Since I used fresh raw milk and fresh farm eggs for baking the past weekend, my son has turned into the Bread monster.

"These are the best buns I ever tasted!"
"They're probably the best I ever made," I said.

Later:
"Hey, wait, these buns aren't from Ezell's?" (Ezell's is a local fried chicken chain -- very very good, so good even Oprah delights in them)

Later:
"You know what we should do, Mom? Bake bread!" I agree here. Commercial bakery bread is very costly here -- $4/loaf.

I'm not making this up. He is not typically complimentary about my food. In fact if it weren't for a teaspoon of remaining milk in his bowl in the morning, I couldn't tell you if he ate.

The contractor came over to talk about the bathroom: for our rinkydink retro matchbox of a water closet, the estimate came in to 60% of what I projected. Yes, I'm Rain Man in that I don't know what things cost, and assume the worst of any scenario.

It's mildly curious that so much of my working life is dealing with high-tech and beta software and yet-unpublished protocols, but I live in an old house and if I could swing it, I'd have a Victrola. I think the woman who owned this house before I did, and who lived here fifty years, just had her husbands (sequentially) add stuff here and there as they had the money, as we're doing.

For the codgers like me out there: Muppet Show's "Beaker" = Stan Laurel?

So I thought I'd try the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, starting on #4. Except I have some problems:
• My brother expects me to be in Osaka to see him get married next February

Partial Solution: go solo and save 60% in projected expenses. Do I really want to bring a seven-year-old with me on a lengthy flight? Or rationalize that a once-in-a-lifetime combination of seeing my only surviving sibling marry in a country/continent I've never visited is very worth getting into a bit of temporary debt

• I have planned to update my upstairs bathroom, and would prefer not to go into debt to do it

Partial Solution: get into the mindset of "it's not really debt if I put half down and pay the remainder within six months, knowing that I have four times the remainder in my emergency funds"

• Distribution of the cash flow would be optimized if I pushed as much money toward the Roth as I can before my current contract expires -- it doesn't offer me a 401(k) plan, whereas I am instantly eligible to participate in the next contract.

Partial Solution: Start contributing $150/week to Roth until contract starts, then start putting 10% in 401(k). With the first thousand deposited into the Roth, increment the percentage contributed to the 401(k) by 1, and cut the Roth IRA contribution down to $100. It's harder this year, getting that extra thousand. Also, according to two retirement calculators, one at choose to save, and the other at MSN Money, I DON'T have to save 15% of my pretax income. I need save only 9.46%, so that lets me maximize my Roth IRA and lower my 401(k) contributions to 9%. The 15% must be for people who are starting fresh, yet still expect to see Social Security.

• I have gone over my budget several times, and whereas many people in reasonably-priced cities might gasp and point fingers at what we pay for in Gloomtopia, it is a considerable challenge for the overscheduled and underorganized to knock down expenses by 10%. I have to wait for the cell phone contract to expire, cats to die, garden yields to increase, boy to mature out of requiring supervision. I might even have to cut down on my health regimen.

Dave Ramsey doesn't know my life. He doesn't know how haphazardly I've hopscotched along the retirement/pay off home/big childcare/college funding/home improvement/energy savings mosaic of financial planning. People don't get married a whole ocean away, don't buy homes so antiquated Lucy Ricardo and June Cleaver would feel right at home in because that's all they could comfortably afford (3x gross income, mtg pymt 25% of gross) at the time (which was two years after the very best time to purchase in the 1990s), don't develop life-threatening pregnancy complications that later rob them of their eyesight, don't save up for replacement items and landscaping and sustainability and inflation all at once.
They don't parachute into environments where bubbles are the norm, nor do what everyone else is doing because they don't know any better or haven't ever had disposable income before.

I don't like debt, maybe I don't loathe/hate/despise it as much as Ramsey does. Maybe I've dipped into the HELOC, gotten a vehicle loan at 2.9% APR. But I haven't intentionally missed a payment, nor carried a balance on my credit cards since 2002.

Maybe when it comes to improving the value of an asset or leveraging for a greater gain I put down my mace and shield and learn to love my liabilities. Or do what I can to increase my salary this year. That might mean stop volunteering at my son's school.

I fear the myriad of financial goals means making difficult choices, or learning to prioritize/plan down to the hour my money-saving healthful financial moves and household activities. Sometimes I feel enmeshed in a web of my own devising, only I had thought everything I did was a good idea at the time, or thought I was doing the best I could. No. Taking eleven years to complete Ramsey's baby step #3 of building four months of expenses because I was trying to do #2, #4, #5, and #6 all at once in a frantic race to catch up to the middle class is not doing the best I can. Even if my net worth went up thirty-six times in those eleven years.

Ratios to Aim For:
Assets: Liabilities 4:1
Liabilities: Liquid Assets 4:1

Where I am now:
Assets: Liabilities 3.75:1
Liabilities: Liquid Assets 4.66:1

Recently borrowed from the library:

Ending poverty in America : how to restore the American dream -- John Edwards

Recently placed on hold at the library

Easy money : how to simplify your finances and get what you want out of life -- Liz Pulliam Weston

Gotcha capitalism : how hidden fees rip you off every day, and what you can do about it -- Bob Sullivan

It's not about the money : unlock your money type to achieve spiritual and financial abundance -- Brent Kessel

The retirement savings time bomb-- and how to defuse it: a five-step action plan for protecting your IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement plans from near annihilation by the taxman -- Ed Slott

Simple prosperity : finding real wealth in a sustainable lifestyle -- David Wann

Your complete retirement planning road map : the leave-nothing-to-chance, worry-free, all-systems-go guide / book -- Ed Slott.

I think the last one must have been mentioned in an article or on a radio program because I placed a hold on it three days ago and already eight more people after me have requested the book.

As I was getting eye vitamins and Emergen-C, I found an astrology book that offered a calendar of best, cautionary and stinko times for business transactions. April 28 and 29 are the last really good days for money investing decisions until November 26. Good thing I'm signing my contracts now. I'm not sure I believe in this stuff, but it can't be any weirder than "buy what you know," "dogs of the dow," "buy at low price/sales" or "buy at a low P/E."

Richard Jenrette, formerly of Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, used astrology. I could look at his 1997 book Jenrette: The Contrarian Manager, and see how he applies the alignment of the stars. A different kind of chart reading other than technical analysis, I am sure.

This coming week I must steel myself for announcing my departure from my contract. I'm not worried about saying goodbye, I'm queasy about setting an end date.

I bought $2550 worth of I Bonds today from my credit union: I purchased this much because that's how much money I had earmarked for a replacement car. I have already an I Bond dating back to 2004 that is worth $1172, so that's why I didn't buy $1200 extra: I had been saving only a hundred a month for the car.

I also bought some Yen for my Osaka trip. Maybe I'll bake some bread this weekend. If it were not for the lack of planning and protein I could eat out of my pantry.

I need to look into tax planning. My goal is to keep the AGI at least where it was last year. I don't have lots of stock losses, real estate depreciation, home office expenses, alimony or suchlike to declare. Does anyone know if 401(k) and healthcare deductions cut down the adjusted gross income?

I'm feeling shaky/nervous this morning. The neighbour's dog barking as it was left alone for the fourth consecutive night (did you know dogs can bark at least eighteen times a minute for seven hours? Somehow their larynges don't wither or become raw, I wonder why that is) and some driver trying to make a left-turn into my six-year-old as my little one after looking both ways was walking in a crosswalk on a PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL are testing my compassion limits today. When one's paying $3.85/gallon to feed one's wagon, I suppose one feels some blood sacrifice is necessary. I feel ready to bolt/stay at a friend's house or condo. I wish safety, security, and quietude weren't too much to ask for. These things seem to come only with death, except for Mr. Chaplin's case, in which his body was stolen.

I paid $100.01 extra toward my mortgage. I've paid a whopping 17% of principal since 5 years ago.

I finally, after four years, logged onto my son's Coverdell account and found he actually didn't lose any money. His stock investment has returned 24.42% over eighteen months. His mutual fund has gone up 33% since I purchased five years ago. His savings account at the credit union offers 7.25% APR. Oh to be a kid again.

Does anyone know what it's like to have the "Midas steward touch" on others' accounts, but have not so much luck with one's own accounts? Yes, I researched the fund -- not passively managed, but still a good one with a low expense ratio of 0.52%, and the stock investment shared the theme of one of his grand passions at the time: locomotives.

I unplugged our DVD player, VHS player and television. I took out a book on Once-a-Month Cooking. We have very little meat in the refrigerator: ground beef, pork sausage, and salmon. We are considering alternative grains like spelt and amaranth. We already use quinoa and millet for side dishes.

I joined the Weston A. Price Foundation. Following the food principles will hike up my food costs and reduce my already precious free time as I venture into do-it-yourself fermentation, bean soaking, sprouting and broth making, but the health benefits should be worth it.

Link du Jour: Ode to the Inexpensive Bean

Link de l'Annee: The Snowball Effect of Savings -- from the Simple Dollar: looks like I can get a deep freezer now!

As a sort of birthday present, I gave myself permission to achieve 100% on two goals: the "Emergency Fund" and the "Summer Camp Fund." Designating these funds as fully funded will give me a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of abundance.

That F/T, permanent position interview isn't happening: the position has been withdrawn. Perhaps filled from within, or a reorganization has taken place.

I arranged for a written offer for re-enlistment and a little pay increase. The expectation of budgeting for one year's full income is satisfying. I still have an in-person interview to be scheduled for Thursday for another contract engagement.

I was a bad gashog elitist and drove my kid to school this Earth Day morning, instead of properly walking one mile with him. However, I did enroll in two Tilth gardening classes: gardening for beginners, and container gardening.

To gear up for the bus trek, I have a lengthy list of books on hold. Recently my attention has been called to people like Dorothy Day, Joan Chittister, and Simone Weil.

Lately the savings deposits and # of depositors have shrunk. Don't know if that's due to the combination of gas, heating, food, or taxes, or because, as one woman confided to me, she was watching the fortunes of the bank sponsoring the program.

We returned from Victoria, BC last night: great hotel, good weather, fun tourist jaunts. A tsunami of nostalgia hit me as we visited the Royal Museum of BC. Delights include seeing punk band D.O.A. immortalized in a "famous BC people" triptych, and hearing "Hockey Night in Canada" theme song played on a classical grand piano in the stately and gracious tea room of the Empress Hotel during afternoon tea service. OH YES.

Roses and books of the "don't worry/be happy" variety greeted us upon our return, but no Orcaboards for our raised beds. I'm supposed to call the delivery company and ask for a re-send. I'm piqued that the Orcaboards provider is situated 20 miles from our home and waited 2.5 weeks after my order to deliver them, however. This will delay my garden.

Also this week: contacting the contractor about renovating the bathroom, a phone screen for the full-time permanent position I mentioned last week, and an invitation back to the team I left in mid-February. This helps with budgeting, and now I feel comfortable planning for a kitchen renovation.

Link du Jour Eating Healthy While Keeping it Cheap

Over the past seven weeks it seems we have had regularly occuring big gotchas or unplanned/extraordinary expenses: the cats had their vaccinations and examinations all at once, with blood tests for the "geezer" cats (no cat is old to me until it is 12, and venerable at 15, and 'I can't believe you still have a pulse' at 18...); motorcycle V-belt/12000 mi maintenance; school auction; summer camp deposit; big taxes; 2006 tax penalty/correction; weekend away; garden set-up. Imagine a series of 52 unplanned "gotchas" once a week and you can understand how people get into debt...

What we've seen is that it's frighteningly easy to allocate $1800-$2100 of expenses in one week without ever setting foot in a car dealership's service department, casino or emergency room, nor inhaling cocaine. I did not write "spend" because 20% or more of that money goes toward savings, or realistically, planned expenses at a future point in time. Amy Dacyczyn ("The Frugal Zealot," legendary editrix of the Tightwad Gazette) and Vicki Robin might not approve of our lack of simplicity. They all seemed like good ideas at the time (support the schools, maintain your fuel-efficient ride, stay out of jail, keep the child educated and entertained without paying for a nanny, et cetera). However, Dave Ramsey might approve of our emergency fund, and Mary Hunt might approve of our separate savings goals or "Freedom Accounts".

A recruiter returned my e-mail today, asking if I would want to return to the assignment I had until February 14: sure, said I. If I don't score the F-T job, the contract position would help a lot with budgeting for the next twelve months.

And thank you, Lux Living Frugalis, for the warm birthday wishes! I feel very buoyant and happy.

UPDATE: Speak of the devil! I was at Brent Kessel's "It's Not About the Money" book discussion/signing and yes, there was Vicki Robin of Your Money or Your Life fame! She is taller than I imagined!

• Birthday present #1 across the miles: a LUSH Serenity gift box!
• Birthday present #2 was twice as good as I anticipated: two books ordered on Friday from NYC and delivered Tuesday to me.
• (Reheated from earlier post, because it still makes me smile): Invitation to apply for a F/T job, this time by a company unlikely to go under any time soon.

My birthday isn't for a few days, but I won't be here when it happens. Add an impatient six-year-old, and stir...

Not so hot: the heating bill. Last year's average temperature was 50F, this year's 44F average temperature @ $0.77/therm (plus taxes, delivery charges) -- $108.50. I swear the thermostat never went beyond 68F! No wonder few accept the idea of global warming over climate change. 44F temps in March are not going to woo the Floridans and Californians over to our territory... "we'll keep the hurricanes and earthquakes please. we don't need your gloom and volcanoes."

I'm hoping that the achievement of my short, medium and long-term goals will count among them. I was invited by a direct-hire placement recruiter to apply for a Program Manager position at a well-known company (chances are someone reading this is using at least one of that company's products -- I know I am just by typing this). That'd be cool: benefits, a chance to move and be a renter for awhile.

A new advance-lending franchise has set up shop on the arterial street just south of us. This would be the fourth one. Yes, there are more payday advance lending outlets on that street than there are Starbucks outlets. We used to have lots of mattress outlets, now they're outnumbered. I'm trying to imagine people going to payday lending places, then picking up a frappuccino and a Simmons Beautyrest. What would do well though, given the comparatively cheap real estate, would be a Subaru dealership for all the Legacies, Foresters and Outbacks parked outside those $511,000 houses on the other side of the arterial. (Yes, I live in a low-moderate area by Seattle standards because we bought a house that can currently be managed on a typical college dropout's salary/median household income.)

According to the monthly release put out by the Federal Reserve, outstanding consumer credit amounts on revolving accounts at commercial banks and credit unions have gone down since January 2008. Huzzah!

I went to the Green Festival for free, thanks to my local utility provider, and spent only $7.82: $5 for tastings of two organic wines and two organic beers, and $2.82 for a copy of Natural Home Magazine. I received a 6% discount because all I had for change was $2.82 and the vendor didn't have small bills.

Contrary to what my savings tracks might show, I don't drop big wads on just anything "green" or nifty doodads with marketing text promising me they'll save energy. I don't have a Prius yet, and for me, "green" can mean using secondhand items until they can't be used anymore or they find a better home, or making further cuts to consumption levels. My friend and I noted that so much of what was featured at the Green Festival still promoted consumerism. Political refrigerator magnets and T-shirts doomed to be obsolete in six to nine months; organic bibs; bumper stickers (the only decent one there was 'GET OFF THE PHONE AND DRIVE', and who knows for how long that one will be relevant). Socially responsible mutual funds (gee, no sign of an expense ratio on the brochures, wonder why that is).

For freebies: I did get some dried healthful cat treats (which only one animal would bother with), a shower timer to monitor the length of our showers, and some free samples of non-toxic cleaning products. Who's going to make her booth rental money back with a sign reading: 'Use Baking Soda, Lemon Juice and White Vinegar'?

I was hoping to see more solutions about rainwater catchment products and strategies: save and reuse the rainwater, cut down on storm runoff, reduce flooding hazards, save on insurance and local emergency services. These are the green initiatives I'd like to see, that (pardon the pun) widely ripple benefits and savings. Or the Kill-A-Watt appliance -- I'd have paid money for one of those.

For the next three weeks I'm going to experiment with shutting my PC down after use, and even cutting down my home use. We'll see if there are noticeable savings. The other big savings for my electric bill would be replacing the refrigerator and the clothes dryer -- both probably at least 25 years old. I'm not in so much a hurry to change those.

I am penitent from last year's tax error. The fear of making another error and getting audited is one reason why I used an accountant this year, disorganization being probably the root cause.

I'll be looking at yet untried, tricky ways to save. $613 = 200 lattes, one year's auto insurance, one year's car fuel expenditure, one year's child's haircuts, one month's food budget. I could also look at increasing savings somehow, in an environment where interest rates are being cut.

One start: hubby received two tickets from our utility provider to the Green Festival happening this weekend, which we were planning to attend anyway. There's $30 saved right there. Lunch was free today: gourmet pizza. I even had a Coca-Cola, which tastes supremely sweet and syrupy, as opposed to supremely refreshing as it did when my boy and I sprinted eight blocks one night to catch a movie. $7.95 saved.

Eating from the pantry?
Freecycling as a sort of swap?
Once-a-month cooking? That'd save us $50...
Packing a lunch -- I'd save fourteen weeks' worth of lunches.

Link du Jour: Delinquencies map from the Wall Street Journal

... I owe $613 on last year's taxes, apparently.

Moving right along
Link du Jour: Extreme Savers Share Their Secrets

Some good stuff in here. Laura Rowley's Yahoo! column on financial index of happiness was good too, at least as a reminder of what I can do to keep my "hedonimeter" active: I consider her the wisest and most accessible of the Yahoo! Finance content providers.

I linked some of my accounts last night.
I just want to accumulate some cash right now: cutting back by 7% seems a worthy goal.

From WiseBread.com

I have procrastinated putting things on eBay. I don't know how to go about getting packing supplies cheaply, wonder if I have to go to Value Village or Freecycle for a scale, procrastinated funding a PayPal account.

I doubt many will take the majority of our books or CDs (alternative 1990s).

I hope an eBay seller will convince me that even an issue of WIRED magazine circa 1994, or a Zamfir LP would sell. Unlike the husband of the article author, I don't mind selling my WIREDs. The only book I managed to sell online was Sheilah Graham's The Garden of Allah and that was through Amazon.com's zSellers. Would half.com be better?

And how do I sell a big item, like a wedding dress, or a homemade booze cabinet? Is Craigslist my best bet?

How do I choose among Amazon.com, half.com and eBay to declutter my goods?
How would I streamline postage purchases, figure out what to charge (I suppose the scale would help)?

What would sell better at a garage sale? Mugs, glasses, spare kitchen items?

I see lovely goal achievement measurement tickers on the margins of several SA blogs. I have in excess of seven goals so I don't use those tickers: they would clutter the page.
They look great on the more focused bloggers' sites, however.

Instead, I am preparing a "reward system" for myself, for achieving certain milestones. For instance, a 10% milestone for a goal costing over $1000 would merit a pen. 100% achievement means dinner out. Bolded items mean I haven't yet rewarded myself.

Here's where I am so far:
Home improvement: a pen
Summer daycamp: a breve (half-and-half latte) or a mocha
Gold/silver: Scarecrow Video rental
Garden: Games Magazine
Emergency fund: Shadow novel

From the forums I read a link to a company renting out solar panels. I used the company's web site savings calculator and it looks like, 25 years from now, I'd save an accumulated $9423. $9423 25 years from now would probably get me an electric bicycle. So, no solar panels.

I feel like death warmed over, but I can't go/stay home. My mucousy mind didn't prompt me to take my keys home with me last night (d'oh!), and when I came in to get my keys this morning, I found my closest coworker and direct manager are out of the office, meaning not the best day for me to crawl back under the covers, which I would love to do, if it meant the cats not pestering me, and if deadlines didn't have to be met next Wednesday.

Link du Jour: The Boom that Wasn't. Now I don't feel so much like an idiot, or at least not more of an idiot than most other people. I'm living better than my parents and am in a stable relationship: who could ask for anything more, right?

Center for Economic Policy and Research's paper on home ownership costs doesn't seem applicable to me, although I'm sure because it is researched on 2006 data, and it has Dean Baker's name on it, the paper is credible and realistic. I find it difficult to believe that $950 is the going rate for a three-bedroom house rental where I live, even in my zip code. Craigslist ads show $1400-$1800. My homeownership costs are $1350/month based on a thirty-year mortgage. CEPR states a $1850/month home ownership cost. Perhaps I should question the 32% projected downturn over the four year period 2008-2012 as well, but I don't have any better projection model to use, and honestly I do think my house is 33% overvalued.

1. If you have munchkins, do you count their assets in your net worth tally?

2. Some home energy tax credits are set to expire this year. What should I know before opting to get into additional debt for home energy improvements? (E.g.: payback, value added to house, energy rate annual increase)

3. What is the likelihood of the next administration renewing the home energy tax credits? Are certain candidates more vocal about energy independence than about restoring tax revenues?

4. My HELOC limit is a little more than one year's mortgage payments -- I am very timid about debt. Should I institute a five-year-plan for these home improvements? Should I go onto Prosper.com and ask for money? I don't want to renegotiate the HELOC because my home value, though dropping, is higher than it was at the time I opened the HELOC. I also don't want to refinance.

I went to Salvage Broker in the low-rent north part of my city on Saturday, for stationery and office supplies. I bought, for $3.00, a 52-week budget book, and a box of 500 envelopes. The last box I bought was in 2000. The budget book was dated from the last century, which appealed to my inner Luddite (hey, until this year I did my taxes with pen, paper, and some cranked up Boswell Sisters tunes). I like that it is week to week, and there are four blank lines I can use for my own allocations.

I treated myself to two reprints of Shadow pulp novels from a Barnes and Noble gift card my husband received as a gratuity for work. Lest that sound selfish, my husband spent his first one on him and our child. I'll read them on the water ride to our weekend getaway.

I checked my net worth for July 2006: it was a third less than what it is currently, thanks to the inflated value of our home and the market. Brent Kessel's advice to Guardians is to identify a situation at which point we would worry, and not bother worrying until that point is reached, as that eats up precious energy. I choose to worry when my net worth drops below July 2006 level. Before then, I keep on keeping on.

I read this MSN MoneyCentral article and concur that I must have had endured some volatility and financial hardships early in life, to be posting about selling everything, buying gold, and fearing an end to personal access to credit. Gee, with only nine moves in my childhood, and four bounces from two-parent families to one-parent families in that time, raised by neurotic and addicted people who didn't finish high school who could ever feel insecure? There should always be that radiant sense of feeling protected, right?
I wish I felt more secure about being married longer to one man than my mother ever was, to have lived in my own house for nine years, and earning a decent (but not above average) salary. I'm forever waiting for the axe to fall.

With a low HELOC limit parked at a credit union, I don't have anything to worry about yet. If I have the assets to repay the entirety of my HELOC, it'd have to be a publicly traded global corporate entity answering to nervous shareholders and possibly circling the drain who would refuse me, and not a local financial institution that has years of my account history and tens of thousands of my dollars.

I took Brent Kessel's Money Archetype Quiz today, and my top three archetypes are:

The Guardian: 28%

The Saver: 22%

The Empire Builder: 17%

---------------------
Today I call a handyperson about upgrading the bathroom, buy gold/silver (done), make a deposit to my "Save Yourself" account (done), tackle the New York Times crossword (done), and possibly start collecting foreign currencies to prep for the Japan trip (done).

To quell my anxiety, I opted to read some "funny" novels. I recommend A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby, and Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen. I didn't like Sock by Penn Jillette: it read like something I'd have written in a rush for a second-semester creative writing class.

Gee, I posted earlier today about possibly drawing more from the HELOC and now I read of lines being suspended, even where I live. That scares me. Draw nothing at all, or draw no more than 15% of your limit, and get your line frozen? Even though you have $250K in equity and your house isn't even worth $400K? I must work harder at saving some money. Ugh! Yeah, $125K just like THAT (snap of the fingers). At worst, we can refinance. Or borrow from Prosper.com!



I am wondering if the low HELOC rates have anything to do with this. Say you're Spank of America, and you've been hiking up credit card annual percentage rates from 10.99% to 26.99%, even for people who've paid beyond the minimum consistently and on time. Then you notice that your HELOC is 6%. Why should homeowners pay only 6% for their credit lines secured by their depreciating domiciles while you're charging other folk rates well into the twenties? How is that going to help your acquisition of CountryFried? How can you address the stockholders and explain your 95% drop in earnings in the quarterly conference call: "We, uh, we apparently have a wide disparity in loan products that require equalization in this climate. We recognize that needs to change."

Money spent today: with $450 we have secured full-time childcare for the tot during the summer, assuming I can find work. 80,000 jobs lost. Maybe I will be MIGRANT MOM, crossing the border for seasonal IT work, and sleeping in a tent under the Georgia Viaduct or a sublet studio close to the SkyTrain station in Vancouver. Oui, je parle en français, et je connais le "SharePoint" aussi. I hear that Uncle Sam's new motto will be: "Who Needs You?"

I also bought some BEARX and some DBA. BEARX dropped some 5% since I last looked at it -- my timing being stupendous, its downward trajectory started from $6.66 at the point I looked at it, down to $6.37. If I can access either of my trading accounts, I may pick up some AAUK. I tell you this so you can make money shorting my long plays.

Guess Who, Don't Sue: "I encourage you all to start saving more."

How to survive a slumping economy

Bankrate.com: 15 Money Moves for Tough Times

I feel like a smoker: I know I should cut back on my spending but... meh. It's not like I'm incinerating sheqels on hookers and blow or maxing out the credit cards on QVC and Fingerhut. So we ate out last night and I had a glass of wine. It was fairly cheap (under $30 for the three of us, plus the wine), and the "regulars" were at the restaurant, and there was a convivial ambiance.

It's just that I expect energy costs to keep rising and water reservoir levels to deplete, and I want to be covered. If I have to leave the country, I want the house in salable condition OR at least rentable. On the other hand, I have an emergency fund, and a precious metals that could both be fattened up. All I have to do is correctly predict how much I'll need to tide us over and not get into any accidents or get a disease ever ever ever.

I'm learning that the Mortgage Equity Withdrawal Syndrome is more common than I imagined. Ya don't suppose those Subarus I see on the road figuratively came out of the house, do you? A project manager I worked with went from a $90K fixed mortgage in 1998 to a $276K adjustable rate mortgage in 2007 on the same property. 20% of the mortgages in my county are subprime, quoth the New York Times, and that's the third lowest percentage in the state, yet its percentage is comparable to the three counties in Florida with the lowest percentages of subprime mortgages). The highest % of subprime mortgages I've seen on that map belongs to Tallahatchie County in northern Mississippi.

Insite Financial Corp. from Santa Ana, CA is a mortgage broker/lender from Orange County (you're laughing already, right?). Insite Financial Corp, which apparently got hold of my initial deed of trust from public records, even though those aren't available online anymore, wants to offer me a new loan of 30 years fixed with a minimum payment option, based on a 360 month amortization with an initial minimum payment of 3.24%. The annual percentage rate is 7.99% and note rate is fixed for 30 years. The loan would recast (To redesign an existing loan balance into a new loan for the same period or longer) at 125% and may have a prepayment penalty.

Boy oh boy! I'm all about the 60% hike in APR and 100% hike in payoff term! Gimme dat prepayment penalty anyday! Because, to Insite Financial, nothing says "math-illiterate fool" like someone who bought a house and is still hanging onto it after the peak of the bubble. Where do I sign up? I'm supposed to call them immediately because the amount of $919.74 per month cited, the smallest minimum payment, is lower than my combined payments (mortgage), which it is.

I'm starting out slow with the garden: $815. I'm irritated by the $20 Gas charge: wonder if I can negotiate that down. $20 would be to another state/province and back, not across town.

We had end-of-the-month finance chat and now we have guidance, as long as I'm employed full-time, for how much we can save. I tend to complicate calculations by thinking in percentages: hubby likes firm numbers. I gave the husband 13 cards with savings goals on them, and a copy of an Excel spreadsheet, and said he could allocate $XXXX among thirteen of them. I would do the same, and then I would take the average and do those allocations until my contract ends. Priority will be given to emergency funds and energy-saving sustainability measures.

Apparently the 'Save Yourself' account is a trading account, not a saving one; and, I must sign up for electronic funds transfer to merit the $100 bonus at the end of a 12-month period. I can't just walk into a branch and deliver the money in person.

I mailed off the tax payment. I have money in the account, and expect it to take six days to be processed. I took some of the interest we gained at the end of the month, and put it in my kid's savings account.

I must collect all my accounts' information: contact information, userids and passwords, and put the printouts in safe places.