scfr's Personal Finance Blog

There I was ... happily living my law-abiding life ... 30 years driving a car with zero moving violations ... Then one day last week I was not paying enough attention, did not realize I was in a school zone, was going under the regular speed limit but 5mph over what is allowed during "school zone" hours and - BAM! My first ever speeding ticket.

Here in Texas they allow you to take a Driver Saftey Course and have a ticket dismissed once a year (with some restrictions). It's actually a bit more expensive to go the dismissal route than just pay the fine, but I decided to do that so it won't go on my otherwise clean driving record.

I've now figured out what this little lapse of judgement is going to cost me for the filing fee, the driver course, getting a certified copy of my driver's record, and sending things to the court by certified mail: $180. Ouch.

On the bright side, I am about 1/2 way through the driver course (I'm taking it on line) and I am learning quite a bit. Cars and recommended driving techniques have changed so much since I took driver's ed in high school. I have also realized how sort of lacksidaisical I have gotten about my driving ... not paying as much attention as I should, which of course is what got me in to this expensive little pickle in the first place. So I am glad to be taking the course, and I think I am becoming a better driver as a result. Better some inconvenience and cost now than an accident with someone getting hurt in the future, right?

But, positive thinking aside ... It will take many coupons clipped, many meats bought "reduced for quick sale," and many many Pinecone surveys completed to recoup that $180.

Don't be a dumbell like me. Pay attention and drive safe.

John Bogle (founder and former CEO of Vanguard) appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box this morning. The moderator described him as a "patient, long-term investor" which makes him my kind of guy and I'll admit to being a bit of a "Boglehead" (fan). Based on my notes (of which I do not guarantee the accuracy), this is a summary of what he had to say.

On the Economy: He said that he really does not know what will happen with the economy in general. (He mentioned that it is crucial the "toxic" assets get written off of banks books but said something like he does not know the best way to make that happen.)

On the Stock Market: He said that this is the most speculative market in the history of finance. He said that the speculators are betting that other speculators will bet the market is going to get worse, and that is driving the market down. He said that if the speculators want out of the market: "Let 'em out." He said that the fundamentals of the market, what he referred to as "boring stuff" that the speculators don't care about, dividend yields & book value, are sound, and they are what will eventually turn the market around. And when will that happen? Again, Bogle said he does not know for sure (and no one does), but that he thinks it is probable that we are about 1/2-way through the current market decline.

On Individual Investors Who Are 5 or so Years Away From Retirement / Asset Allocation: He says that if there are individual investors who cannot afford to lose even one penny of their investments, then yes, they should get out of the market ... But he also mentioned that they never should have been in that position to begin with. He said that people should have had a percentage of their portfolio in bonds that is the rougly same as their age. (In other words, a 75-year-old would be holding about 75% of their portfolio bonds). He said that people who had set up their portfolios prior to this market downturn in a way that is consistent with what he recommends "are hardly being impacted" (they have lost a few percetage points but it is tolerable for them).

No secret around these parts that I am a conservative investor, so this may surprise some, but right I am feeling some urges to put more money in to the stock market. (Bet you never thought you'd hear me say that, right?)

My great-grandfather did pretty well putting money in to the stock market following the crash of '29. There's a side of me that asks if he had the guts to do it, why don't I? You know the little voice, the one that says:

Oooh ... Dow's below 10,000 ... prices are down so much, so stocks must be a real bargain, right? Maybe ... maybe not. Bottom line is: I don't know. I am not a stock-picking genius. I am not my great-grandfather. I am comfortable with my current investments, and I am going to stick with them. We will continue putting money in to our IRAs (as much as we are allowed), and those new monies will continue going in to mutual funds that are a mix of stocks & bonds.

In keeping with my conservative nature and spurred by the current market drop, I have set a date when I will start gradually pulling money out of the stock market. But that doesn't involve making any changes right now.

We will continue house-bargain-hunting and nurturing my husband's business. We will continue living below our means and saving. Those are areas where we feel comfortable and confident. That's what I know.

But I am NOT going to buy individual stocks or invest in stock funds outside of our tax-deferred savings ... and I can live quite happily with the results, even if I miss out on the next bull run. I will not regret that I did not buy stock XYZ and double my money in 6 months. And just what is stock XYZ, the one that will double in 6 months??? I have no clue.

I may not know a lot, but I do know enough to know what I don't know.

The organization I volunteer with had it's big annual event today, and it was a stunning success. All attendees seemed to have a great time.

One of the best things about our current living situation (living very cheaply ... I'm only working off & on at temp jobs and not looking for anything permanent) is that I've been able to devote some time to volunteering... the amount of time involved ebbs & flows, but at times it's like a part-time (unpaid) job. I'm no PrincessPerky (aka Scouting volunteer extraordinaire), and what I do is itsy-bitsy small potatoes compared to the organization's leader who works full-time-plus for no pay while raising 4 children, but at least it's something.

Not having to worry about bringing home more than just a few slices of bacon once in awhile, and therefore able to devote some of my extra time to a worthy cause, has been a real blessing. This is sort-of how I envision my early retirement years, and I know I'm lucky to be able to do it for a bit in my mid-40's, while my knees & back are still strong!

In addition to the emotional rewards, there are quasi-financial fringe benefits to volunteering. There was a pizza place at the event that was selling slices. When the event ended, they started handing out free pizzas to the volunteers and I got one!

And it was a good workout. I'm so tired ... I must drag myself out to walk my dog, but then I'm going to crawl in to my pajamas and plop on the floor to watch an episode or two of "As Time Goes By" ... if I can stay awake. (Since we don't currently have a sofa, if I want to lie down to watch something on TV, it must be on the floor.)

Wachovia now wants to sell to Wells Fargo, but Citi is objecting:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122303190029501925.html?mod=...

I hope the parties involved can work this out amongst themselves. (The thought of legal wrangling and court injunctions ... ugh.)

No, the fact that 2 of my banks (WaMu & Wachovia) went buh-bye within a period of 5 days did not cause me to take a long walk off of a short pier. I'm still around. It's just that DH's business and my volunteer activities have really kept me hopping, and I did not want to crank out a hurried blog entry that would end up sounding completely incoherent.

First, on the bank thing. I know you're all sick of hearing about it, but as far as I know I'm the only one around here who has accounts at both of the "W" banks, so you might be curious to know how I feel about the whole business. It's fine. Really. Since WaMu was a bona fide failure, it was more disconcerting. But we had already done what we could (short of panicking and pulling all of our money out) to feel prepared for a failure. And with Wachovia ... well, the irrational side of my brain thought that it would have been nice if I could have had a couple weeks between bank blow-outs to get myself prepared emotionally for it! But then again, maybe it was nice to just get it all over with at once. I'm still keeping my eye on what will happen with my yields. With WaMu, I have an MMA. Don't have very high hopes there. With Wachovia, most of my money is in CDs, so I am hoping that my rates will be in effect until the CDs mature.
I went in to my WaMu branch yesterday (had volunteer-related business that had to be taken care of), and the mood there was quite upbeat ... A big change from Friday.

On a really positive note, I did manage to earn some respect points with my DH for the nagging I did to get him to switch his business account from one that was not FDIC insured to one that is. (Side note: As small business owners, we are fully in support of raising the FDIC insurance limit, and think it is long overdue. This is something they have been talking about for years. For many small businesses, ours included, it is darn near impossible to operate efficiently and keep your balances under $100K at all times.)

Thrift-o-rama asked how we were coping with all of the turmoil in the financial markets, and someone else asked what we are going to change. This is what I've done and what I am going to do (and whether I'm right or wrong, I really don't know, but I'm doing what feels right for us.)

- Over the weekend, spurred by the WaMu failure, I printed out two well-known poems that I like and they are sitting on my table so I can glance at them any time I need to. They help me stay focused. One is "If" by Rudyard Kipling, and the other is "Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann. BTW, I know many people like the line in "If" about keeping your head when all about you are losing theirs, and I like that too, but actually my favorite part is "If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that's in it."

- On Monday I turned on the news as I was getting ready to make lunch. Saw the Dow plummeting. On top of 2 banks going under, it did feel overwhelming, and I'll admit I felt anxiety coursing through my body. I found myself thinking "OMG I hope the Dow doesn't drop below 10,000 ... no, it's not a logical response and 10,000 really is no different from 9,999 ... it's purely a psychological threshold ... but it goes to show that no matter how rational we try to be, sometimes irrational thoughts take over. I realized I still had work that needed to be done and I needed to focus. So ... and I admit this may sound silly ... I decided that instead of just throwing together a sandwich, I was going to make myself a nourishing lunch of brain food. I fixed a salmon patty and steamed spinach. That's right ... the Dow plummets and scfr steams spinach!

- Monday evening, after I had finished the work I needed to get done for DH, I popped a Netflix DVD in the player and watched one episode of the old BBC series "As Time Goes By." I love that series ... It never fails to make me laugh out loud. By that point, I REALLY needed a laugh, and it felt good.

- As far as our investments go, we're not changing a thing. Our portfolio was designed so that we could emotionally handle a serious market downturn. I did write a date on my calendar (in 2015) when I will revisit our asset allocation, and come up with a plan to GRADUALLY, year-by-year start moving out of stocks. At a certain age, I'd like to be 100% out of the stock market. (My thinking at this time is that age 65 would be good ... I do realize this is not necessarily a wise plan for everyone.) I feel for the senior citizens whose portfolios are taking a serious beating. I wonder how many of them still have the same asset allocation that they had when they were 40 or 45 or 50 ... and if it made sense for them back then and they just never changed it?

- As far as cutting back, we decided not to renew our just-expired subscription to the Austin Sunday paper (I get the WSJ Mon-Sat). Because we are moving away, we may have decided to let it go anyway, but the country's financial situation made the decion to save $2.44 a week that much easier. I clip a couple coupons in an average week, but do not save enough from them to justify the cost of the paper. Also, DH & I have been discussing our grocery budget and how we might trim it a bit. I am going to be presenting my plan to him when he returns from his business trip next week.

- I have some scrap gold (broken necklace, etc.) somewhere. I'm going to go ahead and sell it ... If I can find it.

- I'm going to vote. Nothing new here, but I do believe it's one of the most proactive things all of us can do to impact the course our country takes.

- We're moving whole-heartedly ahead with our plans to buy a house.

- And now for the more unconventional, and perhaps controversial, idea: When we open our next bank account (if we decide to bail on Chase or Citi for example), it will likely be with a bank that is owned by a non-USA company. For example, since we are moving to Cali, having an account with Union Bank of California makes sense. They are a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. If diversifying your stock portfolio internationally makes sense, then why not diversify your bank accounts as well? Y'all can call me crazy if you like, but as I said, we're doing what feels right to us.

Yesterday my WaMu branch had Customer Appreciation Day. (It had been scheduled before WaMu failed and was purchased by JP Morgan Chase.) I got a goodie bag that had a T-shirt, a BBQ spatula, and an ice cream scoop. All had "WaMu" printed on them. Also got chips, cookies, and a soda. (There was "hot" food as well, but since it had already been sitting out at room temperature for several hours by the time I got there, I decided to play it safe and pass.)

Most of the branch workers were on the phone with rather glum-looking faces ... Whether it was business or personal, I do not know, but I imagine it was a mix of the two. Twice back in my corporate world days I showed up to work in the morning to find an announcement sitting on the fax machine stating that our company had been bought out, so I understand that even when you see it coming and even if it turns out to be a good thing in the long run, it is still a bit of a shock to the system initially. Unfortunately, the gal I really wanted to talk to (I guess you'd call her our banking representative at WaMu) was out to lunch. To the young man who came over to greet me I just said "Congratulations on the big news." I know it sucks for the employees if they had stock options, but at least they still have a job (for the time being and hopefully long-term). Sure beats what would have happened if the bank had failed and not been bought out.

As a WaMu customer who must now decide whether or not I want to stick around, I found this article on Bankrate interesting:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/investing/bankrate_investin...

Of most interest to me was the "Chase May Disappoint On Yields" section. Kind of what I was expecting to hear, as DH & I have looked at Chase in the past but have not opened an account there.

DH kind of cracks me up ... He told me "Please find out what is going to happen to our rate" but I told him I think we're just going to have to wait and see on that. (One of my "jobs" when it comes to our finances is rate-shopping. I take it seriously.) I pointed out to him that our principal is safe, and at least for a day or two we should try to be grateful for that.

I will give JP Morgan Chase a chance. (When BofA took over our AAA Gold Savers MBNA account, I was expecting our rate to plummet. Was therefore pleasantly surprised when our rate structure was grandfathered in by BofA. So I am not automatically assuming that our new rates will suck.) But of course, I have started looking around, checking rates, including a peek at Poundwise's fabulous thread over on the forums.

Right now on my list of banks to consider are EverBank, Capitol One Direct (the offer for Costco members), and Amegy Bank of Texas. All three have a 4-star rating from Bankrate and offer attractive yields. No doubt there will be many others looked at in the days and weeks to come.

Oh, have a mentioned that I also have an account at Wachovia? Yea, I'm gonna stick it out with them too.

I would put every single American on "time out," explain the difference between a Money Market Account and a Money Market Fund, over and over again if necessary, and not let them leave time out until they really understood it.

By the time anyone sees this, I'm sure you'll have heard the news. JP Morgan Chase Buys WaMu:

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2008/pr08085.html

http://www.jpmorganchase.com/cm/BlobServer?blobtable=Documen...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09...

Well, baselle and Paulette Goddard's son (and anyone else who has an account with WaMu), I suppose this is about as good of an outcome as we could have hoped for.

I just checked my on-line account, and I can still log in. Nice. Not anything in particular I wanted to do with it, just wanted to see if it was still up and running.

I suppose this means I can go back to writing checks on my WaMu account, tho' I may wait a few days on that.

What I'm most curious about is how much the interest rate I am earning will change. When people started pulling money out of WaMu, they started offering pretty sweet APYs. I'm pretty sure I can kiss those good-bye, but again I'll just wait and see. I know we looked at Chase once, but weren't all that impressed with their rates.

My WaMu branch was going to have Customer Appreciation Day tomorrow with goodies ... I wonder if that's still on? If it looks like they are being mobbed (and no reason they should be), I'll stay away. But if it's on and the lobby is empty, I'll go in just to offer my moral support to the nice gals who work there ... If I were in their shoes, I'd be relieved, but of course when an employer changes it's stressful.

After all of the effort to relocate to a lower cost part of the country (from Seattle to Austin), why are we now planning to pack up and move yet again to San Diego?

Short Answer: Becaue we can, so why not? If you have to ask, you probably haven't ever been to San Diego! It's gorgeous. We both love it. And for the first time in our married life, it is "comfortably affordable" for us.

Longer Answer: When we got married, DH was not instantly enamoured with Seattle (to put it mildly). We married in the spring, and Seattle unfortunately had a very wet summer that year. It wasn't long before he started talking about moving to California. Keeping an open mind, we discussed that. He was okay with San Diego and LA; I was okay with San Diego and the Bay area. San Diego was the one area we both liked...in fact, it was the first choice for both of us. But at that time, it was just too expensive for us (as were SFO and LA, frankly). So, we stayed in Seattle, and DH learned to like it. But he never cared for the rain or occasional snow. After we sold our house and started thinking about relocating to another area, a warm climate was important, as was a lower cost of living. We spent months researching and thinking about it, and finally settled on Austin. (At that time, we did not really think about San Diego because real estate prices there were still so high.) I like it here, but DH has never really felt like he fits in. Knowing DH wasn't really loving it here, while we were house-hunting, we continued to keep an eye on the markets in other parts of the country (especially on the West Coast). As everyone knows, the market in Southern California has really plunged. One day I just looked at DH and said something like "You know, I think we could move to San Diego now" ... and that was it. Within a day we had decided to go, and it felt absolutely right. No need to do months of research this time. It's just that it is now feasible to live someplace we both have always wanted to live, so why not?

Our expenses are going to go up. They will be much more than they are here in Austin, and because of the state income tax will even be a bit higher than they were in Seattle.

DH thinks being back on the West Coast will help his business a bit, and it probably will, but we can't plan on that. So our income will basically be the same as it is now and bit less than it was in Seattle (because I don't have my business anymore).

But we will both be happy ... and DH much more so. That is worth a lot.

The temperate climate will mean DH can get out and golf much more often, and the dog and I can take longer walks (and on the beach to boot).

I have a friend from college who lives in San Diego, DH has a couple friends who live in the LA area, and I have family in LA. (LA's not San Diego of course ... but it's a heck of a lot closer than Texas.)

All of our family wants to come visit us there! What's not to love about being a tourist in San Diego?

So, in spite of the higher cost of living, Sand Diego just has so much going for it that it makes perfect sense for us.

The move is going to be so easy, since we sold off so much before moving to Austin, and have held off on buying any new furniture until we had a house. I think this will be my easiest move since I was a college kid heading off to the dorm.

As easy as it will be, that doesn't mean I look forward to it. I look forward to the destination, but moving is indeed a pain. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this really will be our last move until we make that final move (condo, retirement home, nursing home, or hereafter).

House hunting has been very interesting. Bank owned foreclosed properties, short sales, trustee sales ... We're seeing it all. I've looked at several houses (on-line) where the home was foreclosed mid-renovation ... flooring torn up, kitchen counters off, interior doors lined up in the garage, etc. For anyone willing to put in some time/effort/money, there are some real bargains out there!!! We will spend less than what we sold our house in Seattle for ... it will mean a smaller and probably older house, but we will still come out ahead as far as we're concerned.

Thank goodness for the internet. It makes house-hunting so much easier. We are working with an agent this time (since we are on a strict time table for making a purchase and we are commiteed to buying) ... He sends me new & updated listings everyday, and I look them over. If they look interesting, I can Zillow them, and look on Mapquest to see where the nearest grocery stores are.

We have already purchased our tickets, reserved our rental car, and book our hotel room for our house-hunting trip out to San Diego (in early December). We also have our game plan. The only things I still have to do, in addition to continuing to house hunt, is to buy a digital camera and make a boarding reservation for the dog (I have narrowed my choices on both down to just a few, but am waiting to pull the trigger).

Ideally, we'll move late-Feb or early-March. But we have been warned that if we buy a short sale, the negotiation stage can take months. So, we are "hanging loose" about the move date. If need be, we can extend our lease here on a month-to-month basis.

And do we regret having moved here to Austin just to have to pack up and move again? Absolutely not. When we made the original decision to move away from Seattle, San Diego just wasn't a good option financially. Austin was, and it was the right choice at the time. It has been really, really, really nice having such low expenses, even if it was just for a brief period of time. And it's a great town.

P.S. - Did you notice my updated Cool Quote in my "About Me" column? I guess a bit of Texas has rubbed off on me.

Typically, I wait to check our mutual funds' balances until the end of the month. But when I heard the news over the weekend about Lehman & Merrill, I thought it might be "fun" to check our balances at the close of business Friday and the close of business today, in order to share how a boring (conservative) portfolio like ours does on a day when the stock market goes down big time.

For anyone interested in a recap of our conservative portfolio, and the reasons behind it, and how I understand that it is not for most people, you can check out this post:
http://scfr.savingadvice.com/2008/02/25/peekaboo_35981/

I'm sure you're all sick of hearing it, but here's a recap of the stock market today:
Dow down 4.4%
S&P 500 down 4.6%
NASDAQ down 3.6%

And here's how our funds did today:

Vanguard LifeStrategy Conservative Growth down 2.3% (from $15.83 to $15.47)

Vanguard STAR down 2.5% (from $18.68 to $18.22)

Vanguard Balanced Index down 2.5% (from $20.29 to $19.78)

Overall, our mutual funds are down 2.3% today compared to where they were on Friday. I can live with that. I'm not going to change a thing. I just cannot stomach wild swings (due to my fairly low tolerance for risk combined with the risk involved in owning a business). But 2.5% down compared to 4.6% down for the S&P is something I can handle. In fact, it's days like today that make me glad I'm invested the way I am.

And to those of you who are invested heavily in the stock market ... who have a high risk tolerance and are taking this crazy market in stride ... I salute you! Really, you are to be admired.

Here are 2 "What If's?" I pondered yesterday that never would have crossed my mind even 6 months ago:

1. "What if WaMu fails while DH is overseas on one of his month-long business trips, like the one he's getting ready to go on? Will I have to wait until he gets back to recoup all of the money in our joint account? Should I have him sign some sort of PofA?" (Conclusion: Needless worry, silly nilly. According to the FDIC, when a bank fails and is not taken over, the FDIC sends account holders a check. If it's a joint account, the account balance is divided in 2 and checks are sent to both account holders. I have never had a problem depositing a check made out to DH, as long as I'm not asking for cash back or opening a new account. So ... I'll just take his check and deposit it in one of our other bank accounts.)

2. "What if WaMu fails this Friday? If I pay my quarterly estimated taxes to the IRS (due Sept. 15th) with my WaMu checking account, and the check gets sent back, will the IRS assess me interest and penalties? (Conclusion: Yea, this one has the potential to be a problem. But odds are pretty slim. When a bank is closed and not taken over, checks that have not cleared do get sent back marked "Bank Closed." Obviously, I'd need to send new payment to the IRS. But in spite of their bad rep, I have actually found the IRS to be pretty understanding when it comes to "unusual circumstances." If WaMu failed, that would not exactly be a secret; the folks at the IRS would know about it! Since paying the estimated taxes from a different bank account would have required a fair amount of money shuffling, I decided to go ahead and just pay using the WaMu check, and if need be I will throw myself on the mercy of the IRS and ask for an interest & penalty waiver.)

Is there anyone else out there who has not closed their WaMu account? (There probably aren't many of us. I went in to my branch last Friday afternoon to make a deposit. Normally Friday afternoons are busy at any bank with people cashing their paychecks. I was the only person in the branch the entire time.) If so, any odd questions like mine crossing your mind these days?

Super Target's offering a pretty good deal. 4 Kashi items for $11, and you get a $5 Target gift card at the register. So that translates to $6 for 4 Kashi items, or $1.50 each. You can buy any combination of Kashi item: cereal (hot or cold), granola bars, cookies, crackers, or frozen entrees. I forgot to take note of how long this offer is going on (sorry).

I bought 2 boxes of Vive cereal (full retail $3.99 each) ... would have gone for a granola, but they were already sold out ... and 2 boxes of cookies (full retail $3.09 each) ... yum, yum.

As mentioned previously, one of the things I really wanted to do while I was visiting my mom was fill in her "Letter of Instructions." Mom has the "proscratination paired with perfectionism problem" that I sometimes struggle with, and had been promising for several years to fill out a "Letter of Instructions" for me but just had not "gotten around to it."

Over the course of my 15-day visit, we had several sessions where we sat down in her office and worked on the LofI in 2 or 3 hour stretches. She talked and occasionally retrieved information while I wrote.

A couple times we came to sections of the LofI where Mom would say something like "You know ... I'd really like to sit down and write you a much more detailed letter about this." I just replied "That would be great, and I would love to have it. But in the meantime, let's just fill this out, and it will do for the time being. It will be better than nothing." To tell you the truth, I doubt very much that I will ever receive those detailed letters.

One critical piece of information was missing, but I received in from her by Email this morning, so the LofI is done!

I am very relieved. I feel much, much better prepared to handle her estate effectively when that time comes.

My trip was also helpful for me in that I was able to come to peace with the fact that my Mom is not going to do anything to reduce the amount of STUFF that she has (way too much stuff by almost anyone's standards). My sisters and I have all tried to encourage her to sell, donate, or get rid of things, but it has not worked. We've also tried very hard to encourage her to stop buying so much stuff, because frankly she can't afford it as far as any of us are concerned (except for Mom herself). But it hasn't worked, and I don't think her habits are ever going to change, so no use beating our heads against a wall. At least we know we tried. Someday I am going to have to deal with the mountain that is my mother's stuff, and there is nothing I can do about it but deal with it when that time comes. C'est la vie. (Or, for the benefit of Paulette Goddard and her studies, "shoga nai" as the Japanese would say, which literally translates to "It can't be helped.")

Finally, I was able to help my brother's finances out a bit. He has been buying trail mix to snack on at work (at $2.55 per bag), and has been buying Vitamin Water to drink when he works in the yard (at $1 per bottle). I took him to Costco where he bought a 4-lb bag of trail mix for $10 that I broke down in to 20 little baggies (or 50-cents per bag), and a case of 24 bottles of Costco's Vita-Rain water for $12 (again, 50-cents per bottle). That saved him $53 bucks.

I also looked over his employer-sponsored retirement plan and made some suggestions to Mom on possible changes ... He was very aggressively invested, and Mom had no idea (never looked at the statements ... just filed them away). Mom told me she has already called and changed his investments to a more conservative mix.

Lest you think all I did was fret over financial matters, we also had lots of fun: played w/ my niece & nephew the 2 days they were there, took daily walks, went shopping at the farmer's market for great fresh produce, played board games, watched movies on TV, went out to eat a couple times (including a very nice dinner at PF Chang's which was a birthday gift to Mom from me) and visited a museum.

Hello all,
I am back from a great visit with my mom. Haven't been able to check the blogs for 15 days. Any major news around here?

Off to Mom's: I'm heading off to spend a couple weeks at my mom's ... all of my siblings will be there at least briefly (the 3 sisters all live in different parts of the country). Of course my darling brother (who lives with my mom) will be there the whole time, and I am looking forward to spending time with him as well as with Mom. I will be doing my utmost to NOT talk about personal finance while I am there, since my mom & I definitely do not see eye to eye. (I have refrained from blogging about mom's finances because it would probably turn in to a long and ugly bitch-fest.) What I do plan on doing is filling in some of the information on her "Letter of Instructions." I have printed out a blank copy and packed it in my suitcase. I agreed to be the executor of her estate when she passes, and I asked her to fill out the LofI for me. She said she would but it has been several years and she has yet to do it. I feel woefully unprepared to deal with her estate, and for the sake of my brother (who is developmentally disabled) and for the sake of my own sanity when that time comes, I feel I must get some information from her (including the mere basics such as the name of the attorney who drew up her will). I am telling myself to tread lightly ... I will be saying the Serenity Prayer frequently, I'm sure.

San Diego Plans: DH & I have worked out a temporary plan. He will head off to San Diego shortly after Thanksgiving and spend about 4-5 days househunting. He will narrow the choices down to 10 or so, and I will go out for a day or two to see those 10 houses together with him. If all goes according to plan, we will put an offer in on one of those houses (tho we will also decide on 2nd and 3rd choices as backups in case the negotiations on the 1st choice falls through). We have heard from several agents, both here and in Cali, that the buying process on a short sale is quite lengthy ... as long as 16 weeks. We don't know that we will be buying a short sale house, but given the market conditions in that area right now, odds are pretty high that we will, so we are allowing plenty of time for a lengthy negotiation and closing in the spring. In the meantime, we are doing lots of "window shopping" on the internet.

Austin Sightseeing: I have checked "Cavern Tour" off of my list of things to do before I leave Austin. It was very cool. Will try to write about it later, but now I must go finish packing.

Today when I was returning to my apartment I noticed what I thought was moving activity at an apartment. Later when I walked back that way to pick up the mail, I realized it was 4 apartment complex employees doing the "moving," nothing was packed, everything was just being piled up outside, and there was a car marked Constable with a uniformed officer keeping watch.

Ouch.

Someone is going to come home to find they have been put out on the streets along with their HUGE piles of stuff. I'd be willing to bet that if that unfortunate resident could go back in time, they would buy less of that stuff and instead put money in to their Emergency Fund.

So ... How's YOUR emergency fund? If it's not good, what are you doing to bulk it up?

I had a very long list of places I wanted to visit here in Austin (and nearby cities), but thinking that I would have a lot of time I have only visited a few so far. Today I pared down my list to a manageable size and it's now posted there on the left.

This will involve spending some money, but I know that in all likelihood I will never be back here again ... not because I don't like it ... in fact, I highly recommend Austin as a great place to live ... just because I can't foresee any circumstances that would bring me back here. So, I want to leave with no regrets about the things I did not do.

Since househunting is no longer on the agenda (today I purged a drawer full of house flyers, etc), I also agreed to take on an additional project with the volunteer organization I've gotten involved with. (They know I'll be moving, but wanted me to do it anyway.)

The big news here is that we may be moving again. DH is just not digging Austin enough to make this our forever home.

When DH first brought this up I felt a bit whiplashed (still feel that way in fact). But I understand why he's not happy here. We will probably be moving back West in the spring, but not back to Seattle. We're thinking California (because of the weather). There goes the low cost of living!!! Oh well, at least we will have had 1-1/2 years of living cheap.

A couple years ago CA would not have been an option becaue of the high real estate prices, but thanks to the recent housing price declines it now looks like living in Cali may now be doable.

NPR mentioned that today is the anniversary of the late Louis Armstrong's birth, so in his honor I am playing some of his CDs today.

I love jazz. I'm far from being an expert, but I do love the way it makes me feel. I tend to favor the classics ... Miles, Monk, Coltrane, etc.

To the extreme fan or the obsessive collector, my collection of CDs might seem like small potatoes, but I think it is great. I don't know if I've yet to spend $1,000 on CDs, but I'll bet it's close to that. I've been buying jazz CDs for almost 20 years. The pace of my acquisitions has slowed down considerably (the more I've collected, the less I "need"). The last CD I got was "Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall" which is not only a fabulous record but also of historical significance ... it was rediscovered in some files at the Library of Congress and released in 2005. Guess what the only thing I wanted for Christmas in 2005 was?

I buy my CDs new. I look for discounts, but I don't wait for them to hit the clearance bin.

I love to read books, but I get 99% of my books at the library. I like to watch movies, but I own only 7 (3 are the LOTR movies); I rent from Netflix, at the lowest subscription level. I like moderate exercise, and I get that from walking my dog (or once in a blue moon popping in a yoga DVD). I don't indulge all of my hobbies and interests in a way that costs a lot of money. But I have spent a fair amount on jazz CDs, and if another history-making release comes out or I discover a new artist I love, I will continue to buy ... with no apologies.

I can afford them, and they are well worth the cost for the amount of joy they bring me.

Especially for the younger folks (many of whom have joined the boards recently) I would like to stress that a frugal life does NOT equal a joyless life. The key is figuring out what it is that really brings you joy, and spending your money accordingly ... once you have determined that you can afford it, of course.

For each person, the joy will come from different sources. For Ima Saver, it's dinner out many nights with her husband and Corvettes. For disneysteve, it's the annual pilgrimage to Disney World with his family. For Broken Arrow (err...BA Lite) it's a karaoke box and a guitar. For one person it may be designer clothes. For another it may be gourmet foods or higher-end wines. Someone else may love to go to live concerts or plays. And so on and so on ...

What does NOT work in the long term (unless maybe you are in the super-high-income category) is saying to yourself: "Well, they go to Disney every year and drive a Corvette and wear designer clothes and have instruments and lots of CDs and eat gourmet food and drink expensive wine and go to the theater... so I want ALL of that too!" That's just about being driven by jealousy or competitiveness (aka "keeping up with the Jonses"). It will make you broke and it might not even bring you any joy.

I hope everyone reading this will be filled with joy AND have a secure financial future! I'm off to listen to some more Louis. Peace.

DH got a new FDIC-insured business account opened. He still has his old account as well, and if he wants to keep it I think that's fine, but he needs to see if he can get the sub-account (not sure if that's the proper name) on his sweep account changed to something FDIC insured (right now it's not insured).

We wanted to find a new bank to open up a personal MMA, and decided to go with Compass Bank since they are offering 3.3% APY, are rated 4-stars by Bankrate, and they have physical branches in the area we can actually walk in to. (We are shying away from internet-only banks these days. Probably no sound reason for that; it's just what makes us feel more coomfortable.)

WaMu & Wachovia: We have accounts at both banks. DH is fine keeping the Wachovia account, but not the WaMu account. He keeps saying we should close the account. I want to keep the WaMu account, not as a vote of confidence in WaMu necessarily, but as a vote of confidence in the FDIC. (In fact, I went in on Friday and deposited a small check, and my pay is auto-deposited to WaMu and I have no plan to change that unless and until I have to.) DH keeps saying, "What happens when the FDIC runs out of money? It's going to happen." (insert eye-rolling emoticon here --- yes, it could happen, but I really don't think we are anywhere remotely near that point yet.) This is from the guy who only a couple months ago was saying it was no big deal if one were to go over the FDIC insured limit or have a non-insured account. The Indymac bank closure sure gave him a jolt. As often is the case when it comes to our finances, he's like a pendulum swinging between extremes, and so I am trying to be a moderating force.
Oh, and the reason he wants to keep the Wachovia account is because he says Wachovia is "too big to fail" (insert 3 eye-rolling emoticons here --- give me a break).

On a more serious note, I should add that our WaMu account is way under the FDIC limit, we have our funds spread amongst several banks, and we would be fine if we could not get our hands on that money for a few days. If WaMu were our only bank, I would be seriously thinking about opening up an account elsewhere.

This investment's a guaranteed winner. And best of all, anyone can do it. Car maintenance. (What? You expected me to say I bought tulip bulbs?)

Yesterday I took my Camry in for its 120K mile tune-up. In addition to routine maintenance (oil change, radiator fluid change, tire rotation) there was a long list of things Toyota recommended should be checked out. Based on the lookover results, dirty transmission fluid was flushed and 2 accessory belts were replaced. Total "investment" was $377.

---Knock on wood---

Hopefully my investment will pay off in the form of a car that doesn't breakdown suddenly on the freeway, needing to be towed, causing me to incur unnecessary expenses, and making me miss pay because I can't get to work. And hopefully my investment will pay off in the form of a car that is still going strong at 200K miles (allowing me to keep my money in the bank, earning interest, instead of buying a replacement vehicle).

Today we attended a Home Tour in a nearby community where a builder was giving away $25 gas cards. In addition to the gas card, we got free drinks and snacks.

Awhile ago, we visited the model homes of a builder who was giving away Target gift cards.

I think we will see more and more of these giveaways if the home market remains soft.

Here in Austin, the housing market is still relatively strong compared to the rest of the country. I can only imagine the freebies that can be found in more depressed housing markets.

Might be worth skimming the real estate section of the Sunday paper, even if you aren't in the market for a new house.

1. Short Sale House: DH & I went to look at it yesterday. It is a real beauty, and it is being offered at a really good price. I had looked at it once, and was afraid DH would fall totally in love with it and want it. I say "afraid" because while it is a lovely home, it looks like the type of home where we would spend quite a bit of time on upkeep of the house and the yard. Fortunately, DH agreed that the house would require quite a bit of time on an on-going basis. (Actually, he made that comment about the yard only, but I can tell the house would be the same, and guess whose shoulders that work would fall on?) The house is pre-foreclosure and has been unoccupied for 6 months. It has not been trashed, but it has been a bit neglected. When we got home, DH walked in to our apartment, looked around, and said: "I like this apartment. It's so CLEAN!" I replied, "Yes, it is" but inside I was laughing and thinking "That's because the magic cleaning fairies show up on a regular basis" I was also thinking "Give me 3 days alone with that house and it will sparkle" but I didn't say that because frankly I'm still hoping for a smaller, more modest house and I did not want to put any ideas in DH's head.

2. 2nd Car: Apparently I was not the only one researching cars the last month. In addition to the SmartCar that I want to test drive, DH wants to check out the new Volkswagen Jetta Diesel. Looks like a reasonable choice to me. Now I just need to find out if it's currently available in our area.

3. Short-Term CDs: BofA is offering a 7-month CD @4.11% (available on-line only). Not too shabby. We decided to go with that for some of DH's post-busy-season money. Higher rates are available elsewhere, but either the terms are longer or the bank is shakier.

4. VMSXX: We discussed, and DH is considering it. He's a bit anxious about putting non-tax-deferred dollars in a non-FDIC insured spot. Why that is any worse than putting tax-deferred money in a non-FDIC insured spot is beyond me. He keeps asking me: "How safe is Vanguard, really?" I'm all for VMSXX, but DH needs a bit more time to process the idea ... He has a couple friends who are both financially savvy and conservative. No doubt he will be consulting with them. Hopefully we won't end up with a mattress investment.

DH has been gone on a month-long business trip. He gets back tonight! Yea! I'm so excited that I woke up this morning before the alarm went off ... Just like a little kid on Christmas morning! There are some feelings that no amount of money can buy, and this is one of them.

Other good news:
- The post-spa-treatment breakout has cleared up ... just in time (barely)
- I went the entire month without eating takeout one time ... pat,pat,pat on the back for me
- I've selected a charitable organization in the area to volunteer with. (This is something that really helps me feel connected to a community, and I've been looking for a good one here in Austin.) I'm attending my 2nd meeting at the end of this week
- I tried Jeffrey's nifty "towel in the dryer" tip and it worked very well ... I will be doing that from now on to cut my electricity usage (thanks, baselle, for the confirmation that it worked)

Issues I'll be dealing with (together with DH) in the coming days are:
- We are going to see the pre-foreclosure house together ... I'm a tad nervous that DH is going to love it a bit too much ... I think it's probably just too much (size & cost).
- We are going to test drive a Smart Car and if we like it, will decide if we want to go on the wait list for one (we are getting by finewith one car right now, but know we will want a 2nd car eventually ... I've read about the Smart Car and think it would make a perfect 2nd car ... Since the current wait for a Smart Car is 12-15 months, that would force us to stretch the one-car-only business out a bit longer but would allow us to know that it is not a forever thing.)
- We have accounts at both Wachovia & WaMu. Both are on the short list of banks that are potentially the next to fail. We need to talk it over and decide if we are comfortable keeping those accounts or if we want to close one of them. (I don't see any need to close both.)
- Now that DH's busy season is wrapping up, it's time to decide if we want to purchase shares of Vanguard's Tax-Exempt Money Market Fund. I've been researching CD rates as well, as that is our alternative.
- DH's business account is not FDIC insured. I've been nagging him for months (maybe over a year in fact) to change it to a FDIC insured one. He didn't think it was a big deal, but the Indymac Bankclosure was the wake up call he needed to make him realize how important this is, so getting him set up with a different business account is now priority number one.

Hope all is well with all of you.

What Would Amber Do?

That was what I asked myself when I was driving home, tired and hungry after running errands. DH is on a long business trip so it's just me, and I wasn't in the mood to cook because I was hungry and just wanted food. I started hearing the siren song of the Whataburger drive-thru calling to me.

Then I started thinking about our friend Amber, and how she has done such a great job over-coming the eating out habit ... She's a real inspiration ... Hence the question I asked myself:

What would Amber do?

I don't actually know what Amber would have done, but thinking about her inspired me to go home and zap a Smart Ones frozen dinner (that I had bought on clearance at Super Target for $1.18) in the microwave. Saved myself a few dollars, and probably did my health some good as well.

Thank you Amber!

1. Spa Treatment: "The procedure" was today. It turned out very well, tho my face now feels a bit itchy and I can see major breakout starting along my jawline. I'm glad I had this done when I can lie low for a few days. I was a bit red for a couple hours after, but fortunately that calmed down because DH called and asked me to take care of some business for him this afternoon that involved meeting someone. The good news was that I ended up spending only $41 (including tip), not the $50 I had expected. I knew the price of the procedure, but for some reason had mentally added $4 to the price. Also, either tax was included in the price or Texas does not charge sales tax on services (this is the first time I've had a service performed in Texas so I don't know). I had researched spas on Citysearch, looking for customer-recommended spas nearby, narrowed it down to 3 spas, and then checked their rates on-line. The one I chose had a Citysearch coupon for first-time customers. Not only did I get $10 off but I also got a "free" body lotion that normally retails for $28. Not the sort of thing I'd normally buy, but I was happy to take the freebie. Thanks for all of your positive comments on my previous entry. I now feel perfectly fine about my little "secret-self-esteem-boosting-expenditure."

2. In-Laws: A while back I blogged about getting a retirement gift for my in-laws.
http://scfr.savingadvice.com/2008/06/08/retirement-gift-for-...
FIL was supposed to have loose ends wrapped up and be officially retired by June 20th. Guess what? He's still working! Since MIL has already moved to their new home, he had moved in with SIL. But apparently he decided he had overstayed his welcome, so he is sleeping in his office. Good grief! I really don't know if it is because there is a holdup on the portion of the business he is selling, or if he just is emotionally unable to stop working. Take note everyone, especially you self-employed folks: As retirement approaches, create a set-in-stone exit strategy for yourselves. I wonder if it would help if we told him that we were going to give him a nice gift, but that he won't be getting it until after he has actually retired?

3. House Hunting: I went and checked out a home that is in pre-foreclosure ... the sellers are trying to do a short sale. It's a really lovely home but I think it's too big and too much money, but DH is REALLY interested in it so we'll be going back to see it after he returns from his trip. Sad situation for the sellers tho ... It's a really lovely home yet they only lived there for about 1-1/2 years. It never ceases to amaze me how so many people managed to get themselves so over-extended.

(The males in the group may want to stop reading this now, as this post falls under the TMI category. Consider yourselves warned.)

DH is currently on a long business trip. I am between work assignments. The first day I was off work I called a salon and scheduled an appointment. My appointment is tomorrow. I am going in to have a little "procedure" done. You see ... I am entering that certain "time of life" and have recently started noticing an increase in facial hair. (Fellas - I warned you. This is not a pretty post.) Fortunately it's very fine, super light peach fuzz. I think it's still at the stage where I'm the only one who really notices it, but it's definitely not going away on it's own and it won't be long before it is noticeable to others. So, I decided to get a facial waxing. (The idea of shaving bothers me for some reason. I don't want to use harsh chemical hair removal creams because I have sensitive skin. Electrolysis is expensive and I want to see how long the waxing lasts before I consider that option.) I scheduled this procedure while DH is gone and while I'm off work in case I have some sort of a reaction or breakout ... I'll have time to "heal" before I'm in the public eye.

Also, to tell you the truth, I'm embarassed to tell DH I'm having this done. My intellect tells me that this is something many women go through, and that it's just a biological thing and that I can't help it, but my emotional side fears the loss of femininity involved.

Here's where the possible "financial infidelity" comes in ... I stopped off at the bank while I was out running errands this morning and withdrew some cash so that I don't have to put the charge on my CC. DH doesn't scrutinize the bank statements, but he does check over the CC bills.

We each are given "pocket money" (allowance) each month that we are allowed to spend on whatever we want, and since I spend so little I have a great big fat "pocket money cushion" saved up, so it's definitely not like I'm spending money I'm not "entitled" to spend. (BTW, we are talking about $50 including tax & tip. I printed out an on-line coupon for new customers that will knock $10 off the cost.) And if I told DH about it, he might think it was a bit unnecessary and a bit of a waste of money, but I know he wouldn't try to stop me from doing it. He has never complained about my spending. This expenditure will get recorded in our household books, but just generically as "pocket money." (From time to time I get some cash to use as "walking around money" so it will look like that is what I did.)

But the fact remains that I am going to pay cash for something just so DH doesn't find out about it. Is that wrong? Ladies, have you ever done anything similar? Guys (if any of you are still reading), how would you feel if your wife did something like this?

Harris Interactive is a research company that conducts surveys on a variety of topics, not only consumer products but also "issues" such as health care, finances, politics, etc.

I've been doing HI surveys for several years. When you do surveys, you earn "points" that can be redeemed for rewards. In the past, I redeemed my points for gift cards at Target or Olive Garden. (Cash previously was not an option, so I figured that gift cards were the next best thing.)

I just completed a survey and when I went to redeem some points, I was pleasantly surprised to see that 800 HI Points can now be redeemed for a $5 Paypal credit. This is a brand new option. As far as I'm concerned, that's as good as cash!

If you'd like to join the HI panel, here is the web address:

http://www.harrispollonline.com/

If you're like me and check your mutual fund balances only on the last day of the month ... today is the day ... have you looked yet?

I just checked mine ... a 4.4% drop compared to end-May.

Oh well ... My grandpa told me that his father (my great-grandfather) told him that the price of a stock only matters when it is time to sell. And for those of you doing the math, yes, those words came from a man who was buying stock back in a day when very few people did, long before mutual funds. I will heed the words of my ancestor and not sweat it.

P.S. - I'll tell you what I AM sweating, tho. The 4.75% locked rate on my Wachovia MMA expires on Wednesday. I will miss it dearly. They're offering a 7-mo CD at 4.00% APY. I may go for that. They also have a 12-mo CD at 4.25% APY. (Both have a $5K min)