My husband and I did our Values Circles last night from the David Bach book, “Smart Couples Finish Rich.” Here’s what each of us identified as our top 5: Me: Family, Career, Friends, Fun, Helping People. Husband: Family/Love/Marriage, Creativity/Career, Joy, Security, Friends. The idea is that who you are or who you want to be [...]
Entries from August 29th, 2008
This I Know: We’re Broke, Again
August 27th, 2008 3 Comments
I was in no mood last night for either Breezy Dunleavey or Latte FactorTM Bach. They insist on outlining your values and goals before you do anything else. When I am in the right mood, this is fun. When I’m staring at our checking balance, which is in the double-digits right now, on its way [...]
Tags: big picture · fighting futility
Time Value Vs. My Valuable Time
August 26th, 2008 1 Comment
For this spender, there is one real turn-on about saving, called the time value of money. This is the amount of time it takes for invested funds to double (triple, quadruple, etc.), based on the interest rate. The earlier you start, the bigger the payoff. But there’s another time value that is currently winning around [...]
Tags: behavioral economics · convenience · Ticketmaster · time value
Parents Got a Place
August 22nd, 2008 No Comments
I got an offer of a nice rental for my folks, so thought I’d better update! They just finalized a deal on a nice townhome on their way out of town. They’re excited, we’re excited, and I get to go approve the inspection in their place next week. It was quite a whirlwind. They were [...]
Tags: buyer's market · Craigslist · foreclosure market
Let’s Get Creative
August 18th, 2008 No Comments
My parents are moving to our city in order to see the grandkids and at least two of their daughters at least weekly instead of biannually. Unfortunately, they’re moving to a more expensive market. It’s been tough watching them scramble to find something nice on social security and my dad’s pension. If they don’t find [...]
Tags: magical thinking · scrambling
Anxiety Dream
August 16th, 2008 No Comments
I dreamed this morning that I was trying to balance my checkbook. In the Sisyphian melodrama that played out, someone (probably me) was telling me that not only had I never done this, but I never would. Thanks, brain!
Tags:
Card fixed
August 14th, 2008 No Comments
By happenstance yesterday, my son’s play date was right by a physical bank branch. As in, you go in and fill out a slip to deposit or withdraw money. Remember that? Or how about those drive-in tube things? Do they still do that great sucking-whoosh thing? I used to love that when I was a [...]
Tags: bank branch · ease of use · speakeasy
Hello, Bank Account?
August 12th, 2008 1 Comment
I wrote a Hemispheres piece that appeared last March on using your bank’s online tools to make your life easier. Like tracking your spending and setting up automated savings by goal. (I can’t find it in their archives, but when I get around to setting up more pages here, I’ll post it there.) Nifty. Except [...]
Tags: ATM · debit card · online banking · saving tools
