Day 59- Financial Autopilot

Day 50- Financial Autopilot

Does the end of the month fill you with dread? Do you find that bills and rent and everything gives you an overwhelming sense of helplessness? Understandably. But help is on the way! Put your finances on autopilot.

Many financial institutions will allow you to set up automatic spending plans, why not take advantage of it?

The secret to financial strength is to always pay yourself first. I have my ING Account automatically do the savings for me. I have two accounts that are authorized to take a portion of my paycheck out on the days they arrive. That way, it gets there first thing without me having to think about doing it.

Secondly, there are bills to pay. Some bills will always cost the same every month, no matter what--like Cable, Rent, Car Payments, Student Loans, Etc. So why not get your bank to cut them a check every month before the due date? That will make sure your bills are paid accurately and on time every month. Plus, some companies--like student loans--will even lower your interest rate if you pay on time.

Finally, some utilities (which fluctuate every month) will send the "bill" to your checking account instead of you and automatically withdraw that amount.

Automatic finances is great, but it doesn't mean you get to forget about the whole process. Remember to always balance your checkbook. If things look fishy (though probably won't), make sure you have access to those accounts and how they work so that you can appeal any "strange" withdrawals. I also take half of what remains after my automatic bill pay and put that in my highly liquid savings account. This acts as a buffer for when my budget does not quite work out like expected (like when Okkerville River comes into town and my doctor's appointment becomes three).

Competency Moment of Day: Stocked up on cans of delicious fruit for work snacks instead of budgeting for hot dog and coke breaks--thus saving time, money and on empty calories.

Day 56- Firefox 3 Beta

Day 56- Firefox 3 Beta

Most every one I know uses Mozilla Firefox. In just a few short years, this open source web browser has really bitten into the market share of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

And it is easy to see why. It runs quickly, smoothly and safely. It has one of the best pop-up blockers around. The autofill search bar is amazingly accurate and helpful, plus your ability to specifically select which search engine you prefer is a real time saver. Tabs allow you to organize and clean up your desktop by keeping multiple pages open in one window. And the download organizer is a stroke of genius.

I downloaded the new beta for Firefox 3. I have fallen in love with it. This thing really zooms.

Without getting too geeky, I will explain my new favorite aspects to Firefox 3.

1. Plugging the memory holes. If you were to open 10 tabs, that would really drag down your download time. But since so many of the memory holes have been plugged, you can run 3, 5, 10 tabs at a time and not really notice any slow down.

2. Autofill navigation bar. Utilizing the same technology as in the search bar, the autofill navigation bar searches your history and gives you options to which webpage you want. So often, I am trying to read URLs to figure out which page is which. But the Navigation bar now lists the URL along with the name of the webpage in a large, easy to read way.

3. Stars and Labels. Just like in GMail, I can now star and label websites according to my likes. If I think a site is cool, I star it. Double click on it and the page is automatically bookmarked. And when it is bookmarked, you can label it with as many labels as you want. So, if I were to bookmark lifehacker, I can label it as "blog", "Finances", "Health", "Organization", etc. And firefox does all the sorting for me. A real organization lifesaver!

4. Download Manager- Now with Pause Button!!! Lets say you are downloading an add-on or a large file. But, you need to quickly run out and do an errand. Before, you would be forced to keep your computer on with your browser open if you want to keep it running. Or you would have to drop your download. Now, you can pause your download, close your browser and shut down your computer. When you sign back on, just finish the download.

5. Browser Continuation. My laptop has a tendancy to freeze these days. When I restart, Firefox asks me if I want to refresh my browser or open the previous pages. It was really helpful. Now, with Firefox 3, no matter when I shut down, it asks me the same questions. This is great for when I return to work and need to finish up a job I was working on before I left.

The only real downside to Firefox 3 is the fact that it is still in beta. So, my outside source extensions like Del.ic.ious and google accelerator are not compatable. But, soon, those things will be fixed and I will feel whole again.

Competence Moment of the Day: I finally called the chiropractor about getting an appointment so that my damn back and side stop hurting.

Day 51- Google Organization- GCal

Day 51- Google Orgaznization-GCal

This is part of a multipart series on organizing your life using Google. Previous entries include GMail, Google Reader and iGoogle.

A few weeks ago, I realized that I have been keeping 5 calendars. Five! Five separate calendars! My hand held, my outlook, my gCal, iCal and TheDailyPlate. My handheld comes with me everywhere. Outlook is just for work. TheDailyPlate is for my food. gCal is for home and iCal is on my laptop. Needless to say, all these calendars for different spheres of my life were causing me to double or even triple book myself.

Streamlining by Syncing-
I realized I needed to streamline. So, i synced my iCal and outlook with my GCal. Neither of which are very difficult to do. I also keep gCal open in my firefox tabs at all times. So, when some one at work or home schedules an appointment with me, it syncs with the other calendars. So, while I am still keeping 5 different calendars for 5 different occasions, they are all keeping up with each other.

Seperating Business and Pleasure-
on GCal, since I am keeping 5 different calendars in one place, I make sure they are different calendars. Both GCal and iCal give me the option of keeping mulitiple calendars seperate. They are all color coded by type. Keeping them seperate lets me know if the event approaching is preparing for a phone call or a dinner date with the housemates or something I have to do while I am running errands.

To Do Lists-
In theory, GCal can send me to do lists via my phone. But my phone is old and Jankey. But thanks to syncronized calendars, I can program my iPod to remind me of things I need to do. And with GCal and gMail, I can have my to do lists emailed to me.

Holidays, movie release dates, and election dates-
As a community organizer, it is important for me to keep on top of dates I can link into. Holidays, election dates and local events are a great way to stay in the know. Public Calendars are a great way to have other people do the grunt work for you. FOR even has one on national anti-war protests.

Meetings and Appointments-
I make a lot of meetings with people. Whether it with friends, family, workmates or housemates, gCal lets me invite people to meet through gMail. So my address book and calendar are also all synced up.

Stop Design has some other ways to make your gCal work for you.

Next time, I plan on reviewing the beta for Firefox 3. If you have not made the switch from Safari or IE to Firefox, I highly recomend it. Just click on the shiny button on the right hand side and you will wonder why it has taken so long for you to switch.

Day 50- 2.33%

Yup, I am 2.33% away from my goal of being debt free!

Way to go Alex!

Google Organizing- iGoogle

Day 50-Google Organizing

This is the next segment of my multi-part series on organizing your life with Google.

When Google came on the scene in 1998, the Internet was swamped with so-called web-portals. The financial brokers of the day were pointing to companies like AOL, MSN and the Disney owned Go network and their eyes were turning into gigantic dollar signs.

But Google, with its search engine that actually worked and stark, clean interface brought people over to their folds and away from all the flashing lights and gizmos that were distracting people from the real glory of the Internets. Check out this ten year old article from Salon.com on why every one should switch over to Google.

Well, ten years later and now Google has gotten into the web portal game. But, with the rise of Web 2.0, we see a Portal 2.0 where you get to decide what goes on your homepage.

If you don't want silly horoscopes or stories about which Hollywood socialite is in jail, you don't get it. You want a live RSS fee from your your favorite news source or blog, its there!

Now, I know everything I need to know just by checking out my home page. Look below, and see what is on my iGoogle portal.
As you can see, I keep my top stories from google news BBC, the Onion and The Los Angeles Angels and the UUA close at hand. My Google Calendar with all my agendas are there, the weather for the next three days are close at hand. With one touch, I have my google docs that I have been working on recently. And my GMail in a live RSS feed. Plus, I can keep tabs on my financial situation with my stock portfolio.

Everything can be easily rearranged so that I can keep track of things without it getting to jumbled or confusing.

So, much like google reader, I can read eight websites at once.

My next google organization tip will be how I keep my Calendars straight with Google Calendar.

Competency Moments of the Weekend: I have made it half way through Lent without breaking down and buying myself a meal yet. I visited two free museums yesterday. Discovered that the DC Heritage Trails are very well designed and I look forward to walking all of them.

Competency Question of the Day: Has any one downloaded the new Firefox 3 yet? If so, what do you think of it?

Day 46- Financial Inheritance

Day 46- Financial Inheritance

Usually, when we talk about financial inheritance, its a good thing. Maybe a distant uncle has bequeathed you millions. Or your beloved grandmother left you her favorite broach. But what I am talking about today has much more to do with emotional inheritances surrounding your interactions with money.

The other day, Friend Travis noted that filing his taxes made him realize that living on his own took him out of the middle class lifestyle he grew up in and squarely in the working class bracket.

We all grew up with different expectations surrounding money. Most of them have come from our parents or grandparents. And thus, out on our own, we now find the lessons taught at an early age now come around and bite us causing us to make many of the same mistakes they did.

My parents both grew up in households where money was tight. My mom was the eldest of a whole mess of kids. And my dad practically grew up in a single parent household. But they never wanted me and my brother to have to worry about the same things they worried about. So, even when money was tight there were many things we could "afford" even when should have.

There was always money for books. Even though we practically *lived* at the public library and got most of our reading done there, there always seemed to be money for books.

There was always money for special occasion meals. We did not always eat out. But we did frequently, especially when time was tight. And on special occasions, we would go some where fancy.

There was always money for cable TV. I seriously cannot remember a time when we didn't have cable TV in the house. And when we moved into our new apartment in Richmond, my folks even offered to pay for our cable for us.

There was always money for trips. Whenever I wanted to go somewhere, there always seemed to be money for it. Even though I knew it was expensive. Sometimes, I had to work for scholarships. But I never paid for it completely that way.

So, now, that money is tight and I am trying to borrow less and less money from my folks and other outside sources, there are four sticking points. Yup: books, meals, TV/Movies, trips.

Cutting out these things have become so difficult for me, it has become a spiritual practice for me. I have completely given up eating out for Lent (except for last night- Valentine's Day). I give myself no more than 10 minutes in a bookstore and I never come in with a list. We just had to cancel our Ded Prez day trip to Boston because we realized we couldn't afford it. And the only reason I can justify having cable is due to a combination of Presidential Elections and the fact that I am splitting it with 7 other people!

Breaking my Financial Inheritances is hard. But it is worth it. The fact that I have nearly paid back all the money I owe my family is due to in large part that I am sticking to my spending plan and paying back bills with my snowflakes. I am also finding good compromises on how to stay away from my weaknesses.

I have been reading from my private and public libraries instead of going to Borders. I pack myself a delicious and hearty meal every day for work. I have been cutting back my TV time so that I can be more serious about getting rid of cable next year. And I go on "vacation" in my own city by going to free events and outings.

What sort of financial inheritances have you received (both good and bad) and how do you work with them?

Competence Moment of the Day: Even though I fell of the TheDailyPlate.com wagon, I got right back on and started noting my meals and exercise again.

Day 45- Valentine's Day

Day 45- Valentine's Day

So it is Valentine's Day. Yet another sacred holiday co-opted by the card and chocolate companies convincing you that you need to spend a bunch of money to show you care about people.

But what if you don't play into all that junk? What if you don't want to spend your money on cheap cards and bad chocolate? Or what if you don't want to subject your loved ones with more stuff?

No big deal right? So you conveniently "forget about it".

What if you get to work and find out that some people live for Valentine's Day? What if you now feel obligated to give them something? No big deal! We've got you all covered.

A cheap and easy way to show some one that you care is the potato stamp!

Just take a potato and cut it in half or into thick slices and cut a design into it. Cover with paint and press onto a sheet of paper. It is that easy!!! Christine and I made our Valentines for friends and loved ones from potato stamps, tempera paint and construction paper. In less than an hour, we had made twenty bad-ass original valentines every one will enjoy.

But, what if potato stamp valentines are not enough?! Craft Magazine offers you this cool little box. If you like that, check out The World-famous Toymaker. These are all neat steam-punk-esque paper toys designed by an old family friend of ours.

Craft Magazine also suggests making a photo collage to express just the way you feel. I like this idea a lot. They also prove that coasters can renew any relationship. Especially these bad boys:

But lets say you have some time on your hands. Lets say you either are not going to see your special some one for a few weeks because they are unfortunately out of town. Or maybe you have a time machine. That would be cool, too!

Make Magazine has a bunch of really cool ideas. I especially like one crafter's expression of how she gave her partner The Clap in L.E.D.'s.

Happy Valentine's Day every one! I hope it is full of love and peace with all your sweeties!

Competency Moment of the Day: Instead of buying more stuff for my sweety, I donated to one of her favorite charities.

Day 44- Poll Working

Day 44-Poll Working

Yesterday was what many have dubbed "the Potomac Primary". Maryland, Virginia and The District of Columbia all voted their primaries.

When I registered to vote in the District, I noticed a call for poll workers. Apparently, there is a national shortage of poll workers by nearly half-a-million! and the median age of workers is 72! I spent my day working the polls.

I must say, the lack of workers was evident. Our team of five had to cover a total of (ideally) eight positions. And our line that started before the polls opened at 7am did not let up until polls closed at 8pm-it was a constant stream of people.

First time voters, lapsed voters, experienced voters, young, old, black, white, latino/a, asian, recent citizens, peace activists and vets. They all came. We ran out of ballots- twice!!! It was wonderful helping people participate in democracy.

We worked hard to get people out of there as quickly as possible, but rushes were tight.

While I was working, I thought of a lot of policies that could be adopted in order to make voting more smooth.

These include but are not limited to Opening closed primaries and Same day voter registration.

But what would really make voting easier for every one would be having an influx of passionate, helpful, young poll workers.

That is where you can step in.

Please volunteer to work the polls in the next elections. If the Primary season is any indication at all, the general election is going to be huge!!! We had twice the expected ammount of voters yesterday and Primaries are never as large of voter turn out as Generals are.

It is a great way to meet your neighbors and help democracy in our nation work. If you have ever been nervous about voting irregularities or illegal actions at your polls, then what better way than being the worker who counts the votes and welcomes the voter?

Plus, you get compensated for your time (snowflake alert).

Day 39- Taxes!!!

Day 39-Taxes!!!

Today is February 8, 2008. If you haven't received your 2007 W-2's, there is something wrong. By law, they have to be out of the hands of your HR by the last day of January. Credit Withdrawal has a great guide on how to get your W-2's if they haven't shown up yet. Which I did, and now they are on their way.

Once you get your W-2's, what should you do with them?

One thing is for certain, don't wait until April 14th to open them up. You should have already opened them, looked at them and checked for irregularities.

I would also recommend taking care of them immediately. How many times have you lost a really important envelope, only to have figured out that it got scooped up with the junk mail and thrown away?

Accountants: There are different schools of thought on accountants for taxes. On one hand, why pay some one for something you can do yourself? On the other hand, professionals know what they are doing a lot better than you do. If you are just filling out a 1040 or 1040 EZ, you probably don't need to get one. But if you are stuck, why not spend the $100 to get it done right? It might just pay for itself. (Another reason to start now)

Filing: Filing is not so hard. I got it done in, like, 45 minutes last year. There is a reason why it is called a 1040 EZ. You can get your forms on-line, at the post office or public library. Really, this time of year, you have to work hard to avoid finding your forms. FiveCentNickle has a list of commonly forgotten tax deductions.

Your return: We're in Debt has a great link to a rebate calculator, now that the rebate bill got through Congress. Lifehacker reminds us this a rebate, not a bonus. This is your money that you paid to the Government. They are just giving it back to you. So do smart things, not dumb things. Think of this a snowflake instead of a golden ticket.

Look, filing your taxes is aggrevating, I know. It is full of all sorts of math. And we are dealing with money. And there is the fear of getting audited. And are you getting enough deductions?

But in the end, it isn't so bad. On the side of the IRS building it has a quote from one of my Unitarian forefathers, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society". And the putting the political implications of that quote aside, we pay our taxes to have roads and schools and police forces and all the things we need for our country to be great. Every April 15th, we just double check that we paid our fair share.

Lets not worry that you have paid too much or too little or anything like that. Lets just stay in an accountable (sorry for the pun) relationship with our government.

Google Organizing- GMail

Day 38- Google Organizing0 GMail


This is the next segment of my multi-part series on organizing your life with Google. While the tips here are specifically for GMail, they can be tweeked to fit any email system around.

You are young, you are hip, you have GMail--just like every one else. And I don't blame you. I LOOOOOOOOVE my Gmail. With seamless integration with Google Calendar, Google Maps, and our new friend Google Reader as well as gChat, tons of space and an awesome spam blocker, it is hard not to fall in love with it.

But what does your in-box look like? I bet it is full of old messages from a year ago and tons of thing you want to read but haven't yet. I bet your in-box brings you stress and anxiety.

I bet your in-box doesn't look like mine.

I treat my GMail in-box like my post office box. I grab the mail, sort it, throw out the junk, read the things I want, save what I need and toss the rest. I *Don't* just leave it in the in-box.

That would be ridiculous! Imagine if your mail carrier met your post box full of read mail and old junk!

So, here are some tips for organizing your GMail life:

1. Labels- Unlike other e-mail carriers who have folders, GMail has labels. Utilizing Labels and Filters can make sure you know when your new mail is here. Learn to be a GMail Jedi Master from Lifehacker.

2. Trusted Trio- Trusted Trio is a great way to sort through your mail. Simply put: Archive what you want to keep, Delete what you are done with , and Star what you need. Then, every month, clear out your Archive and unstar what you are done with.

3. Mailing Lists- Do you have a bunch of people you regularly email, but they are not connected enough to make a Group? Make a mailing list instead. This way, you can save time and energy by just mailing the list instead of trying to remember every one you know.

With these easy steps, you can clean up your in-box and make your GMail account bring you joy, instead of anxiety.

Competence Moment of the Day: After realizing my Earlham W-2's had not arrived yet, I called Earlham HR and found that they had sent my forms to my previous address-in Richmond! They are now en route to DC.

Google Organizing- Reader

Day 36- Google Organizing- Reader

This is the first post of what might be a multi-part series on how Google.com can help keep you organized.

If you are like me, you have a series of websites that you check often. For me, I always start my day off with Google News-that super awesome news aggregator. But there is also NPR and loads of blogs on: fitness, health, finances, organization, entertainment news, business news, crafting, and local events.

Some sites update once a month or once a week. Some sites update dozens of times a day. Figuring how to keep up with my news and blogs takes forever. And too much of my time is spent just catching up on posts.

Enter Google Reader!

Google Reader is an RSS aggregator that will collect, organize and syndicate all of my favorite websites into one handy site. So now, I can cruise my Reader for fifteen or twenty minutes in the morning and then save what I want to read later, on my breaks.

Google Reader is really easy to use. If you already have a Google account, you just click on "Reader", often found on the upper left hand corner.

Here, you can see my main reader page.


The blue Bar on the left hand side is the list of all my websites, organized by theme. The middle is where you will find all the articles in condensed form. And you can look at stories that have been saved for later and shared by you or your friends.

Here are some headlines from BBC News and NPR:

With Google Reader, you can share stories, save them for later or email to folks.

Now that you know how Google Reader works, how do you set it up? Whenever, you see a website with an RSS icon like these:
Or the word "Atom/RSS"- Click on it. It will ask you which reader you want it programed into. It is just that simple.

So, what once took my hours to organize, read and review, now takes my coffee break.

Competence Moment of the Day: I walked both to and from work for the first time in weeks, which felt fantastic!

But Above All We Must Have This: Competence

Oh Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! When will you ever learn?

Snowflakes, Snowballs, and Snowmen Pt. 3

Day 35- Snowflakes, Snowballs and Snowmen Pt. 3

Snowmen are made out of giant snowballs. You roll your snowballs together to different sizes and shapes and then you put them on top of each other to form the head, torso, and base. Deciding how you are going to take care of your debt snowballs is a lot like making a snowball, because you have do decide if your snowball will form the head, torso or base.

Lets look at it this way. I currently hold four debts. My smallest one, I will pay first-thus wiping it out.

Next month when I gather up my snowflakes and snowballs, I will put that same money I spent to wipe out that smallest debt to one of the larger remaining three.

But which debt should I put it toward? That is where I start thinking about my snowman's many parts.

Conventional wisdom says I should put it toward my largest of loans. It is accumulating the most interest and putting more money toward is is most logical. That is the head.

On the other hand, I could put it toward my debt I hold from my family. My folks were so understanding to give me the money. They are not charging me any interest and it is the smallest of the loans. Paying it off immediately would feel so good. Plus I love my folks and want to be out from under their debt. That is paying debt off with my heart-the torso.

Or, I could pay off my Earlham debt. Due to some poor planning and a whimsical May Term trip, I still owe them a good chunk of change. Paying that off immediately would feel really good! That is paying off debt with my gut-The base.

I cannot tell you which part of the snowman you should pay. But there are some snowball calculators which can tell you how much you will pay according to which snowball method you use. If I pay according to the torso or base, I only pay $80 more dollars than if I pay off the head. Is it worth it to me to spend that extra $80 for some peace of mind?

I am not sure yet. But, it is something to ponder about.

Snowflakes, Snowballs, Snowmen Part 2

Day 34- Snowflakes, Snowballs, Snowmen Part 2

Snowballs. A few days ago, I was reminded of the gag in the cartoons, where the single snowflake rolled down the hill, getting larger and larger until it would crush the antagonist. Often, this chain reaction would be caused by some sort of action the antagonist created in order to trap the protagonist.

Debt can be a lot like the snowball. Something small paid on a credit card could put you in debt, which spirals out of control. JD at Get Rich Slowly wrote about how he easily got $25,000 of debt in a matter of a few years and how it took him 20 years to get out of it.

I am hoping to get my debt under control in less than two decades, especially since I want to go to grad school and what not.

So, if accumulating debt is like a rolling snowball, why not think of snowballs as way to get rid of debt.

In Richmond, I liked throwing snowballs at snowdrifts on roofs. I would throw a couple of balls up there and watch an avalanche come falling down.

So any extra income I may have, I am going to treat as those snowballs and they will, in the end, bring down the debt. Yesterday, I wrote about snowflakes and how they can be created into snowballs the be thrown at debt. But how does that work exactly?

Snowballs seem counter-intuitive. Unlike common practice, which tells us to pay off our largest debts first, snowballs pay off the smallest debts first. And when that debt is finished, you use the exact same money to pay the next smallest, followed by the next smallest and so on and so forth. Finally, you only have your largest debt to pay with no other debt to distract you.

We're In Debt has a list of Snowball Calculators so that you figure out how to exactly pay off your debts.

It sounds easy enough. But being so counter-intuitive, how do I exactly decide which debts to pay off first? I hold so many different types of debt, it is not so easy as just lining them all up. Tomorrow, we will discuss the different schools of snowball camps.

Competence Moment of the Day- Grocery shopping for the month and saving over $17! Make fun of me if you want, but Sunday Morning Coupons are pretty freaking cool.

Snowflakes, Snowballs, Snowmen Part 1

Day 33-Snowflakes, Snowballs and Snowmen Pt. 1

Snowflakes. Individually, not much on their own, but together, they can make a big impact. Similiarly, we can think about our spare change, odd jobs and windfalls as snowflakes which, when put together, can take a big bite out of debt.

Overall, I owe about $20,000 in debt. Most of that is owed to the government. Some of that, is owed to Earlham to pay for my month in Spain and Morrocco. A small part of that is to my parents, when I had a hard time making ends meet in December. And the tip of the iceberg is to Christine, to make sure the rent check cleared.

Every month, I have built into my spending plan debt payment. This is how much from my income I am willing to spend on debt payments. I make it a point to always pay more than the minimum if I can.

Any new income I get in the month goes directly into my snowflake pile.

Little things I do to snowflake won't make a big difference at all. For instance, the $50 I will get for dog sitting next week would probably not cover the interest on my student loans. And my coin jar would be nothing at all to Earlham. However. Either of those could pay back Christine no problem and leave a nice bit to pay back my parents.

That is the power of the snowflake. Snowflakes can be added together and make a snowball which can be thrown at your debt.

Techniques for snowflaking:

1. Spare Change- I have a sock that I call my sock of snowflakes. Everyday, I empty my pockets of spare and loose change and then I put it in the sock. I then keep it out of sight so that I don't dig into in order to by snacks a the convenience store. Sometimes I put dollars in there, too. The PNC down the street has a Coinstar-like machine that will then add it up and give me cash. For Free!

2. Odd Jobs- Next week, I am picking up two new odd jobs. I am house sitting for a friend of ours and I am also working the polls for the Primary election. Neither pay particularly well. But they are snowflakes for the taking. You can find some more at craigslist.com

3. Tax Rebate- Sure, Congress and President Bush want me to spend it on something shiny. But, if I can take that chucnk of change and pay off a chunk of debt, why shouldn't I?

4. Online Surveys- the good people at paidtwice.com have a list of surveys for fun and profit. They don't pay awesome, and most of the time I haven't qualified for them. But they only take about 10 minutes for a couple of bucks.

Tomorrow we will talk about Snowballs and how to turn your snowflakes into debt relief.
But what about you? What do you do to earn/save some extra money?

Comptence Moment of the Day- I have lost 5 inches off my waist.

Oh Bluerg!

Day 32- The Importance of Savings; or, Oh Bluerg!

Today, I learned the importance of keeping some savings close at hand. A combination of a higher than average rent check and a smaller than average paycheck and my successful attempt to wean myself from my credit card caused me to drain my liquid savings account and dip into my ING account for the first time.

Its moments like this when I bang my head on the desk. Boy, is this frustrating. Starting the month off flat broke is not my ideal situation. However, this will be a great experience in living a frugal lifestyle.

On the upside, this will help me fulfill my other goals of not eating out for the next two weeks and no impulse buying.

On the other hand, I had made plans with some friends to go shopping for yarn for our new knitting circle we are starting.

Oh Bluerg!

Competence highlight of the Day- Ummmm... We'll See.