Finance Gets Personal

Thanks, Money Saving Mom, for passing on this great Father’s Day deal:

If you buy $100 worth of Dockers men’s clothing or accessories (before taxes/discounts) from Sears between now and Sunday, you can mail it in for a $75 Shell gas card. This would be a perfect way to get your Father’s Day shopping done, get some needed dress clothes for the men in your life and save on gas! Click here for details.

As I’ve mentioned before, my 10 year high school reunion is coming up in a few weeks. Many people are not going because the cost is $50 per person with a cash bar, which is quite expensive for my city.

Well, it turns out that the actual cost is only $35 per person, but they are charging $50 per person so they can use the extra money for next time’s deposit (in 10 years!). I am pretty ticked about that since who knows if I’ll even be alive in ten years and because they aren’t being up front about it.

So, my main group of friends has decided not to go to the evening event. However, we’ll be going to a picnic at the park that afternoon with the rest of the class. It has been suggested that we donate $20 per family to attend this event because most of the food is provided (we just have to bring a side). However, I believe the food has been donated by sponsors, so I’m not too happy about that either. It seems to me like the people organizing this event are upset that they’ve had to put out for the $300 deposit on the evening event’s facility, and are trying to recoup the money in whatever way possible (even from those not attending).

Argh!

(Photo Credit: Senior Ball - King and Queen by clarkstown67, used under Creative Commons licensing)

I’d been hearing about Sarah Jessica Parker’s Bitten clothing line a lot lately, but didn’t realize there was a Steve & Barry’s in my area. Turns out there is, so I went there tonight.

All the pieces in the collection are in the $8.98-$10.98 price range, and some things were on special for 2 for $15 or 3 for $15. I got a summer top, bermuda shorts, hoodie jacket, two pairs of earrings and a necklace for $49. It was great.

But here’s the best part. The shopping center includes all of the following barganista stores:

Steve & Barry’s
TJ Maxx
Off Broadway Shoes
Target
Old Navy

I could die! This is going to be my first stop for shopping from now on.

Now all we need is a Forever 21 and a more convenient Urban Outfitters.

Writing a blog is making me realize how incredibly fickle I am.

One day, I’m pining for a new mattress, the next day I need a redecorated (well, more like decorated) living room.

This week, I’ve been wanting a new computer. Badly.

You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting as frequently since I switched to Wordpress on a self-hosted server. Well, that’s because my six-year-old iMac likes to crap out everytime I try to write a post. And don’t even get me started on uploading pictures!

So, what am I going to do? But a new $1,800 iMac? I don’t know. I don’t really have the money for that right now (obviously).

So last night I started trying to “fix” my machine. I’m getting rid of all the stuff I don’t need, downloading updates for everything that isn’t running on the most recent version (that my computer will support) and doing weird stuff like removing all the languages except English.

But, a girl can dream…(even a Finance Girl)

My 10-year high school reunion is next month.

There is going to be a barbeque on Saturday, an evening event with dinner, a DJ and possibly a mechanical bull (!) on Saturday night and an afternoon outing at the lake on Sunday.  People are ticked though because the evening event is $50 per person with a cash bar.  In our town, that’s a little ridiculous…

Still, I am probably going. 

But that is not the end of the drama.  Apparently the popular people planning the event left out some of the class officers, can’t find a bunch of people’s addresses and planned all of the events except for the barbeque outside of the town we graduated from (thus not contributing to its economy) and scheduled the reunion for the same weekend as the town’s annual “Community Days.”  So now other class members are blasting them on MySpace and scheduling their own events for that night.

Can we say high school all over again?

Photo Credit: High School Yearbook Photo by stillthedudeabides, used under Creative Commons licensing

I knew that stopping the debt snowball to replace our heat pump and hot water heater was necessary, but also dangerous.

You see, once I get started on a home improvement project, I want to keep improving!

Here is my list of things I currently want to do to the house:

• Install a storm door for the front entryway
• Replace the water-damaged storm door that leads out to the deck
• Replace the door leading out to the patio, which doesn’t close right and has rotted in the corner
• Put new knobs and deadbolts on the doors (shiny brass is icky!)
• Tile the floors in the bathrooms and laundry room
• Replace our aging dishwasher, stove and microwave with stainless steel appliances
• Replace our aging washer and dryer with front-loading machines
• Remove the popcorn ceiling texture from the ceilings
• Replace the ceiling fan in our bedroom
• Replace the carpeting
• Get a twin-size bunk bed for my stepson to save floor space in his bedroom and make it easier for his friends to spend the night

Some of these are needs and some are wants, but I don’t want to use our debt snowball payments for any of them.  So, it might be a while…

Meanwhile, my husband has this itch to finish the basement (once we’re sure we’ve got the water problem taken care of).  I don’t really think this is a good use of our money, but he’d like to at least finish the “office” section of the basement before we have a baby (the current office would be the baby’s room).  So, we’re trying to allocate some of our budget toward that without sacrificing our debt repayment.

Conflicting goals are such a pain!

Photo Credit: M. Design Interiors Inc. by decor8, used under Creative Commons licensing 

When you tell someone you are buying a car, a house or even a new pair of shoes, do they ever express worry?

Or do they say they’re “so happy for you,” “jealous” or offer, “congratulations!” (that must be one great pair of shoes, by the way…).

Now that I’ve become a personal finance geek, what I really want to say is, “Are you financing that car?,” “How much of a down payment do you have?” and “Do you have any credit card debt?”

But those are not things a polite person says.

So instead, we confirm each other’s stupidity, encourage it even.

“Oh, wow! Did you get a new car?!”
“Is that a new top? I love that! Where did you get it?”
“Life’s too short to clean your own house!”

Right…

I guess I’m weird. Just don’t expect me to feign interest in the vacation you’re taking with your economic stimulus check.

Photo Credit: Consumerism by Daniel Hoye, used under Creative Commons licensing

In the past two weeks, have you made an “emergency” trip to the store because you were out of something you need, like toothpaste, paper towels or shampoo?

When visiting, did you only purchase the item you ran out of?

On Thursday, I made a Target run for Q-Tips (which I’ve been out of for a few weeks). I also bought cotton balls (something I ran out of a few months ago), a new soap-dispensing brush for the kitchen sink (the old one broke and I threw it away last week) and pencil lead for our mechanical pencils (my stepson has been complaining that none of our mechanical pencils work because we don’t have lead).

So, my trip to buy generic $1 Q-Tips cost over $11. Of course, this example isn’t the best because I only purchased things I actually needed, but if it hadn’t been my lunch hour and I had time to browse, I’m sure I could have found a few other things to spend money on.

Following this logic, the more visits you make to a store, the more you end up spending in the long run.

Soooo, to save money, reduce your trips.

Here’s how:

• The next time you go to Target or Walmart for household items, buy two of each item on your list that you use regularly. For example, if deodorant is on your list, buy two sticks.
• Start a list of items you buy regularly in Word or Excel. My list includes things like shaving cream, trash bags, toilet bowl cleaner, light bulbs, computer paper, etc. Each time you go to the store, add any items that aren’t already listed (and that you plan to buy again).
• Once you’ve accumulated two of everything, you’re ready to reduce your store visits to once per month (or less). Whenever your first stick of deodorant runs out and you open the second one, circle “deodorant” on your printed Word/Excel list. Once you have a lot of items circled on your list, make one trip to the store and get everything.

This method is great because it not only saves you money by reducing impulse purchases and gas usage, it also allows you to stock up on items when they’re on sale (even if you haven’t circled that item on your list).

It does cost you some money up front, but is well worth it in the long-run. And, if you are ever in dire financial straights, you can rest easy knowing you can skip your trips to the store for a month or two without running out of anything.

(This post was included in the Festival of Frugality, hosted by Sound Money Matters.)

Photo Credit: Under the Bathroom Sink by Jill - Glossy Veneer, used under Creative Commons licensing

The phrase “living paycheck to paycheck” gets thrown around a lot, but the truth is, I don’t really understand what it means.

Here are some possible definitions:

1. Not having enough money in savings to survive for a reasonable amount of time without a paycheck (i.e., not having a three-month emergency fund)
2. Spending your entire paycheck (or more) and not saving any money (i.e., not making any financial progress)
3. Commiting so much of your paycheck toward debt-repayment and/or savings that you are dependent on your next paycheck to pay upcoming bills (i.e., me)

I’m inclined toward the first definition, but I’m not sure. What do you think?

(This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by Lazy Man and Money.)

Photo Credit: self portrait as a custom framing consultant by Maproom Systems, used under Creative Commons licensing

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

You’re planning on giving your sister a $20 birthday present - probably a DVD that she’s been wanting. You get to the store, and the DVD is on sale for $9.99. “Great,” you think, “Now I can buy her the DVD and a CD.”

Stop right there.

If you want to get out of debt, you need to gift at retail price. This means that if you can find something that’s worth $20, but on sale for $10, you stop shopping and snowflake the newly found $10 to your debt.

The recipient will never know, and you won’t have to feel guilty about cutting your gift budget.

(This post was included in the Festival of Frugality, hosted by Rather be Shopping)

Photo Credit: Closeup of a gift tag by ashleyg, used under Creative Commons licensing