. Nothing so entertaining tonight, but fun nonetheless.

picking up where the executors left off

July 26th, 2007 at 04:53 am

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $7 lunch

Last week sister sent a packet of stuff - the application for our joint bank account (in Wisconsin), the estimate for the solar panels and site evaluation, estimate for redoing parts of the foundation and the milkhouse, pictures of the damage. It arrived yesterday.

Faxed to the Wisconsin bank my information. I'll call to make sure everything's okay, then put in my half in a couple of days.

Also got a call at work from the Wisconsin DNR agent. Turns out that the last tiny hurdle to closing the sale on the second property was that a thin strip of our property next to the road was zoned R1 (residential) and it should be all zoned A (agricultural) for the sale to go through. Since sister and I now own the property, not the estate, we as heirs have to sign off on it. Nowadays we can do it by email.

its all real, dammit (rant)

July 24th, 2007 at 06:32 am

Pardon the expletive!

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $4.50 curry + $8 watch battery

The title of this entry is a fast criticism of the title of this article:

Text is http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2007/08/01/100137905/index.htm?postversion=2007072311 and Link is
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/200...

I know I shouldn't bother with reading these things on CNN, because the writing is so subtly anti-saver, and that makes sense because savers don't spend and therefore aren't worth advertising to. But still...

Note to CNN: All money is real money.

The young couple depicted in the article are already earning 90K, more than my DH and I. Just because they eventually will earn 200K doesn't mean that they are right now being paid in Monopoly money. They aren't earning hobby money.

But that isn't what really, really tears it. Its this: you learn just as much money management with the small amounts as with the large amounts. As a matter of fact, you had BETTER learn your money management with the small amounts. Its not a case that when you come into a large chunk of money that that somehow gives you the impetus to handle it better. Oh no, you better had practiced with your tens and hundreds before you get your tens of thousands.

Its dangerous to give that two-tiered emotion with your money - "real" vs. "fake". If you don't assume that the small sums are important and worth treating with respect, you probably will never give them the chance to grow to a "respectable, real" sum. Assume that your small sums are fake, then small sums they will remain...if don't immediately spend them.

Worse, if you do get a big sum of money, you either treat it like a small sum and spend it, or you treat it like a whole new animal with the seriousness it deserves. After all, it is a "real" sum of money.

And then you are stuck. How to handle it? After treating small sums miserably, you have no idea. Too conservative and it loses value to inflation, too wild and you turn it into a small sum and fritter it away.

Anyhow, grr. & Thanks for indulging me!

all timing; nevermind

July 23rd, 2007 at 02:32 am

I took another look at the inheritance correspondence. When I send the little form to sign-off on the last check, it is the final distribution. It's really a timing issue. Since neither sister nor I are battling and have no particular issue, the estate has to be resolved within 18 months. Because the assets are real estate, things slow down a bit, the executor filed and got a 6 month extension, which ended a couple of weeks ago.

The first piece of property was sold and the money has paid us, the debts, the lawyer, and the executors. The second piece of property has been sold, but sister and I are to be deeded the whole thing (farmette + 73 acres bought by the state of Wisconsin) at the cost basis of 150K each to sister and I.

I originally thought that the 2nd property was going to come to us in the form of money, rather, its coming to us in the form of the deed.

The executors took out, as promised, a flat 4%, and best of all, it was inclusive of the lawyer's fee. I was expecting the lawyer to take out a separate, equal chunk. Sister apparently had a betting pool with neighbors and friends. I don't know who won.

So the executors step out. Sister and I work with the lawyer on the second property sale.

The 40K CD I started last month has started to earn interest - 174$.

let the obscenities begin

July 22nd, 2007 at 04:55 am

Got bought breakfast by DH.

It was the best grocery shopping deal of the season. Peaches for $1/lb, 1/2 flat of blueberries for $6, frozen green beans for $.99/16 oz bag. (Corn and peas get that low, more rarely broccoli, but green beans getting that low is very rare.) I know, frozen's not as chic as fresh, but the best price for fresh green beans this year was at $1.49/lb, today they ran at $1.99/lb. There's chic, and then there's doing the math - last I checked, 16 oz equals 1 lb. Double the price.

My meal was a festival of good fats - guacamole with avocadoes & salmon, with homemade potato salad with green beans in it as a bit of a vice, and blueberries, blueberries, blueberries.

Up on the DVD tonight is the last episode of Deadwood - let the obscenities begin.

Fun image this week. A little bit of drama on the bus. Will it fall and fly around inside?

yesterday's mail and email

July 22nd, 2007 at 04:23 am

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $10 lunch (Friday)

Got the "final" check for the inheritance yesterday, at least that is what I what I'm signing for. It was actually a bit over $10K due to extra interest. I put extra in quotes because I believe it is just the final dollars for the 1st property sale, nothing yet for the second. Not "final" by any means. I'm going to look at my correspondence thus far and if necessary, I will call to clarify the situation and I will not mail my piece without it.

Sister and I each got a copy of the deed for the farmette - we now legally co-own the property.

Deposited $42 of tip box money. Took a peek at my credit card account. The fee has been taken off.

actual good phone call

July 20th, 2007 at 06:13 am

Saving log - $1 tip box
Spending log - $5.50 lunch

Did actually make it to the all staff meeting this morning. It happens once per month - last month I blew it off to deposit a chunk of inheritance. Lunch was the 403B meeting, and yes, the board of our non-profit dropped the retirement slightly and increased the match slightly to compensate. Its a strategy to insure that more employees put more into the 403B. It will happen starting in January 2008. And it is a trend because the board will be looking at it every year and assessing whether to keep shifting the ratio of match to retirement money. I guess I should yawn about it, because at 15%, it would have to be the 8% match 1% retirement ratio before I'm affected.

A couple of co workers got a bit bent out of shape though, the ones that are going from paycheck to paycheck but putting in 6%. I feel for them, but sometimes fiscal surprises come from the most innocent of places. And I'm thinking, wow, I didn't hit me that my workplace currently pays everyone working there more than a year 6% in a retirement fund. Many, many places they pay nothing - its all you.

Got a phone call from my sister at the bank. She's setting up our joint account, so we can both deposit money in. The banker asked me for a couple of pieces of sensitive information, then told me, "since you don't have a driver's license..."

Me: "What? I have a driver's license. I just don't drive. I have a chauffeur."

Anyway, the banker's setting things up and we should be good to go on a joint account for the farmette.

My good phone call was clearing up a late fee charge on my credit card. I paid on 5/18, 6/20, and 7/19. How do you get a late fee from that? The only hitch was trying to get out of voice jail and into an operator. I tried a couple of times, then I hit on reporting Fraud choice. Heck, said late fee charge looks like fraud. Big Grin The customer rep was nice about the whole thing and told me that I should see the fix tomorrow.

I'll look tomorrow.

running in place

July 19th, 2007 at 06:07 am

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $7 lunch

The only financial bit happened at the end of the day today. Tomorrow we learn a little bit more about some changes with our 403B plan but the "shot across the bow" occurred in an Excel spreadsheet email.

N.B.: 403B plans are the non-profit version of 401K plans.

First, the good news. Everybody at work has put enough money combined in the 403B so that the fee structure has changed. No mutual fund choice has a higher fee than 1.3%, many are under 1%. Although compared to Vanguard at .18%, they have a way to go.

Second, the its-a-wash-news, perhaps leading to something unhappy. Right now the workplace matches 403B contributions 50 cents on the dollar up to 6%. So if you put up 6%, workplace matches 3%. Soon our workplace is going to again match .50:$1, but it will be up to 8%. So if you put up 8%, workplace matches 4%. Great, right?

Not so fast. We also have a retirement account, which I am still a bit hazy about even after 7 years. I know its where the match dollars are put in and this is the account that's vested after 6 years. It turns out that the workplace puts in 6% into everyone's retirement account. So if you're smart, workplace will put the full 9% (6% their retirement, 3% your match).

Well, due to the new 4% match, the straight retirement gift is going to drop to 5%. In other words, its a wash for someone like me...I still get the full 9% but it will now be comprised of 5% their retirement, 4% your match.

In a sense, its to subtly force you to put more in your 403B. Like the Red Queen, running faster to stay in the same place.

Farmette renters?

July 18th, 2007 at 04:15 am

Saving log - $9
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $13 lunch + $4.50 groceries

Sister called. There is a possibility that buyers/ renters might be interested in the farmette. They would be friends of the farmette's neighbor coming up from Arizona in late August. Word has it that they are woodworkers, with dogs and birds.

Sister's very nervous about that possibility that someone other than family would be living there, but she would be very interested in the woodworking part - floors especially. I think its a great idea on paper - we need someone to be a presence 24/7 - but if they want to buy instead of rent, that would be an interesting twist. Until they show, though, its all theoretical.

gutsy, baselle

July 16th, 2007 at 02:31 am

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $25 thrift store + $1.64 bagel (got a free coffee from a punch card)

Now for my next daredevil trick...

I have sad news. My closest, therefore favorite, thrift store is leaving my neighborhood in 2-3 months. No more walking past there every day, sometimes going in sometimes not.

I got my Paris dress there, and as I have lost weight and inches I've gone there to pick up smaller sized jeans, sweaters, tops, tank tops. It was there that I discovered that I was a medium in certain things, and that I'm now a sure-fire size 14.

But that's not the daredevil thing. You see now that everything's 30-70% off, I picked up a purse, a pair of jeans, several sleeveless tops for the summer, and ...

A swimsuit.

Yes, I bought a swimsuit at a thrift store. Sounds icky, n'est ce pas, but I checked the crotch and bra cups carefully. No trace; everything looked pristine, even cleaner than it would be if it was a new suit that everyone tried on. I tried it on. It fit perfectly and it was even flattering. $3.

laptop cooler

July 15th, 2007 at 06:50 am

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $10 lunch, coffee + $105 Fry's + $6 movie tickets + $9 groceries

Went over to Fry's to get a cooling fan for my laptop. About a year ago, an odd little bruise appeared on my right front thigh. It wasn't a bruise - it was a burn mark from my laptop! I mean really if you can't put your laptop on your lap, why is it called a laptop?

Now I set my laptop on a little table with grooves and in setting that on my lap it gave my little burn mark a chance to heal. It still gets a bit warm under the laptop and that can't be good especially during the summer when the air's already warm. Both DH and DJ friend suggested the laptop cooler.

I bought a laptop cooler today at Fry's for $49, also bought DH's birthday gift and couple of electronic cleaners.

It ends up that I'm typing this and other entries with quite a stack of contraptions - the little table with grooves, then the cooler with the fan, then the laptop itself.

Saw Hot Fuzz at the Crest tonight. Very, very funny! DH and I were trying to figure out the last time we went to a movie.

green and frugal

July 14th, 2007 at 05:50 am

even in the "good old days".

An article I wanted to share. Once upon a time, being frugal was heroic and commonplace. Maybe it will be again.

Text is http://alternet.org/environment/55925/ and Link is
http://alternet.org/environment/55925/

even the crumbs are big

July 14th, 2007 at 05:45 am

Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $8 lunch + $17 beers, chili dog, fries

After work, DH suggested we go to Mike's Chili in Ballard for Cincinnati-esque chili and beer. Delicious, but I won't need anything else until noon tomorrow ... thanks! And during said chili and beer, DH warned me about a thick envelope coming from the estate lawyer.

Getting home, I found out that since 1) the 1st property was sold so long ago, and 2) neither my sister nor I were aggresive about getting cash advances ... there is still a little more money - the interest - that has to be divided up between sister and I.

My share is $9,901. Even the crumbs are big.

the Vest

July 13th, 2007 at 05:18 am

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $15 chirashi lunch

Payday is tomorrow and I was up around $200, so in celebration I had the chirashi sushi lunch.

I was weighed today in gym. Still holding at 185, but I lost 1/2 inch on the hips and waist since Paris. Since I started, I've lost 7 inches on the hips and 7 around the waist. (We didn't have enough time to measure the rest.) My body fat dropped, so instead of simply losing 25 pounds, I've really lost 40 pounds of fat and gained 15 pounds of muscle.

The trainer asked me if I would indulge her in a demonstration. She, along with another trainer, helped me into a 40 pound vest. We took a stroll around the gym and went up the stairs. It all came back - the sluggishness, the shortness of breath, and while my joints didn't hurt they were unhappy. Actually, I was worse off then - I didn't have the extra 15 pounds of muscle to help me out. When they took the vest off I felt I could fly to the ceiling!

I'll have to remember this while I'm offered that next piece of cake.

2 out of 3

July 12th, 2007 at 05:12 am

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $9 lunch +$13 Fred Meyer

Ever since I photographed that penny stuck in the blacktop, I've been averaging finding a penny/day. The least likely place that I found a penny was in front of my neighborhood ATM machine. Too busy collecting those 2 twenties to notice the cent at your feet?

My little fiscal project for the summer was to move my 3 recurring monthly charges from my credit card to my debit card, because I found out this spring my credit card was going to increase the interest rate on deadbeats from 9% to 12%.

ISP - $19.95/month - moved to debit
Netflix - $10.88/month - moved to debit
NYT newspaper - $49/month (will increase beginning next week) - still on credit.

Not that I hadn't tried to get the third one off. Its weird, but the NYT customer service told me over the phone that my card must be a credit card, not a debit card. Doesn't matter if it has the little Mastercard logo on it, no sirree bub, picky about the plastic.

I suspect that the NYT has an old validation algorithm. All credit cards have them, because they are supposed to have valid and invalid numbers in fairly random patterns. Think about it. If you gave out credit cards in sequential order, it would mean that you wouldn't have to steal a number - pick any number and you could steal anyone's credit. Anyway, I suspect that debit cards use a different algorithm and the NYT just doesn't have them.

I'll move the NYT to my bank credit card, along with charging the trainer's time. If nothing else, it consolidates a couple of accounts. I plan to keep the old credit card account open, but not use it.

Made a little purchase at Fred Meyer - something that would have been sci-fi to me 2 years ago - I bought lifting gloves for gym. Yesterday, even though the gym was air conditioned, my palms were sweating so much that the bars were slippery and it was difficult to grip. The weights I'm using for the upper body are in the (drumroll) 60-70 lb range. Not like you can tell by looking at me!

500 on a DRP

July 11th, 2007 at 04:19 am

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $5.50 lunch + $14.50 groceries

Most of the fun I have catching up with my credit card is that I can spend the cc payment on things I like - namely assets that pay dividends. I've put $500 on one of my DRPs, the one whose transfer agent is on the poky side. It looks like the transfer agent buys the stock once/quarter, but its hard to tell. If I think that the transfer agent is inefficient, then I'm not excited to put a little something in every month - I much prefer to wait until I have a chunk of money to put in. The stock price on that DRP (MI) has been see-sawing a bit, but its been down. I hope it goes down some more during the time that the transfer agent finally buys it.

As I was telling my DH, I didn't really mean to test 4 different cost averaging buying styles. Style 1 (MMM), where the transfer agent dependably buys the stock on Friday if you get it to them by the following Tuesday, I've been playing it like a tennis ball - sending money back as soon as I get the form. Style 2 (KO), where I have electronic deposit at $1/transfer, I allow the account to take out $51/month for a $50 buy. (sucks - that's like a 2% fee). Style 3 (WEC), where the transfer agent buys twice/month, I've treating a bit like style 1. Style 4 (MI), transfer agent is poky, so I buy in a lump when I can.

I can't really tell the difference in results. But it is easiest to buy on the dips if the transfer agent is dependable, so I've acquired those shares quickly.

Found a great deal on frozen corn - .99/bag. I was walking home, though, and I didn't have the energy to lug a lot of bags, not to mention its hotter than -h right now and I didn't want it to go bad. So I bought only 2 bags and called it a score.

Mr. Whipple, Agent of the Apocalypse

July 10th, 2007 at 04:36 am

...well, the license plate on the car he would drive. Wouldn't work as a getaway car.

farmette plans

July 10th, 2007 at 04:32 am

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $20 chiropractor + $5 curry lunch

Sister called me at work. The final hurdle for the sale of the second piece of land was that the town council had to approve it. It went through without a hitch. Apparently they approved it in about 2 seconds, sister said.

I expect that the estate will be finalized rapidly now, within a couple of months.

Sister went with her insurance agent, and paid the insurance for the farmette. We are now joint owners of the farmette. We talked a bit about getting a joint account in both sister's and my names, just in case sister got struck by lightening or something, and then we talked about plans.

I had to catch her a bit. She's having the foundation on the house redone for $5000. The site assessment for the solar panels came in at about $400 (a copy is to be sent to me), and they are interested in selling sister two lines of solar panels, each for $30K! Apparently there is a rebate of $4K/line, but I still had to remind her that she has now mentally spent $60K!

I'm not saying bad, I said, I'm saying be aware and slow down. Two big projects - tops - per year, so you can keep an eye on the work. Part of the usefulness of the joint account is that it provides a natural budget line. Put a certain amount in yearly and don't add more upon the pain of death. And I was thinking somewhere around 25K for each of us this year! Big Grin

I also told her that I thought that the slowing real estate market would work somewhat to our advantage - a contractor with no jobs will start to work lean and pay attention to us. We could get a better deal somehow. We would be small, but we could keep someone eating next year.

I feel like the bean counter/ emotional brake/ killjoy here. I want this to work out. I want my sister to be happy. I don't want to be taken for a ride. And if sister buys me out in 5 years I at least don't want to lose too much money.

tip box strategy

July 9th, 2007 at 04:11 am

Saving log - $0 tip box (but with a twist)
Spending log - $3.28 coffee, bagel

Found this article about the proliferation of tip jars in the Christian Science Monitor

Text is http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0601/p19s02-hfes.html and Link is
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0601/p19s02-hfes.html

And it got me thinking. My tip box at work is safely tucked away in my desk drawer. Maybe if I set it out, open, with a big sign that says "TIPS!" I could get some more action. At least it wouldn't be just me contributing. Big Grin

making a berry connection

July 8th, 2007 at 07:59 am

So last week we had the Duvall friends over for dinner and Paris pics. They have a few acres, ducks, chickens, a little garden. They also will have a lot of blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. And they want to have a berry picking/ processing party and learn to can.

Well, I'm a pro at waterbath canning, and the possibility of whipping up a few dozen Christmas gifts (jam, sauce, syrup) is highly appealing. So I'm coming with the waterbath canner, the racks, funnel, magnetic lid grabber, recipes, and know-how.

Tonight we had another set of friends that we hadn't seen in a couple of years. Lo and behold, while the late July - early August didn't work for them, they have several dozen canning jars to contribute. A couple will come back filled as a thank you.

Now for the lids and the sugar. Grocery store time. You just don't want to teach people bad habits, and reusing lids is a bad habit. The seal doesn't form right.

The Duvall friends also want to learn to pressure can. We need another friend for later!

deals in weird places

July 7th, 2007 at 06:48 am

Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk + $10 lunch + $20 energy bars

Found the 10 for $10 deal on energy bars at my local Fred Meyer. Its a semi-weird place for me to find food items. I know that the general rule is not to buy items out of place (eg. batteries are usually a bad buy at the grocery store), but being frugal means keeping an open mind and an up-to-date price book.

Also noted that the HT (asian grocery store) has fruit and vegetable prices about a dime cheaper than anywhere else. Including potatoes. At Uwajimaya - another asian grocery store - I saw a package that made me wince. Vermont curry, with a touch of apple and maple (?). Yipes.

shorts!

July 6th, 2007 at 05:18 am

Savings log - $0
Spending log - $3.28 coffee, bagel + $16 gym shorts

It was 80 today. I wore shorts in public for the first time in 10 years. Actually they were gym shorts, so my trainer was excited too.

The second insurance estimate for the farmette was even a better price than the first one, which is a little weird to me.

Hope you all had a great fourth! The Lake Union fireworks show was lovely, but the 1 hr traffic jam at the end was a nightmare.

modern fireproof low rates

July 3rd, 2007 at 05:06 am

Savings log - $0
Spending log - $1.84 coffee, milk +20$ chiropractor +$7 lunch + $9 in the ear earbuds

Found 3 pennies on the sidewalk and in the street. Lately I've been finding them all dinged and beaten up as if they have been coming up from the blacktop.

Everybody's been in and out at work. A stylistic thing for a Wednesday holiday. Do you treat Wednesday as a last day of a little break or the first day of one?

Picked up some in the in-the-ear earbuds to give my ears a rest from the headphones. The headphones are great, but the ear cups press against my ears which pinch against my glasses.

The image today is in honor of Dollars for Dough Nuts for her quest to find vacation lodging.

three events

July 2nd, 2007 at 05:27 am

Just three events:

1.) Sister and I will be formally deeded the farmette on July 8, so we have to transfer and get property insurance in our name by that time. Sister talked to one of our great aunts in the area, and she got a good estimate that we probably will go with. (good enough, I think, that we probably got the family estimate) Another insurance agent will drive by this afternoon, so we'll know what the non-family estimate is.

2.) In the high-interest account that I'm using to my sister for farmette use, it has already made $27 in interest.

3.) After paying off all my top of the month obligations and looking at my slightly increasing savings in teeny brick and mortar savings account, I transferred 200$ into PayPal.

politico

July 1st, 2007 at 06:56 am

Yesterday, I made my first political contribution. $100.

The day before, during the co worker going away lunch, I sat next to another co worker who I had worked with off and on for about 6 years (right now, off). I was pleasantly surprised to find out two things - 1.) he lived fairly close, in the Licton Springs/Northgate neighborhood (another North Seattle neighborhood) 2.) he was running for the Seattle school board.

I found out some interesting things. It costs about $30,000 to run a school board campaign, and currently he has about $2000. He has nearly got a website up and running which means that he can take PayPal, however, he's running into a chicken and egg problem (needs money to get the website up, but the average high-tech Seattlite is loath to write a check). We had interesting chat about the Supreme Court decision against the Seattle Public Schools.

I asked him for more information, he provided it, I wrote him a check large enough so that I'm memorable. I consider it my version of Prosper.com. Big Grin We'll see what happens next.

I also promised to link his campaign site to my blog. I'm only going to link it to Sites I Frequent so as not to be too obtrusive. (this blog's about me, darn it!) If you are reading me from North Seattle, check the link out.


<< Newer EntriesOlder Entries >>