Pecuniary Associates 
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I was trying to come up with an idea for today’s posts, so I tried to think of some stupid financial thing that I did recently.
And I couldn’t come up with anything.
Of course, that’s good. But it makes for some boring blogging. Clearly, I need to go out on some sort of a spending binge. Completely blow my budget. Buy something totally ridiculous.
I am going on vacation next week, so there is of course the potential for all of this. (Note to would-be burglars – I have a house sitter coming. Thwarted.) But for now, things are good. I really do think that a lot of it is situational. We had a crazy snowstorm. While I wasn’t stuck inside, my world got very small for over a week. There was nowhere to go, no money to spend. I made a point of not doing any online shopping because I didn’t want to blow the budget. So here I sit, nearing the end of the month and sitting pretty, budget wise.
Of course, I’m not cured of my spending woes. I”m sure I’ll blow my budget soon enough!
Last week managed to get away from me. Work got kind of crazy when people finally caught up after all the snow. While it was kind of fun to have a few snow days, we’re definitely paying for it now. I’m hoping this week isn’t quite as bad.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten a number of e-mails from the various online banks I use for my savings accounts. Once again, they have all dropped their interest rates. I’ve become fairly numb to it at this point. It used to really bug me when I found out rates were dropping again, but now it’s pretty much expected. Rates on my ING Direct savings account have dropped three times this year alone! On some level, it’s just nice to be making any interest on my money, though I do miss the days of the 5% interest rates.
I think what bugs me the most is the low rates on CDs. I just had another CD from my CD ladder mature and I didn’t even bother to lock it into another CD. I realize locking in a low rate is better than locking in no rate at all, but it’s just a little frustrating.
Does that mean I’m less likely to save? Heck no! If nothing else, it means I need to try harder to save since I won’t be earning as much interest. And someday, those rates may go back up again. Maybe not this year or next year, but eventually.
So don’t let it get you down, savers! Keep saving!
Hope everyone enjoyed Fat Tuesday yesterday. I celebrated by running sprints at the gym. I don’t do anything the normal way, it seems.
Anyway, the end of Fat Tuesday means that today is officially the beginning of Lent. I was raised Catholic, so for me, the idea of giving something up (or doing something to better myself) during this 40 day period is not unusual, but I know a lot of non-religious people who choose to use this time period to also try to do something good. Maybe they give up coffee or try to not spend any money. Maybe they vow to hit the gym three times a week. The hope is that if you can do something for 40 days, you can keep it up after the 40 day period has ended.
I wasn’t going to do anything this year. And then something opened my eyes.
Last night, on my way home, I was stopped by a couple. The man told me his story of looking for money to get a hotel because the shelter was full. He told me that his girlfriend was pregnant and that he had just lost his job. He admitted it was embarassing, but any help I could provide would be great.
Was he telling me the truth? I don’t know. But either way, I gave him all the cash I had on me (a whopping $4).
Typically, I don’t give money to people on the street. But as I was walking home, I started to think about it. Maybe this guy was totally scamming me. But let’s say even 50% of the people panhandling for money are scamming. That means that 50% really do need that money. And I only gave the guy $4. How often do I waste $4 on something ridiculous>
So I’m thinking that for Lent, I’m always going to try to have a few dollars on me and give money to panhandlers as I pass. I don’t care if they need it for food or shelter or if they just want to get a drink. Either way, it brightens someone’s day and it reminds me just how lucky I really am.
Back to work today. Looks like things are slowly getting back to normal, though the roads are still a mess with giant piles of snow. I’m hoping the sun will help melt some of it over the week so I can get outside to run this weekend. I’ve got a ten mile run scheduled in my half-marathon preparation and I absolutely do not want to have to do it inside!
I realized over this storm that I could have been better prepared for the weather. Oh, I didn’t suffer at all. But after listening to some coworkers talking, I realize that there are few things I should have in my snowstorm arsenal.
First off, I need a snow shovel. No, I don’t have one. I live in an apartment. I have nothing to shovel. Unless I want to get my car out of the parking lot. I used to have one, but I got rid of it when I moved. I had friends who used baking trays and cutting boards and milk crates to dig out their cars. Clearly, we all could have used a shovel or two.
Second, I need better snow boots. I have a pair of sub-standard rain boots and a pair of warm winter boots, but the rain boots are not warm, nor are they particularly comfortable, and the winter boots are not waterproof enough (as I learned when my feet got wet from a slushy puddle). I found a great pair of boots in a catalog, boots designed for either rain or snow (lots of room for extra socks and tucking in pants when necessary). The problem? They’re $80. Compared to my current $20 boots, that’s a bit much to spend. However, the $20 boots clearly aren’t doing their job. So it’s something to ponder.
Third, when trapped at home, I need to be more productive. I think it was because I was fighting a cold, but I was such a sloth over the past week. There was so much more I could have accomplished. Instead I accomplished things like watching Netflix discs and clearing off the DVR. At least I didn’t spend the week shopping online. That could have been dangerous.
Really though, I did a lot of things right. I had plenty of candles and batteries for my flashlight. I had lots of food stocked up, including food I could eat if the power went out (lots of canned soups that could be heated on the gas stove). I had water and when the storm was coming, I made sure that all my pitchers were full. I had books to read and other things to occupy my time.
So just a few changes to make and I’ll be ready for the next historic storm. I just hope it waits for next season.
So I finally got back to work on Friday. It was an insane commute, and of course, maybe 15% of my coworkers were there. So I chatted a lot, cleared out e-mail, did a few tasks, and then sat around. When you go on vacation, it’s normal to come back to a lot of work, but so many of my projects are collaborative, which means that since no one was at work (our office doesn’t really allow telework – who wants to bet that changes!) there wasn’t a whole lot to do.
Today’s a holiday. And it’s supposed to snow again. I’m hoping that it’s not too bad.
Over the weekend, I discovered that my federal tax return was deposited. Fast! My state return arrived last week, which means that my dealings with the tax man are done for the year! And it’s not even March!
I’ve been reading blog posts about what people are doing with their tax returns, and I’ve decided I must be boring. I’m having a little bit of fun with it, I guess! Just delayed fun. I put most of it into savings, and a chunk of it went into my vacation fund. I’ve got two trips planned for the year – a wedding in May and a half-marathon in September. Unfortunately, the flights for both are going to be fairly expensive.
I also decided to put some into my running fund. In cleaning out my drawers and closets, I’m realizing that a lot of my running gear is more worn out than I thought. It still has some life left in it, but as I have to start replacing things, it will be nice to have the money set aside for those purposes.
As I have mentioned, I decided not to mess with my withholding to try to get less money back. I think this year was a bit of a fluke with the markets not being so great. I don’t have a whole lot of money invested, but those dividends add up come tax time. I’m hoping that 2010 is a much better year - which would lead to owing more taxes.
Plus it does feel good to get money back as opposed to owing a chunk. It’s not ideal, and if I could figure out how to break even, I would. Sadly, I can’t see into the future. I will work on that skill for next year.
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