| Forum | Topic | Date | Replies |
| The Lounge | Credit Cards -- Carry a balance, pay it off each month, never touch them? | Jan 25 2008 17:42 (UTC) |
22 |
|
I like to pay mine off every month when I use them. I loooove my debit card, and mostly use that. When I got married last year, I got an affinity card for airline miles, figuring that since I was spending wads o' cash on the wedding, we might as well get a trip out of it. My husband had credit card debt and no debit card; we opened a joint account so he could have a debit card and I paid off his credit card debt. At the moment, we are carrying a balance at 0% on a card, the result of a car accident AND a car theft AND car repairs AND... well, you get the picture. That should be paid off before the 0% rate expires. I budget pretty closely. I'm the sole wage-earner at the moment; I have everything I can taken out of my paycheck (retirement savings, medical, dental, visual, legal, and car insurance, charitable donations), have the bulk of what's left deposited into a billpayer account (from which college savings and mutual fund deposits are made monthly, too), and what's left over goes into two "discretionary" accounts (this pays for food, gas, whatever -- daily expenses, clothes, fun, etc.). We each then get an allowance of "whatever you want to do with it" money; pretty much all of mine is going for commuting costs, however. We don't have checks or debit cards for the billpayer account; it is strictly for paying bills online, and for holding a wad of cash intended for home improvement (in a "supersaver" savings account). I pay most monthly bills monthly, but now make credit card payments every two weeks (with every paycheck), because I recently had TWO credit cards move their "pay by" dates, and, because I didn't see the notice of this change (dumb me), got caught with two late payment fees. (I was furious! Never again.) I also pay the mortgage every four weeks, so usually have one extra payment a year. This can come in handy, as there have been times I've been short of cash for some reason and so have deliberately skipped a payment, knowing I'm a month or more ahead already. (Yes, I check my mortgage account before I do this!) Because we have the affinity card, this year I started putting an extra $200/paycheck into the billpayer account, and we are charging $200/paycheck on this card, mostly at the grocery store, just to build up miles. I'm hoping we can all fly to Italy next year for free. |
|||
| The Lounge | Taxes ... do you do your own or "have them done?" | Jan 24 2008 20:30 (UTC) |
17 |
|
I do my own, now with the help of TaxCut, TurboTax, or other such software. I used to be self-employed and had people working for me, and still did it myself.
My husband -- we got married last year -- has always paid someone else to do his taxes, as he has self-employment income and expenses, so this year, I'm going to do them AND have his tax preparer do them, and see what differences there are before filing. :-D |
|||
| Vegetarian | Fish eating vegetarians? | Jan 23 2008 18:58 (UTC) |
17 |
| lhtrahan, yes. If someone like that wants to call him or herself a vegetarian, I'd be okay with that. Hope that helps. :-) | |||
| The Lounge | Any other women *not* love shopping?? | Jan 23 2008 18:46 (UTC) |
9 |
| I hadn't thought of looking online for a washer -- don't know why! Thanks. I may just do that. | |||
| The Lounge | To the mothers out there, give me advice! | Jan 23 2008 18:38 (UTC) |
3 |
|
Your decision is a personal one, and I wish you well whatever you decide (and offer you support, too, whatever you decide).
I have a question for you, should you decide to bear and keep the baby: would you be prepared to raise a child by yourself if the child has a disability? Babies are, by definition, perfect and beautiful, but some redefine perfect in ways you may not anticipate. (My own child redefined perfect for me; he has an autistic spectrum disorder. [He's now 14; no longer a baby.]) I can well understand the father's wish for you to have an abortion -- he is obligated to pay child support if you have this baby, whether he "has no money" or has plenty of it. (If he doesn't want to be a father, I hope he takes his own precautions to prevent that.) I second the posts that suggest you talk with someone about this before you make a decision. If you have an Employee Assistance Program at work, you can probably see the counselor pretty quickly, and that is someone who would know where else you might go to talk about your situation. Good luck! |
|||
| The Lounge | Any other women *not* love shopping?? | Jan 23 2008 18:20 (UTC) |
13 |
|
Me! Me! I hate shopping, too. I also buy multiples. My wardrobe is boring -- khaki-type cotton pants and turtlenecks in the winter, and the same pants with short-sleeved crewneck pullover shirts in the summer. I have two pairs of pants in the smaller size I attained when I lost the 50 pounds; I am still wearing the other clothes though they are way big, and will continue to do so until they are worn out. (Pants from Dress Barn, $30/pair when not on sale; turtlenecks from Land's End, purchased in multiples for the discount. 99.9% of Christmas shopping is done online.) I don't like grocery shopping, either. I HATE shopping for household goods, and though we need a new washing machine (and have for many many many months), I haven't gone out to look for one. Bleah. I hate wringing clothes out by hand, but I apparently hate shopping even more! Books and music.... yeah, those are okay to shop for. I do love to browse around book and music stores. And art supply stores. But that's pretty much it. |
|||
| The Lounge | Interesting Analysis of Why Interest Rates Will RISE, Despite Pundits' Predictions to the Contrary | Jan 21 2008 16:17 (UTC) |
2 |
|
Okay, nomo, I can provide a better answer now that I have a little more time; sorry for the short one earlier, but rising bread waits for no woman!! I used inflationdata.com for the inflation information. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index page to do a quick calculation on inflation yields an inflation rate of over 20%, which is lower, but also isn't as specific a calculator (as in, it's just inflation since this date.) IIRC, the Minneapolis Fed has an inflation calculator, too, so that might be worth checking out. |
|||
| The Lounge | Interesting Analysis of Why Interest Rates Will RISE, Despite Pundits' Predictions to the Contrary | Jan 21 2008 15:39 (UTC) |
4 |
| I Googled! | |||
| The Lounge | Interesting Analysis of Why Interest Rates Will RISE, Despite Pundits' Predictions to the Contrary | Jan 21 2008 15:33 (UTC) |
6 |
|
"Second, the last seven years of "prosperity" have been ones of equity expansion (rising stock market and home equity) and equity extraction (re-financing/equity lines of credit)." Oh, that the stock market really HAD risen since 2000! Looking at the S&P 500, which is what I use to benchmark, it has risen 29% since August of 1998 -- this is an annualized gain of under 3%/year. But let's look at the last seven years only. Inflation for the period January 2000 to December 2007 is 24% (and is currently running about 4%). At the beginning of January, 2000, the S&P 500 was at 1469.25. At the end of December, 2007, it was at 1468.36. So the market as a whole has been basically flat over the past seven years -- actually down a bit -- but inflation has been 24% over that period. Of course, some stocks have done well in that time, and others have not, but that's not the market as a whole. Comparatively few investors purchase individual stocks in any amount significant enough to influence their prosperity. |
|||
| The Lounge | Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? | Jan 21 2008 05:52 (UTC) |
18 |
|
Yeah, it sounds like you shouldn't have moved in together. Fortunately, that's reversible, and way more easily than if you had a divorce to go along with it. "You know, honey, I don't want to pressure you. I thought we were on the same page, but we're not. That's okay, of course; nothing says we have to be on the same page. I feel pressure, too, pressure to be married, and that's because we live together. I don't like feeling pressured, either, and it's not fair to you to have to deal with my feelings of pressure and add it to yours. My things will be gone by _________; here's my new address." |
|||
| The Lounge | Totally Devastated | Jan 15 2008 18:58 (UTC) |
25 |
|
raven,
I know you are hurting like crazy, and I don't have any words to make it better, and I'm sorry for that. You said: "he says he cant guarantee anything but that he is willing to try." You can't guarantee anything, either, except that you are willing to try. (And good for you for that!) |
|||
| The Lounge | Online versus ground college courses? | Jan 14 2008 23:13 (UTC) |
7 |
|
niktastic, congratulations for trying this out. I've taken a number of online courses. Some of them were asynchronous (meaning students and teacher are not online at the same time), with distinct start and end dates, weekly readings and assignments, and group projects. I've also taken online courses that are completely self-paced and independent of an instructor.
My son, who is now 14, as taken distance learning with CDs and also online, learning three years of math in 14 months. He had an instructor to whom he turned in assignments and who graded his midterm and final exams, explained problems he missed on the exercises, and answered his questions when he had them. He worked independent of any other students -- his math courses were self-paced and he could move through them as quickly as his aptitude allowed. You will find that once you are in the workplace, a lot of learning and training is done through various distance learning options, including online courses. Good luck to you! |
|||
| The Lounge | If your weight did not determine how attractive or unattractive others found you would you still be trying to lose weight? | Jan 11 2008 22:03 (UTC) |
30 |
|
lilbory, you don't think of the health benefits right now because you are still young! But when you're as old as I am, or perhaps just as decrepit as I am, and you wake up at night because your knees are aching, and you're winded after walking up a flight of steps, the health benefits become MUCH more evident. After losing 20 pounds (which came off pretty quickly), my knees stopped waking me up at night. After losing 30, walking up a flight of steps became much easier.
Revel in your youth, darlin', and be glad that you can look for the health benefits off in the long term -- even though I could stand to lose more, my knees are happy NOW with the changes I've made! |
|||
| Vegetarian | Fish Eating "Vegetarians" | Jan 11 2008 21:53 (UTC) |
177 |
| I eat chocolate, so am therefore a chocolatarian. w00t! | |||
| Health & Support | really scared right now....heart beating weird... | Jan 11 2008 21:47 (UTC) |
2 |
| Something that is very common is PVCs -- premature ventricular contractions. They often occur as a response to stress and feel weird, indeed! I get them, and have found that taking a deep breath or two or coughing can get them to stop. | |||
| Vegetarian | Fish Eating "Vegetarians" | Jan 11 2008 20:07 (UTC) |
179 |
| Tomatoes aren't vegetables -- they're fruits -- but I'd bet most people calling themselves "vegetarians" still eat them.... | |||
| Vegetarian | Fish Eating "Vegetarians" | Jan 11 2008 16:15 (UTC) |
183 |
| Along the same lines, how can someone who eats fruits and grains call himself a vegetarian? I just don't get that, at all!! | |||
| The Lounge | I SUCK at $$$$$$$$$. | Jan 10 2008 21:03 (UTC) |
7 |
|
Don't use an ATM card. Since you are overspending now, don't make it sooooo easy to spend -- use CASH for everything. You will spend less money if you have to fork over cold, hard cash for things. (I use an ATM card, and credit cards, all the time, but I can afford to..... now. For a long time, I couldn't, but did anyway. At one point, I cut up all my credit cards, and I didn't get a new one until I had been free of consumer debt for years and had money in the bank.) If your social life is revolving around eating out, find something to replace the eating out that is less expensive: ice-skating, going to free concerts, going to a movie, etc. and so on. Or go out for less expensive meals -- breakfast, for example.... and pay cash for everything. Just like weight loss and healthful eating, saving is a habit you have to develop, and you have to have the same mindset: you forego some transitory pleasure now for a bigger pleasure down the road. Whether you are trying to thin your body or fatten your wallet, the idea is the same: small steps add up! A book that might help you to develop the right mindset (available at the library -- don't spend money for it!) is "The Millionaire Next Door." You might want to look into payroll deduction for purchasing savings bonds. You cannot redeem them in the first six months after purchase, so that should cut down on the temptation to redeem them just after purchasing them. You can start small, and then increase the amount you save over time. I have a stack o' bonds that are my "emergency" fund, and I've had some of them for 10, 12, 14 years. They are earning interest, are very safe, redeemable at any bank, and, if I don't use them before my son goes to college, can be redeemed tax-free to help pay for his college. Good luck to you! |
|||
| The Lounge | Missing Son, Prayers Please**-- BODY FOUND--** | Jan 09 2008 21:25 (UTC) |
581 |
| Thinking of you. | |||
| The Lounge | Ireland | Jan 08 2008 20:30 (UTC) |
6 |
|
Oh! Oh! I have a GREAT suggestion!!!!!!
Take me with you!!! :-D I rented a car when I was there; went after a concert tour, and since I was a bit tired of people (having been travelling with 300+ of them for some time), I pretty much skipped Dublin and went straight to Howth. (I'm not recommending skipping Dublin; wish I hadn't!) Howth is lovely. I drove around the bottom of the island, DID go on a Waterford tour, which I enjoyed, and bought Waterford, not at the factory but in town, went to the Cliffs of Mohr but couldn't see a thing because of the fog, darn it, but still had a good time there, picked up all kinds of hitchhikers including an American whose name and address I wish I'd gotten, though he was easily 10 years younger than I but we had so much in common, I have always felt that I could have had a livelong friend from Kentucky had we had a way to stay in touch, stayed mostly in B&Bs, went to bars (where I was referred to as "buxom lass" by one of the guys there, which still makes me laugh!), listened to traditional music and saw traditional dancing (in a theater that was so beat up, it was barely standing, but the dancing and music were good), and and and..... That's it. I'm going with you! |
|||
Advertisement
Advertisement
