Work is easing up. I'm swatting at big horseflies right and left, so I treated myself to lunch at the Uwajimaya Food Court and a browse in Uwajimaya proper.

Uwajimaya is a grocery/small goods store and a Seattle institution. Any Asian ingredient, and I mean any Asian ingredient, can be found there. One of the best deals in Seattle is the 3 for 10$ sale table piled high with very pretty bowls and sushi plates. Sometimes there's even a 3 for 5$ sale table - I snagged 3 small colanders a couple of years ago. What a coup! I use those all the time. Next to the sale table lay the regular priced bowls - its fun for me to keep track of when one set of bowls moves from one table to another.

I didn't buy anything. Just looking was relaxing for me - peeking at the little jars of wasabi infused fish roe, checking out the lamb patties for 4.99/lb (pricey, but 2$/lb cheaper than my usual grocery store), oohing and aahing at the fresh, real wasabi root for 56$/lb. Its nice to know that if I wanted to run a real Hawaiian luau, I've got the poi covered.

The paycheck got deposited today just like it usually did. At our workplace, the minutes of the management team are emailed to us. Today the email talked about retention and how they should recognize to retain the most productive staff. I wonder if they mean it, and whom they mean.

Put 13$ in the tip jar. Call it a do-it-yourself recognition program. With the advent of exercise, chiropractor, and trainer, I haven't put in my usual 40-50$/month for several months now. It seems so long ago, and I miss that.

Measurement day today. I lost 4 pounds, putting me at 200 and 1/4 pounds. Knew I shouldn't have had that breakfast bar...
And lost another 1/2 inch in the chest, hips, waist, arms, calves.

On the wrecked car front: insurance companies are talking. Talk about infinitely slow and infinitely fine.

Got the glasses this evening. I like them, they are very different in style. I look like I should be reviewing German existential films. I have to learn to tilt my head up slightly to read the fine print.

Sent 40$ to one DRP, 35$ to another. Managed to finish the end of the paycheck with over $200. Slowed down my lunch spending by buying a footlong, having them cut it into four 3 inch pieces, then lunched on them for a couple of days.

90% done with the last nightmare project; now its catchup booking of a lot of little projects and my "pile of shame".

Friday was equally nuts, but I got about 1/2 of the 31M dollar nightmare project done and booked, 2/3 of it if you count it as money.

The big news was that our paychecks didn't make it into direct deposit today, payday. Not our fault, its the data outsourcer, our pay should be in our accounts by Monday. Its rare - I've been working for this non-profit for over six years and this is the first time I've experienced it here.

We got an email from CEO of the outsourcer, and our VP of HR each telling us that if checks bounce because of this - our payroll people will reimburse us for the fees.

A quick transfer from checking to savings covered what I had out, but it got me thinking. The pay yourself first technique is not such a no brainer - you got to remember that commitment so you can either cancel it or cover it, something that you need a brain for.

I didn't have that much in straight savings that I could transfer in seconds. The interest rate on that savings account is worse than paltry at .025% APR. I had enough in there to cover my obligations, but I dipped under the 300$ minimum, so I'll probably get a little fee now for being under the minimum. So how much do you keep in a very fluid savings account at nearly no interest? My original plan was to keep only the minimum. I'm rethinking that minimum, to bump it up a bit higher.

But all these things are just a tweeking for me...a couple of my co workers are sweating bullets over this.

Vacation all next week. Ah.....!

Put $3 in the tip box.

Wall to wall crazy. Me: trying to get at least one of my horror projects (one involving 1.02M, the other involving 31M) done before the end of the week so I can, in good conscience, enjoy my week off. Everyone else: can you fix this 200$ discrepancy? Here's an envelope for you! This isn't working! or the ever-popular favorite...Hi! I had to chase lawyer friend out my office because everyone else put me in a foul, foul mood. Neither the DND (do not disturb) button nor a shut door deterred anyone today. I did manage to get the 1.02M project done. Tomorrow comes the 31M.

On the bus back home, it got me thinking that it would be so ... restful... to be irresponsible and dumb. To ask questions of someone else. To just be in the moment with what was set in front of me. I must really, really, really need next week.

On the financial front(s):
1. TIAA CREF money is heading toward Vanguard.
2. Voted my proxy on two stocks. KO had the more interesting things to vote for/against - disclosing charitable contributions, report of KO's involvement in India's water problem, report of KO involvement in abuses in Columbia. WEC only had the Board of Directors and which of the big-4 accountants would run the audit.
3. Got copies of the probate filings for dad's estate. Nothing for me to do, they were just an FYI.
4. Sent in 40$ for the MMM Drp.
5. 30K into a bank CD, 6 months at 4.35%. I figure it will generate about 3.57$/day

My trainer got semi-upset at me yesterday over 5 girl scout cookies. Didn't matter that they were lemon coolers (not peanut butter tagalogs or samosas), that 5 was the suggested serving size, that I had them with a glass of lowfat milk, and that I bought the single box on the very last day of the sale.

You're coming into the gym tomorrow! And since today was yesterday's tomorrow, there I was after work, pedaling away for 30 minutes. I managed to work off about 200 calories, or about 7 girl scout cookies.

Measurements tomorrow, and we are on the home stretch of the fitness challenge, so I think she's nervous. I see a lot of little changes - I have a little notch between the top of my leg and my butt, my gym clothes are now loose, I now know how to do a workout when I get to the gym.

Ah well, tomorrow's another day.

Today was our lead auditor's last day, so I treated her to one of my favorite Vietnamese places in the Pike Market. Lunch for the two of us came to 20$. She did a number of boring projects for me, so 10$ was worth it to me.

And Vietnamese food will look good against the girl scout cookies.

Breathed in and out and connected with the one or two oxygen atoms that were in Julius Caesar's last breath.

Another celebratory lunch (dim sum, yum!) for another coworker who is going away. Walking back to the office, I mentioned to my lawyer friend that it feels like the end. He concurred; the executors wouldn't offer an advance if the creditors hadn't come forward and been paid.

I'll take the executors offer and ask for 30K, put it in a short-term CD and spend the next 6 months to plan.

Got paid today. My helper had exciting personal news - he's within a couple of months of paying off his student loans. He asked me for advice, now that he will free up about 200$/month. Should I hike up my 403B - I already get the match? Go for a Roth, I said.

Worked out yesterday by myself. I think it worked okay - I had trouble figuring out a cardio move in the set, and I didn't remind myself to drink water as much as the trainer would, but I got warm and sweaty nonetheless.

Spending log (3/15) - 1.65$ coffee + 14$ dim sum
Saving log (3/15) - 0$

Spending log (3/14) - 1.65$ coffee + 4.50$ lunch
Saving log (3/14) - 9$ tip box

Getting to work this morning was an absolute mess. North Seattle had maybe an inch of snow, but what was underneath was a solid coating of black ice. Just walking on the sidewalk was bad; crossing intersections quickly enough to dodge sliding cars was a nightmare. The last little cross street had a wicked little hill of black ice right at the crosswalk. I almost fell there, but I fared better than nearly every car trying to make that intersection. All the drivers were trying to hit the gas to get into the intersection - a chorus of squealing, smoking tires. One car took four tries. When the car finally cleared the intersection, the driver promptly made a left turn into the grocery store. Sure hope the Starbucks coffee was worth it, dude.

Waited 45 minutes for the bus. My feet were cold, I wanted to read my paper and have some coffee to start the day. I gave up and crossed the treacherous street again, into a Tully's. Got warm, got an overpriced coffee, got an overpriced pastry, set my paper down, made a phone call to the boss, watched in the window as the... yes you guessed it, the bus pulled up and picked everybody else up.

How long do you think you'll be? my boss asked.
About forty five minutes, I said, a thin stream of steam coming out of my ears.

To hell with it, I thought. I've got the overpriced coffee, overpriced pastry, and had my paper. I'm going to enjoy them. Half an hour later, I finished and got back to the stop thirty seconds before the next bus came.

If routines save me money, this anti-routine lost me money.

Anyway, two hours late to work. (Stopped by the chiropractor before I got in to work.) Missed the phone survey. The only productive financial thing I did was the ritual of counting my office tip box money and depositing it into savings.

Spending log - 500$ credit card + 60$ copay chiropractor + 1.81$ coffee + 2.50$ pastry + 8$ lunch

Saving log - 41$ tip box + 35$ Drp + 40$ Drp

Life's rolling on.

Attended another little lunch and learn about our 403B's. Half an hour later, I was showing a co worker how to go into her account and rebalance it/ even readjust it. She'll teach her floor. The hard part is figuring out where to go when you get into your account.

Apparently the dog mutual fund in our set is getting replaced in the beginning of March but in these last couple of months that fund has been barreling along. Rebalanced it just to take my profit before we pick the next dog.

And they introduced the social choice fund. Someone asked about their criteria. The prospectus said basically it was whatever the fund manager picked as social choice. Ha ha. Talk about circular logic.

Changed my bus and have been doing my 1 mi walk now for a week and I've been pushing myself on the elliptical machines by keeping the same level of difficulty but trying to move faster. Tried the stationary bike for the last couple of minutes - what was a challenge in December now is not. Yay! Measurements on Saturday. Boo.

Nothing, no news at all from sister. Now that I've blogged will come news. Bought the I-bond for the month, two of my Drp stocks have declared dividend increases - about .04/ quarter/ share - good news there. I took one of the Pinecone invites and I now will be in a phone survey tomorrow. The money appears to good but if its going to take zillions of hours I'll have to rethink that. I will finish the month at 50$. Thank you God that February's short.

Called in sick yesterday, so the work piled up today. Did manage to get a couple of things done but I also managed to say, "I am swamped, go away...."

Walked home - it took 19 minutes. I panted on the hill, but I stopped only because I would run into a nut-ball car.

Best Buy will be coming through with the rebate in a couple of weeks; the paycheck arrived. Unfortunately, the electric bill came in too and it was 40$ higher than it was last year. Last year was freakishly warm and sunny; but no matter, time to twist DH's arm and have him chip in a bit.

Spending log - 500$ credit card + 183.56$ electric bill + 5$ lunch + 1.75$ coffee
Saving log - 40$ DRP

Is now in my savings account, at least 4 days early. Very nice, because what with the copays to the chiropractor and the fitness routine, this is really going to be February's new money. I plan to keep it in the savings account, and it will eventually roll up into a $300 I-bond.

So ends 2005 tax season.

We were asked at work to change our addresses (if necessary) on our medical benefit accounts using the web, which is good for me because now I know how to get into it. Time to take a peek and perhaps put some pages and settings into my password protected USB drive.

Work is piling up and now my coworkers are really starting to bug me. I'm getting better at not rising to the bait when someone stands at my doorway. Without looking up or away from my data I simply say, "not this afternoon. Come back later."

I did something that I've never done before. I went to a lunch place where I was seated off in the distance. I waited 5 minutes for water or chance to order. Nothing. I left. I never do that, but today was a frustrating day, it was a late lunch, and with just the menu on the table, I didn't owe them anything so I figured it was time to cut bait. Next place I went to I got my food in five minutes.

Saving log - 4$ tip box + 539$ refund
Spending log - 1.75$ coffee + 7.00$ lunch

Not much is happening financially. I'm waiting for: IRS refund, the BestBuy rebate, my paycheck for the back half of the month.

Used a BOGO coupon for both lunch and dinner, saved 6$, put the savings in the tip box. Still am fairly flush for the next few days.

Doing more of the free motion machines for gym interspersed with 10 sec of standup, hard biking. Lots of leg work, abs and twisting with weights. I now have a waist. Tomorrow is the first day of the fitness challenge, the before stage. Wonder what these measurements will be?

Today was just one snafu after another. Work is grinding yet again. Time to shut the door and hit the DND button.

Lots of little financial bits - bit of everything:

1. Put 5$ in the Super Bowl pool. Unfortunately, I signed before my luck magnet did; plenty of spots but no guidance. I'm flying blind. -$5.

2. Got a little e-note from the website that I filed my taxes with. Filing accepted. I should get my $540 refund in my savings account in 2 weeks.

3. Congratulations all around that I made it 6 years at my job and I'm vested in the retirement program. (who would have thunk?) Difference between 80% and 100% vested is about $1500.

4. The executors gave my sister a mystery call. She asked me whether I got one. Nope. Wonder what it is - creditors slipped under the wire, or the sale of the second piece of property?

A little weird today. One of the data entry staff got fired today and was escorted out of the building. He apparently threatened another of the data entry staff (via blog, deep irony) and that was that.

At one point I had thought that I might reveal to my lawyer friend (also co worker) that I had this blog (who has a blog), but you know that this journal is strangely intimate because its so detached. As soon as anyone at work knows, I'll be holding my thoughts, fearing comments and this journal will lose a lot.

Of course, I can have a little bit of fun. If anyone really wants to know what my lawyer friend looks like:

http://hoquiamhouse.blogspot.com/

He's the one holding the filthy underwear in the first picture from 1/20/2006.

Got the sewer/water bill.

Sister figures that if the medical creditors don't show by the beginning of February, the four months will have passed. Worked out at the gym today with the new personal trainer - she's funny and I think we will get along well. She does more stretches, which I think are very useful.

The spinal adjustments have been working pretty well too. I've never done a decent squat for a couple of months; I've always pulled from the left, my right knee had always buckled and my right foot turns out. Today - perfect squats, Straight up, straight down.

In the football pool Sunday. 30$! You could win the first quarter for 10$, the halftime 30$, the third quarter 10$, and the game 50$. I'll tell you my technique. In the last football pool, one person won three out of four of the quarters - I considered her the luck magnet. If there was an empty spot in the grid next to her name, I took it. That's all the skill I have in gambling.

I'll have to contact our landlord; the sewer/water bill is late. I feel silly sometimes asking for my bills. Cripes, don't they need the money?

Had a Szechuan lunch with my lawyer friend/co worker. He's in the midst of his own battle with our HR department. He calculated the 403 B match one way, HR another, for a difference of $600.

I asked sister for info about the US Bank asset/creditor list. What is it? Are we at the end?

Savings log - 4$ tip box + 30$ gambling winnings
Spending log - 1.75$ coffee + 13$ lunch

So I'm pretty sure that no one is out and about in Seattle at this moment - we are in the midst of the Seahawks game. I've put $5 in a football pool Friday night at work. I never win at these things, but you never, never know.

Last night I took a look at whether my health insurance covers chiropractic. They do, to a point. 12 spinal adjustments in a year, X-rays included; I figure that I'll be getting twice as many adjustments. I'll check tomorrow to see if I can still slip into the Medical Flex Plan. If not, time to ask what each adjustment costs and plan from there.

First day back at work and I'm still in a good mood. The horseflies landed in the two days I was away, so they were easy to swat and kill.

No gym today, but I did buy a yoga mat yesterday (Target - $19.99) and ran through some calisthentics. Soft but grippy. No sliding around and no carpet burns! I also bought a couple of large workout shirts - I fit into them, but not in the best way. Instead getting 10 lbs of mud into a 5 lb sack, its more like 5 1/4 lbs. I'm treating getting into them properly as a goal.

DH and I are going to use the free night at the hotel this Friday and use up a spare restaurant gift card. Frugal fun! And we will be off Monday, and I have another day off on Tuesday. All to chip away only slightly at the large quantity of vacation time. We should all have such troubles.

I'm going to get one last cup of coffee from the coffee card tomorrow. Tomorrow, the trainer promised that we'll work the upper body. Friday comes the paycheck.

1/10
Saving log - 0$
Spending log - 7$ (fun stuff from Body Shop) + 20$ (2 workout shirts) + 21$ (yoga mat & bottle of water) + 7.62$ lunch + 1.65$ coffee

1/11
Saving log - 0$
Spending log - $4.23 lunch

I decided to use the other half of gramma's gift money to fully fund my 2006 IRA. A couple of weeks ago I funded my 2005 IRA. Per retire@50, none of this pansy-a**ed dollar cost averaging. I had the $4000, I put it in all at once in Vanguard and now it has all year to grow.

Had a nice lunch with a co worker. Turns out that she has inheritance money that has been sitting in her brick and mortar bank for a year. I sent her an ING account invite. I know, I know, now ING is sooo done compared to HSBC, Emigrant, and PayPal even, but still. Its a big jump from .5% to 3.8%, much bigger than 3.8% to 4.25%, and the 25$ for her is a nice little incentive. We dare not even mention the $10 for me.

That's what it felt like today. All of the bigwigs are gone on Christmas break, at home or in sunnier places thinking of ways to torment the rest of us. I saw an admin playing computer games. I have to say that reading a book is a classier way to pass the time. You look better.

Down in our department, we are hard at work processing money and pledges so our non-profit might live. We have quite a backlog, and now its a matter of keeping people cheerful as the piles keep expanding. Oh well, piles growing is better than piles non-existant. We work tomorrow, but Monday we have the day off, and next Monday we have the day off also. Otherwise, we are expecting a little business as big donors that want a tax break for 2005 get their gifts in under the wire.

About the only frugal thing I'm doing is using up that Starbucks card, and eating cheap lunches. My favorite curry place is closed for the holidays. With 8 days left before the next paycheck, I'm down to $185.00. I'm going to see how long I can hold out before dipping into savings. Feel the frugal burn!

Payday today on the 15th.

Got a cryptic email from the VP of HR, with a cc with the COO. The takehome message was that I had apparently been underpaid slightly since February and that I should have gotten bonus and retro pay. The 600$ bump was real. Whew, I guess. It works out to about 25$ more a paycheck, about 40$ gross, and about 4.00$/day, or about .50/hr. Would have been nice if they had told me two weeks ago, but these things happen.

Crappy day otherwise. Its a rare payday that's crappy, but today the highlight was the check and it all went down hill from there. A couple of key people were out. Apocalyptic horsefly swarm at work, stupid questions and the fax machine didn't work. I didn't get to do what I wanted done until the end of the day.

I had about 1.5 M worth of pledges to check, stamp and send to our auditors. Eeeps! Time to lock the door, batten down the hatches, cancel a couple of meetings and get it done. Since I avoided the meetings, it really wouldn't do to be caught at the gym either (the gym is across the street from work), so I canceled today's workout. We are in the thick of it.

But lunch to me is sacred and I wanted to get some fresh air. I was also curious, with the re-routes in Seattle, whether a couple of buses that used to go in the tunnel would take me where I wanted to go in the International District. I hopped on, and satisfied my curiousity. Nope. Not really close. By the time I could get off, I was at least a mile away from where I hoped to be. So I had gym by other means.

Spending log - 1.65$ coffee + 7.00$ lunch and mini-lunch
Saving log - $0

Lawyer friend bought my lunch and blew my diet. We had a nice normal talk and said nothing about any inheritance issues. For a going away party of the payroll coordinator I ate fruit and skipped the cake. It was very nearly a no-spend day.

Sister got ahold of the insurance company and lo and behold the claim form was for the $2000+ check that we received last week. Weird to me that the form came after the check.

Stomach muscles are sore from the baby ab crunches I did yesterday. Nice to know I have abs. They will never be a six pack; I think if I get them down to a 1 liter size from the 2 liter size I'll be doing well.

Moved the 600$ extra from the paycheck to ING and started asking around. If I have to give it back, I can still catch the float.

Spending log - $1.65 coffee
Savings log - $3.00 tip box

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.

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?

Geez, after only 6 weeks? I try to space out my junk food proclivities, but today it was very rainy and dark in Seattle. I woke up at 7:00 and wondered if I was in a cave and when daylight would come. Worse, I really wanted to stay in nice, warm bed. I bribed myself - a junk food lunch if I would wake up and go to work.

A co-worker wanted to thank me for a couple of emergency projects I did for him. (I work for a non-profit and during fundraising season nearly everything is an emergency project) I picked up a Starbucks gift card as a thank you from another co-worker...so I gave him my card and asked him to load it up. Haven't used the card yet, but it seems like a quickie way to collect goodwill.

Scheduled my next set of I-bond purchases in 2006. 300$/month for 6 months. Since I worked my way up saving 500$, it means that I free up 200$ to buy more DRP stock. I know that there's a calculation (from the Drip Advisor) that you can make on your portfolio to buy stock in the most strategic way. A nice little project. I have a couple of months to figure it out and either pick up an Excel spreadsheet with the calculation or make one.

Tonight the tops of all the trees at my bus stop look like they are covered with black, oblong fruit. Then one of the fruits flutters a bit and settles on another branch. Starlings settling down for the night. Brrrr.

Spending log - 1.65$ coffee + 6.28$ burger, fries, root beer.
Saving log - 3$ in the tip jar

Well, no day away from work goes unpunished. I was hopping today so the day went by fast.

At lunch and learn today we learned about on new medical insurance plan. The old one would increase over 30% from last year. The new plan, a PPO, seems pretty good. Too good. I wonder what the catches are.

The box sister sent was my high school stuff. Evil woman!

Saving log - 4$ tip jar.
Spending log - 1.65$ coffee + 4.38$ lunch (curry special)

I was sick, so I stayed home. Actually it was due to eating a large quantity of roasted, salted pumpkin seeds. I was impacted, let's leave it at that. I called it in as food poisoning, and although I wasn't exactly poisoned, it did involve food. What else was I going to say?

Most of the day I slept, except when I ate the last 4 caramels from trick or treating. (Gotta get right back on that horse ) We got 20 trick or treaters last night, last year we got zero. Very unpredictable. Its why I love caramels - they're usually the frugal choice.

Got the household inventory, the executor's summary, and a box from sister in the mail today. I asked for a several items and pictures and I suspect that that's inside the box. The letters were soaking wet in the mailbox; I'll have to email the executors and warn them to send anything that I have to sign in a water-proof envelope.

I'm a bit disappointed by the fixed rate rate on the new I-bonds, but buying a small amount each month ($300-$500) means I have the luxury of keeping them put. I don't have a large lump of money nor time to chase interest rates.

Yippee!!!!!
Since its retroactive from the end of August, the paycheck is about $120 (net). I figure the raise will be about $40/ paycheck, and along with the net $50/paycheck salary adjustment and the original promotion it means that I'm making 20% more now than I was in January. Thank you, emergency fund!

It'll bulk up my ING account, but I'm seriously considering bumping up my 403(b) to 15% up from 12%. On the other hand I don't really like my fund choices. There's always starting a Roth, or just simply going it alone and bumping up my stock and I-bond purchases.

And then what to do when the inheritance comes in. I also got a phone call asking for my mailing address re: mom's death benefit. I called them back and gave them my address. I wonder what that is?

But as for now, I broke down and bought new shoes and ordered the Looney Tunes vol 3 DVD. Spent the $120.

Put another 50$ into bank savings (not ING), and put another 7$ in the tip box, which eventually goes into bank savings. This is where I pull the funds to buy the savings bonds. Paid my share of the rent ($445). Saw online that I bought over 1 share of Coke stock at the end of the month and bought another third of a share by the quarterly dividend.

Yesterday was just plain weird. I forgot my PDA (Handspring Visor) so I felt naked all day. The bus was packed by mostly rude people (what kind of person can sit next to a 75 year old woman standing in the aisle?), but a few were nice enough. A car cut the bus off and parked right in front of the bus, causing it to have problems getting out of its stop. The driver was incensed enough to get out of the bus and yell at the guy for a minute or two. A few blocks later he mused (over the microphone) why are car drivers so stupid. A passenger shot back: all the bright car owners are on the bus.

I was invited to an inpromptu lunch at my favorite curry place. I barely knew the two of my lunch companions from work, but they were friendly enough. I opened my wallet and whooops -- I had to borrow some money. I was strangely unembarrassed when I asked the woman next to me for a loan.

After lunch I went to the bank, and the only place that had something cheap enough to break a twenty the right way was a Starbucks. So I bought and drank a coffee at 1 pm. Went back to work and paid off my loan. She was a little surprised to get it back so quick (45 min, no chance for interest). Right around 11 pm I knew that that 1 pm coffee was a very, very big mistake.

It set me up for a not so terrific day today. But not much happened. At least nothing weird.

My six month job evaluation went very, very well. I scored a 4 out of 5; 5 means we're gonna burn the building down if you leave. And I only had to get a 3, which means we have no complaints about you. The COO put a note into our HR department that I qualify for a % increase according to my offer letter. And its retroactive - my six months was due a month ago.

It will be interesting though. We got a COLA adjustment in August. HR could simply shoot back that they already gave me the increase. Of course, the offer letter didn't mention a phrase like "in lieu of other salary adjustments", so I might well get the rare and elusive double raise. (triple if count the original promotion).

Last night, to celebrate and to get out of the house, DH and I went to the St. Demetrios Church Greek Festival, and I bought $26 worth of Greek foods that I never can seem to find. Taramosalata, the marbled halva, kasseri cheese, the cookie/ baklava sampler (complementary insulin shot taped inside - just kidding), a Greek candy bar. I love trying stuff like that. Always a leap into the unknown. Usually I like to try to pick up one of those charity cookbooks - the church ladies recipes - but the production values are too high so you know all the recipes were written by a professional. We went to a wine tasting - 4 whites and 4 reds for 5$. A couple of bottles were tasty but nothing worth the 15$ - 20$ per bottle.

Hit and miss at the grocery stores - romaine was at good price, chicken stock was at a high. But November, time of cheap chicken stock, will come.

I skipped the bubble tea for lunch and to reward myself for my frugality, I put in 5$ into my tip box. My total in the tip box came to $48, so I deposited my squeezings in my savings account. And then I turned around and took out $40 from the lobby ATM. On paper it looks like I only saved $8, but since I don't apparently like to spend my emergency funds, it feels like shielded 40$ from spending. I guess that's what saving feels like to me...protecting slices of my money from my nefarious spending purposes.

I submitted my 6 month job evaluation to the COO, who is my substitute boss. He'll be the one to evaluate me.

I have to tell you this story. 7 months ago I applied for this job (which was a promotion) as an interior applicant, was interviewed, and got the job. I set a price for myself, which was on the high end but in the salary range on the application. However during the salary negotiation (which was done in my cubicle over the phone, sheesh), the VP of HR basically low-balled me, citing that I was going up 2 pay grades, and that the only "fair" thing was the low end, which as a bone to throw, they bumped up to the lower third. Since they put their cards on the table, I put mine down and told them what I wanted. The VP of HR said, "no way you're getting that." We're talking a difference of about $1,500.

I talked with my would-be boss about this, who talked to his boss, the COO. They agreed that they had the budget for my price and both went to bat for me. HR and the CEO wouldn't budge, so I politely declined the offer. (The VP of HR said to me, "you're very calm about this.") The office atmosphere was pretty odd for awhile. Eventually a deal emerged; I would get the salary I wanted if my evaluation (this particular one) was above a certain level. I asked for it in writing and I got that, so I accepted this job.

The reason I'm telling this tale in this journal is that I had a secret weapon while I was negotiating. At the time, I had savings of about $10,000 (the kiss my a** fund, savings bonds, some stock). No wonder I was calm! And right now its over $14,000...that'll only make me calmer during my evaluation.

I mention this now because I came across an article on how you might not need an emergency fund, but that you really need "financial flexibility" in the form of credit cards and a HELOC.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Learntobud...

In the narrowest sense, "they" are right - you have a pile of money that has to be kept liquid, earning lowish interest and away from the consumer-industrial complex. And you are losing that opportunity cost! But after I got done wiping my eyes from laughing so hard from reading that article, I can personally attest that the safety of my emergency fund gave me my calmness. A HELOC would not have worked.

Opportunity cost be dammed.