Enhanced Services Billing, Inc. fraudulently placed $8.43 in charges on my husband's bill, claiming I entered some contest or otherwise gave approval for them to set up voice mail. Unlikely, as I have voice messaging already, and was thinking of giving that up as a teleworker seldom thinks to pick up the phone to check for messages.

From the FTC Website:

The FTC's complaint, filed with the settlements, charged:

* that ESBI falsely represented that consumers were legally obligated to pay charges on their telephone bills for web sites and other items they had not ordered or authorized others to order for them;
* that ESBI unfairly attempted to collect - or arranged for local phone companies to collect - payment of charges from consumers for web sites and other items they had not ordered and that consumers were unable to prevent ESBI from causing such unauthorized charges to appear on their phone bills;
* that BCI falsely represented that consumers were legally obligated to pay charges on their telephone bills for an activation fee and monthly minimum fees for a calling card, when the consumers had neither asked for the card nor authorized anyone else to ask for it on their behalf; and
* that BCI unfairly attempted to collect - or arranged for local phone companies to collect - payment of charges for an activation fee and monthly minimum fees for a calling card that consumers had not ordered and that the consumers were unable to prevent BCI from causing such unauthorized charges to appear on their phone bills.

So, when caught, standard business practice is to continue, only include a paragraph in the billing statement saying that the charges might be fraudulent? Why is this company still in business? Oh wait, DEREGULATION.

So this is what the high gas prices have come to? Young bucks reasoning "oh no evil clowns will eat me if I stop at a stop sign or at an intersection I must show my freedom and liberty and run down the pedestrian blocking my way by walking on the sidewalk instead, or in the crosswalk. Or else terrorists win or something." My life was endangered twice last night, and all I did was walk in a crosswalk, observing traffic (which did not observe me nor a stop sign in return), and on a sidewalk, which was slightly inconvenient to some driver who could not handle a red light at an intersection. They drive crazier than Margot Kidder on my front lawn.

I've never been that kind of a driver: what goes on in their minds other than a whoosh of air? Do they think exactly as I've described in the first paragraph? Is it a chromosomal or hormonal malady I need to be more compassionate toward? Did the blind or hard-of-seeing win their emancipation to commandeer heavy motorized vehicles unattended? Can someone tell me how much money they save on gas by foregoing stoplights at intersections and just veering off through gas stations, or by disregarding stop signs? Is that what saved America from the 1970s gas crisis -- driving like over-entitled jackasses?

I'm going to ask the Mayor's Office how they expect people to choose to go green through bicycling or walking if 'speshully entitled drivers' are endangering them through illegal driving. Do you get a 'speshully entitled' designation for an extra fee at the licensing office? 'Oh I am above stopping for pedestrians who are visible in crosswalks and sidewalks in daylight' -- who sells those decals? Is the idea to free up resources by killing off some of our citizens? I don't think I should be killed off: I contribute consumption, business, and property taxes to my local government, and I think my government therefore should protect its tax base.

My spouse's employer's insurer has decided to suspend subsidizing my expensive prescription, which I had filled and refilled by visiting a local drugstore through the insurer for the last three months. I'm using my own insurance for now. I don't understand how it's supposed to be more convenient or cheaper for me to do mail-order. I don't even know how I would do that: do I just arrange something with my doctor and a Canadian pharma website and pay out of my own pocket? How do healthcare consumers compare insurers and HMO programs prior to enrolling in benefits?

On the plus side, we signed for our new, bigger HELOC, at the time when banks are suspending or reducing HELOCs. I was told that the credit union goes by the county assessment value of the property. I would love to pay for these renovations out of pocket, but Murphy's Law being what it is, the moment I do that would be when my car and my husband's grandmother give up the ghosts, lightning hits my roof, and one of us loses a job (not likely for my spouse -- he provides too much value for what he is paid) causing us to liquidate emergency funds. We also received the lowest/best rate possible. I do appreciate the small compensations of beautiful timing and best rates for refinancing/borrowing. If only I could transfer that skill to the schizophrenic securities market.

Job search energy is picking up, including one FT gig in another country.

One other question, not at all money-related: a third-grade girl from my son's school and bus route invited him to a party. He is 1.5 yrs younger. My husband and I are scratching our heads about why the interest despite the supposed development level and age/sex difference. We didn't know anything about her until the invitation arrived in the mail, and our son said "oh, I have a friend." Should he go? I fear it's going to be pink glitter, rainbows, unicorns, and American Girl stuff, but then again, it could be that our son is not the only boy invited. I hope this is the case. I will call the girl's parent and ask.

I cannot seem to get a quality haircut for under $60 in this city. My debut at an organic salon (with scalp massage) for a hair cut, shampoo and blow dry was $60, before gratuity.

Bought some seafood, as I'd been going without for a few weeks. I stopped at one place two weeks ago but it was offering $35/lb for Copper River salmon, so I passed. I got it for half that today, somewhere else. Bought cheap (under $6.50/bottle) wine and lemons.

Went on a Costco run with boy -- loaded up the cart. $124.58. No meat nor wine nor clothes: just grains, butter, lunch stuff for his day camp, tomatoes, beans, juice, Ziploc(tm) bags, organic sugar.
Bought discount vitamins too.

Also took the car for an oil change, as it reached its 2950 mile interval. $34.08

My car collided with another car (I was trying to get out of its way), but as there was no physical damage to vehicles nor drivers, I thought 'feh!' and after clearly and carefully asking the other driver how he'd care to proceed, departed). Calling it a fenderbender would be an embellishment, terming it a crash would be an outright lie.

Tried to go to coin shop to pick up my Yen, but it was closed as the brothers had a wedding to go to that day. So that's why I've been slow getting Yen for Osaka. But boy! I'm not sure how I want to proceed with the replacement car -- I've been very blessed to not have had physical injuries over the past three accidents; however, I'm not pleased that I've had three accidents within nine months. I have my lights on at all times, when I was driving the vehicle it was during the day... not sure what else I can do to be more visible, nor how to ensure other drivers are being attentive to the traffic situation and conditions.

Driving wasn't all spendspend though: I deposited two cheques, and mailed an envelope with three Roth and Coverdell deposits equalling the total amount of the cheques deposit. A rerouting, if you will.

Escrow shortage: $277.52
Goal: make further cuts and changes to absorb that $277.52. For 2008, this'll mean a $137.00 savings over six months. I hope my husband gets a raise/cost of living adjustment in excess of $277.52.

My friend asked me for debt-repayment advice. I gave it to him. A half-hour later he called up my husband asking for help researching airline tickets. I do know how it is to have budget setbacks, and believe me I know how it is to want to reward oneself, and not to want to live a completely austere and penurious lifestyle devoid of any treats. But weekend getaways via air: I'm prudent enough to save those for when I have a healthy emergency fund or when I have a car loan paid off. I guess I must have given good advice, because my friend's not taking it. Why then does he ask me?

HELOC request now in the mail. I'm rationalizing this: the kitchen is 60 years old with no remodeling done whatsoever, and my available is about 66% of what I plan to ask for a credit line, and is 75% of what I plan to pay for the kitchen itself.

Oh yeah, stimulus check came. Whee. Valid for one year only. 10% will go to local hunger initiatives.

Faith formation for little ones discussion. Lunch with debt support group ($15.00 -- kaching!). Shop at Catholic supply store ($51.04 -- kaching!), drop gold coin in safety deposit box, photocopy Saturday NYT Crossword at library, drive home. Walk to drycleaner's to drop off clothes, then to mall to get cards, and Father's day gift. Walk home. Drive to Goodwill to drop off used clothing, then to natural foods store to get ginger, kombucha, yerba mate, rolled oats, and eggs ($9.35 -- kaching!). Combine that trip with the bank for escrow shortage payment ($277.52 -- kaching!), and Ezell's for take-out as it's not all that far from where I was ($23.09 -- kaching!).

I wanted to take the scooter today but its battery died from inactive usage: I just didn't have any reason to take the scooter rather than the bus or the car (toting child) until today.

Not long ago $9.00 would have carried my scoot 150 miles...

People in New York and Chicago are having heat waves. Does 54F count as a cool wave for Washington state in June? I suppose I should be thankful that I don't need any air conditioning. Maybe there's someone in Biloxi, MS who'd love to be in my shoes right now.

Either I am detoxifying or I have a food allergy or I have a lung infection: this is my third bronchial irritation in four months. I am treating it with herbal teas, apple cider vinegar/honey concoctions. Commercial cough syrups either have high fructose corn syrup or aren't to be used if one has persistent excessive mucus or a lingering cough.

Being so congested, I did not touch coffee for four days. I had one cup and the head pressure and cramping foot ailments returned. Yesterday I had a cappuccino from someone who serves up excellent espresso drinks, and even with the honey it tasted bitter. With the cold and the espresso, yes, more foot cramping. Normally I'd be sucking back the java juice big time when it's cool and grey outside like this. I wish I could say "hey, I'm saving $10 a week by not drinking coffee" but the truth is we get Starbucks roast for free at the office, and I haven't cheated by having coffee there either. That too has been noticed, with raised eyebrows. I haven't gone without coffee since a week in 1998. My spouse and son will still have their hot drinks at least weekly.
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To treat myself I bought sea salts, epsom salts and some essential oils to help with eliminating chest congestion. We also paid for my kid's haircut, my debt support breakfast, gold coin.
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A friend called me to vent about his plaguing health issue. I have urged him three times to go see a medical professional (too much bureaucracy) or an alternative healer (they don't work). He says he wants to pay off his debts but at the same time is tempted, as we all are, with vacations to the Caribbean or getaways closer to home. I love that he's close enough to me to share his pains and vents, but I don't know if I'm offering him any advice of value. All I do is remind him that his health is his #1 asset to protect and maintain, and he "yeah buts" me. Maybe I should just shut up and listen in future. This is why I don't say much or offer much advice -- too many reminders I don't know what I'm doing, or am stating what everybody knows. If I knew what I was doing I would be able to make all my goals, live my life on one person's income.

There are supposedly lots of things we take for granted or are psychologically addicted to that we don't really need. Me, I like utilities: heat, gas, electricity, running water, indoor plumbing.

I like having a house to come home to. I like to put non-processed, non-toxic vegetable and animal matter in my mouth where the matter trickles down into my gastro-intestinal system. I like to walk outdoors, onto my property and pick up something that I'd have to wait in line for at the supermarket, have a "speshul membership card" for "speshul 4% deal" to buy.

I even like climbing into a large vehicle and zoning out while someone else drives me and sixty other people eight miles to work. I admit I also like settling into the driver's seat of a warm, covered vehicle when it is wet and cold outside and I have to be somewhere faster than a bus could be.

I like to cover my shoulders, elbows, torso down to my knees, and even to cover my feet. I like to stave off or slow down the physical deterioration of vital organs.

I like to show affection to my friends, and sometimes to my family. I like to redistribute a small percentage of my income to where it's needed more. To top it all off, I would like to have all of the above even when I am not punching the clock or earning a living. I might scale down from a house to an apartment or a "Golden Agers Eco-Commune" hut.

I am hoping then that we will have fewer people in the house, with smaller stomachs, and lots of free time so we can make gifts.

So scaling back is as difficult for me as it is for many other young families. Is there anything above that identifies me clearly as an "over-entitled American?" The transportation, clothing and entertainment costs are easy to cut back. The food and utilities: not so much. I could save on food if I spent money on sprouters, and jars and canning, and soil amendments and rental fees for tillers, and woke up in the dark with a flashlight and a brick to look for slugs, and chest freezers, and vacuum sealers. I could save on energy if I spent money on new siding, a new roof, solar panels, cistern, rainbarrels, a lean-to to store dry firewood. Oh, but there's that insurance thing to think about. It reminds me of the Dilbert comic: "Every item on this list is Top Priority except for Personal Life." My husband and I are trying to think of how we could scale back, wondering if we'll resort to our 1996 way-of-life (one-bedroom apartment, one car, no savings) in the recession. Except we didn't have Roth IRAs to contribute to, and we spent a greater percentage of our budget on food back then than we do now. We bought clothes at retail prices then, and the only apparel I buy at full cost now are undercarriage and shoes. We went to movies three times a week and now, maybe twice a month, we rent from an excellent video/DVD place, or watch stuff from YouTube. I am not ready for this recession.

And yet, I look at what we earn, how infrequently we shop for clothes or drive (still frequently enough to merit having a beater car on weekends), and wonder how to manage our goals of having the mortgage paid off before either one of us turns 55, a year or two of university education saved for the kidlet, while more or less having our expectations and needs met by one salary. I check the Consumer Expenditure Survey for my city for 2005-2006 and doggedly try to whack our expenditures to meet or beat what is spent by the average household unit in our area. It's challenging. The savings goals are to be met by the other person's salary. We're about 60-65%, rather than 50%, and I think some of that is due to food choices, technology we're not really dependent on, and our accelerated mortgage. And we should be able to afford insurance and bring that emergency fund up to six months, but no.
I failed the Kiplinger's Financial Fitness Test because I didn't have an emergency fund of six months' expenses. Truth is, I had emergencies! There's a lot I don't have.

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

First it was 866-526-9732 calling (I never picked up, but Caller ID and Google can't both lie together) more than once.

Now it's market@fastloanopt.com leaving text message spam.

Fastloanopt.com is a domain registered as of March 24, 2008.

IP address : 72.5.175.97
ISP : Internap Network Services
Organization : New.net

My mobile phone provider gives inadequate support for combating spam: a limit of 50 phone numbers or e-mail addresses. I'd rather just not receive the spam in the first place. I called Customer Care where an account rep with subpar comprehension and problem-solving skills pressed for a password. I hadn't had been asked for a password before, and wondered why it was necessary if all I wanted to do was to report and dispute an unsolicited text message spam.

I am not renewing my contract with this provider. If I choose to get another phone, it will have a pay-as-you-go plan, and it will with a carrier that has the same disdain for unsolicited text messages as I do, with superior blocking policies and tools, and with a customer service team that has adequate comprehension and problem-solving skills.

The customer service levels, costs of plans, increase in SMS spam, and increased threats to motorcyclists' and pedestrians' safety from oblivious cell phone users behind the wheel do little to justify the saturation market of these
high-priced toys/distractions. Any business model that profits by charging the unwitting recipient for unsolicited commercial SMS messages is one that, in a morally responsible and sane country, would not work.

Depending on whether I open a SEP-IRA using the money I earned in my business, we owe somewhere between $3100 and $3200 to the government. The CPA delivered the news by telephone. I have some time to think about opening a SEP-IRA, in which case she could whittle a little bit of the tax away.

If you look at the Saving Tracks on the left, you'll see what I had set aside for taxes so far.

I advised my spouse he must update his tax withholding to reflect zero allowances, and $75 extra withholding. I just started a new contract today, and am reasonably confident I will have enough money for the accountant now and for the government on April 15.

Maybe get him to crank it up to $90 extra withholding considering we're getting the tax advance/stimulus package.

I started a new assignment downtown today. It is lovely to have a mere 25-minute bus ride at rushhour, and lovely to catch the bus thirty feet away from my building. Indeed, having a view of the sound on a sunny day is glorious. I won't say where I work, but I believe I won't hear the phrase "housing bubble" at my new worksite as much as I heard it at the last.

Last year: $491.00
This year: $546.00

I shall surf for better car/home insurance packages -- if I can get a $60 discount for having both auto and home insurance with one insurance agency that will offset my donation to the "ProjectShare" program my utility offers for low-income people behind on their bills.

Everything is going up, sigh. I wonder how people on fixed incomes are managing...

I was asked how much my bill was at this time last year for gas. It was $76.64. My husband and child were away for a week at the in-laws, and I was working outside the house at that time.

The worst bills were (2007):
Jan. bill $147.52
Feb. bill $169.42 (this one made me cry)
Mar. bill $125.59

We were both working at home early this winter.

And the year before (2006):
Jan. bill $127.06
Feb. bill $131.77
Mar. bill $145.72

None of us was working at home at that time.

A longer billing period increased my gas usage.
The weather increased my bill by $14-$23.
I cranked up the heat to 73 temporarily twice to make sure my buns rose nicely. I've also used the oven for this but the oven heat and lack of circulation doesn't allow the yeast to properly expand.

The average similar home uses $103. I use $131. I wonder, again, how much of this is because someone who works at home during the day is not keen on his fingers being numb or tingly-cold. Our basement is not insulated, as it is unfinished. For average energy by day-of-week, it looks like the energy use is least on Wednesday and Sunday, the days my husband is in the house the least, and highest on Monday and Thursday.

Where I get cranky: the cobranded "Bill Center" the Home Energy Tools application, in Step 3, Find Savings, there are no low/no-cost "ways to save for weatherization." The investment ideas have at best a 17% rate of return.

Some graphs show that the average home uses $556 of electrical energy use per year. Mine uses $28. Gas usage, annually was $1103 for the average home. Mine was $846. $737 goes toward heating, $157 for hot water, and $56 for cooking. My heat spike came on Thanksgiving: 5 Therms. I was baking buns and using the oven a lot.

I shrug. There's only so much I can do when I'm home. I called my utility and spoke with an energy use advisor. I told her what I did and what I had expected. Windows reduce heating costs by only 10%. The insulation would do more. She told me that last year, instead of $1.07/Therm, I paid $1.26/Therm. She said for every $100 I spent on natural gas, I was saving $230 by not using oil. Okay. We may have paid $55 more this month but that is also how much we pay for gas for the car this month.

Oh, and for sewer/water/yard waste/recycling? The energy use advisor, who lives in my city and pays even more for her natural gas than I do, told me our city-owned utility charges a very high rate for that -- you might say we get soaked. And we don't even live in the desert.

So here's me in August: blahblahblahwindows
September: blahblahblahwindows
October: blahblahblahwindowsandroofinsulation
November: blahblahblahroofinsulation
December: blahblahinsulationONEHUNDREDTHIRTYONEDOLLARS?!?

Didn't any one notice at the natural gas utility that I spent a five-digit figure on windows and a coupla hundred dollars on insulation so I could SAVE MONEY?!? I wash in cold! I keep the temperature at 68F at home, and 58F at night. I clean the filters every five-six weeks.

Sacrifice without deprivation

I live at an equal or lower standard of living in the same city as Cortni Marrazzo (Correction: Cortni Marrazzo has informed me she no longer lives in Seattle, making most of my post inaccurate. I hope it's still entertaining.), yet my expenses (with savings included) are $5800/month. Maybe because I have a kid. And a house.

The house itself makes me cry. Not because I can't afford it, because I can, but because I see the houses in sunny Phoenix, Sacramento and San Diego that are falling to foreclosure and they are, in the blue blue skies that are their backgrounds, newer and nicer and larger, and with the exception of San Diego, CHEAPER in price, currently. I get the impression that the families were in their backyards in October, grilling! Those emblems of security and family, glistening in the SUNSHINE and yet they are stops on the RepoBus tour. Oh, denizens of the Golden State and Goldwater Country, know that there is a SAD woman chugging down Vitamin D and cursing the darkness and cold, envying even the temporary homerenters turfed out in an economic climate gone bad, and wondering why li'l postwar Cape Cod boxes are still going for near half-a-mil in her sunless area.

Mrs. Marrazzo pays more for DSL than I do. We do pay for lattes twice a week, three times during the shortest days of the year. I do not have a sun roof on my car, because I am in a land without sun. I am scratching my head as to how to save more money. I do not have a gym membership but rather walk for exercise. I do not know why a Seattleite would not visit Scarecrow Video, choosing to rent DVDs from Netflix, unless the Seattleite was not a cineast(e). My last seven video rentals came from the public libraries. I guess that is where I would splurge more than the average person -- I like REALLY GOOD, independent, classic and foreign films. They bring meaning and colour and escapism to my humdrum, melancholic, grey existence.

I am not commenting on the SA blog because the cookie preserves my name and e-mail address, and I'm afraid someone from the same work IP address will see my contact particulars. But I am disappointed. I personally know people more frugal in my community.

My second vehicular accident in three months. Once again I am not at fault. This time was in our car, with all of us. I am not happy, but we all are safe and unhurt and for that I am thankful.

But I have a trickle of dollars in my new car fund and no collision insurance as the car is eleven years old. I can't get a new vehicle on a trickle of dollars.

Seriously, the rearview mirror is dangling by its cables and there's some paint transfer.

My poor fractured mind is trying so desperately to attribute meaning and pattern to this, but no. I'm angrier now than I was when I was physically injured (whiplash) in the motorcycle rearend mishap, because my son was in the car. I guess I've earned my Mom Badge.

Important message: if your child is in a booster seat or child seat in an automobile accident, get it inspected, much as one would a motorcycle helmet after a two-wheel spill, to see how much impact was absorbed and whether it is safe to use again.

It has come to my attention more than once that I have a narrow, skewed idea of the rest of the country's finances, even though I am a Constant Reader of personal finance forums and blogs. I hang out with people who are either debt-free or actively minimizing their consumer credit and home mortgage debt obligations. Their reality is my perception. Until the Federal Reserve publishes its quarterly Flow of Funds report.

Federal Reserve Flow of Funds (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Consumer Credit Debt Growth grew by 6.1%
Home Mortgage debt growth grew by 6.8%

Consumer Credit borrowing is the highest it has been since 2001Q4. Home mortgage borrowing in 2007Q3 is the lowest it has been since 2002Q2.

Debt outstanding in 2007Q3: a staggering $10,399,400,000,000 for home mortgage. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. An all-time high of $2,516,400,000,000 for consumer credit.

Think about where that money goes. Whose pockets does it go into? Does it evaporate?

I'll probably remove this later, but here goes...

Yes, free speech is a mighty fine thing. I consider it hucksterish and misleading, however, when finance lending and locksmith companies open up blogs here as extensions of their marketing activities because it's of no cost.

"Hey, I see that Curves and Jenny Craig have free blogs, I think those places are the best for me to market my donut and pastry business!"

There's nothing in the Code of Conduct that prevents these people to open their blogs. If they misread their target market or are so desperate to take whatever free space is available to them, they'll doom themselves soon enough. Edit: it looks like people know when their intelligence is being insulted, or when a company is marketing without integrity. I hope these 'commercial but don't want to pay advertising rates to give Jeffrey and Nate any revenue owed to them' blogging entities share their thoughts, issues, goals and daily musings about their personal finances and money today. You know, the way we other bloggers do, the way that the text on the Member blogs home page reads.

I had to get some ibuprofen because I kept slapping my head: "D'oh!"

Seriously, David Bach's book has some simple ideas that I'm eager to implement, but there are, thanks to hindsight, also paragraphs of unintentional hilarity:

"In 2002, Fannie Mae created what it calls the American Dream Commitment, a program to provide $2 trillion in funding over the next decade in order to increase homeownership in America by 18 million new families." (p. 168)

"In 2002, President George W. Bush announced a goal of increasing the number of U.S. homeowners by 5.5 million over the next eight years." (p. 166)

"As U.S. housing prices climbed steadily through the late 1990s and early years of the twenty-first century, some people began to worry if we were experiencing a real estate 'bubble,' similar to the unjustified run-up we saw with 'dot-com' stocks." (p. 165)

Getting back to 2007...
I was not happy to hear that the attempt to change the Alternate Minimum Tax rules to give middle-income families was vetoed in favour of retaining tax advantages for private equity fund managers. I know wars and social programs need to be funded somehow, and maybe middle-income people are falsely claiming entitlement in this case. After thirty years of being the economic martyr for the top and bottom 10% of the US population, you'd have to have either amnesia or some mighty gall to demand a tax restructure so you can afford food, transportation, clothing, education, healthcare and shelter. Who gets paid to listen to the middle-income? No wonder the voting population is low here... the middle-income people have figured out long ago few people are fighting for their interests.

Still, this infuses me with fresh motivation to downscale my expenses even further, to give my money to underserved populations (i.e. disadvantaged, not private equity fund managers) AND to increase my pre-tax contributions, anything legal to avoid the AMT. As if rising prices weren't enough: time to investigate bartering, "grey markets" and picking up some new skills.

Median value of homes for people in their 40s according to Federal Reserve's 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances is $175,000. Mortgages are about $102,000.
I wonder what 2007 will bring. I bet higher house values and higher mortgages.

Median value of vehicles is $18,000.

I am disappointed by the Twenty Things to Get Before You're 40 piece from "marie claire" magazine. A Yves St Laurent tux? Gucci luggage at $3350? That would sit in my car trunk as I blow $3.75/gallon, or to be messed with at customs while I wait through interrogation and deep cavity searches at airports? A first edition of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse? A piece of art? A Cartier roadster watch? A 50-inch television? Why? What could television possibly offer me that would be worth that investment? A Cadillac roadster for a sweet ride? Would it get me from Point A to Point B any faster than my motorcycle? "Oh, let her disobey the HOV3 lane requirements: she has a CADILLAC!" What I do have are the equivalent of classic DVDs: Chaplin DVDs and a membership at Scarecrow Video. Maybe the fee-only Financial Planner would be good too, but that would require having taxable investment assets of $100,000 or greater, wouldn't it?

Are all mass-circulation magazines for American women for the affluent? Is it supposed that American women who aren't affluent are too busy or uneducated to read magazines? Are articles created by woman-haters? Is there anyone from marie claire or elsewhere keeping tabs on the acquisition habits of women in their 40s? Do you know many women who are 39.5 years old and have paid off their mortgages, solved world hunger, maximized their retirement and their children's college fund accounts, and have all this excess cash burning a hole in their YSL tux pockets? "Spend me! You need a $4K wristwatch and a $78K car!" Marie Claire subscribers are about age 31, are 82% employed with a median household income of $68K. Mail order shopping of apparel, general merchandise, gifts, home decor and more helps them juggle a busy professional and social calendar.

I would love to know what saving habits enable these women to afford these consumer must-have items...

This reflects apparently the reality of marie claire's subscription base, but not my reality. I am a member of America's bottom 75%...

Sometimes it seems that our net worth goes up in spite of my inertia or misguidedness or hyperfocus on inconsequential matters, thanks to inflation and reduction of expenses. Maybe it's my headspace right now, which is not where it should/could be (for instance, my account IDs that I've had for the past seven years? FORGOT THEM LAST NIGHT.), but I can't rightly think of something I've learned here or on another money forum, did, and had great success with.

Washing in cold water?
Buying a crockpot which gets used once every two months because we don't have a collection of crockpot recipes?
Buying in bulk from Costco?

Stuff I did that reduced our expenses I did because I saw energy costs going up or because I read personal finance books. Mostly it's the stuff I don't do that keeps us out of trouble.

I sure would like to feel proactive and proud about active measures I took to increase net worth and decrease expenses. I'll read the boards more carefully and gradually shift to a planning-in-advance household.

Read article

It’s no mystery to Dale and Darby Brennan why they have not realized their vision of the middle-class dream, despite seeing their income double to $70,000 in the past four years.
...
“We are doing all the right things with our money and I feel like the dream of owning a home is still so out of reach for us,” says Darby. “I don’t want a handout. I just feel like our middle-class income should be enough and it’s not.”

When I first read this, and some incendiary statements recorded in the article, my head boiled over with a long diatribe, and then I remembered my readers deserve better. So read the above and know, that I live a few short miles from this family and when we bought here we were earning the same amount of money, and had a car loan, put at least 15% of our gross income into retirement plans, but didn't have children.

$1050 for house rent is EXCELLENT. I was thinking I could rent my house out for $1600. If I wanted to rent a house closer to the schools where I REALLY want my kid to go I'd be paying $1800-$2000 (two miles away).

$720 for TWO CHILDREN in daycare is EXCELLENT. I paid no less than $910 and for some months as high as $1095 for ONE CHILD for over five years.

They have TWO CARS. We have been a ONE CAR family since 2001, driving the same car since 1996. (Three vehicle family now, but still ONE CAR, plus a FlexCar membership for those winter months.)

They spend twice as much as we do for cell phones, and three times as much as we do for gasoline. Their utility bills are higher as well (and my house is going through some energy upgrades).

Median family income of $75,600 is for King County. These people do not live in either Seattle nor Bellevue. They live in Mountlake Terrace, in Snohomish County where the median family income is $65,273.

The Brennans’ street is the boundary between King County, where the median home price is $440,000, and Snohomish County, where it is $370,000. Even with a fat down payment in either county, which they don’t have, the Brennans wouldn’t qualify for a conventional mortgage on a median-priced home.

House prices have to come down. They are coming down, they're just not crashing here yet like they are elsewhere. I don't get this hotfooting and jumping up and down and wanting a house NOW NOW NOW and saying "I don't want a handout." I don't get the "we're not saving for retirement, we borrow for cars, we have children and student loans and we're doing everything right with our money" thinking.

WSU keeps a special set of statistics on housing affordability for first-time buyers. Those numbers are especially dismal, indicating that the average first-time home-buying family or individual couldn’t afford even 40 percent of the mortgage on a starter home in King County.

TRUE. Even without student loans, car payments and children, a family earning $70K could not buy a HOUSE. A two-bedroom condo out in Lynnwood or Everett, maybe right now. Heck, I can't buy a house where I live on $140K. Well, I could, but I wouldn't respect myself in the morning.

The problem for a lot of the middle class is a consumer mindset, says Dale, a devoted listener of talk radio who says he quickly transformed from a liberal Democrat to a conservative Republican after becoming a father and going to work in a small business.

Dale Brennan loves his job as the manager of a Seattle-area produce stand.
“Things are to be earned, not for instant gratification,” he explains. “It’s not what you have; it’s getting there.” That's fine with me, what I don't get is converting to a different political ideology because AFTER car loans, student loans and having babies, one decides personal responsibility is a good thing. Because "that other side" can't ever lay claim to personal responsibility. I'm probably irresponsible in spite of wanting to save up to buy a car, or pay off car loans early, and started retirement as soon as I had disposable income, and waited until I was financially 'okay' before having kids, because it's easier for Dale's brain to see people who don't agree with his political viewpoints as personally irresponsible.

I am envious that Darby Brennan can find time to bake bread and help the girls clean their room. We have not-so-hot furniture ourselves, and really modest electronics--so modest the thieves flashlight into our living room and can't see a stereo or TV or computer so they leave us alone. The $20 a month for entertainment is very ambitious too: I think we pay that per person per week. So buying thrift store clothing, making bread from scratch, and using one credit card for gas only: those are things I could certainly do for the benefit of the budget. But is that "doing everything right?"

We had assets equivalent to one year's salary when we bought. It's bad timing that the Brennans have to contend with: trying to accumulate money when rate cuts to bail out homeowners are disincentives to save.

This is like me going up to Vancouver, BC and saying 'guldarnit! Houses here go for $850K Canadian! I can't buy a house on $140K/year!' (No kidding! How about waiting for house prices to come down?)

I guess delayed gratification and being priced out of the market are not partisan issues.

Disclaimer: I do not earn $140K/yr. I just threw that number out because the Brennans' salary doubled over four years, and I wanted to make the point that in the Seattle area, families earning under $150K are priced out right now. If people are still buying homes, it's either because they're downsizing or they have inheritances or they earn in excess of $150K/year.

Eureka! I feel dumb (see last post) because of OPPORTUNITY COST. I sent $500 off for my Roth IRA, paid $612 of my credit card (billed for $312, but $890 worth of purchases currently), and shifted $445 to the HELOC. Now I find that Thundering Hooves is requiring a two-share minimum ($2000) for investors choosing to park their money @ 10% interest in a ten-year investment plan, instead of a one-share minimum.

I thought I'd have more time to rustle up (hee!) $$ for the livestock program, but my hubby's severance pay doesn't start until November, and I'm considering taking a paid week off instead of taking a bonus week's pay because my brother is arriving from the Far East for a week in January.

Other terms for the day: cash flow, leverage.

It doesn't take much for my savings goals to disintegrate.
Yesterday I had zipper trouble with my overpants: I couldn't get the teeth to mesh. I looked online and asked a coworker, and none of the advice seemed to fit what was going on.

I rode into work that morning and wanted to ride back home earlier to have dinner and go to the movies. The nearest motorcycle accessories dealer to my work opted to begin winter hours exactly this week, meaning being closed on Mondays. The option of riding home on the freeway with no protective armour on my legs did not appeal.

I could have taken the pants to my local seamstress, to get a new zipper perhaps.
The pants were two years old, and were of passable quality.

So I took the long, under 35mph way home, then gathered the lads to head to the Cycle Center. Unfortunately, their sale on gear ended the day before. I did not expect the zipper of my pants to give out yesterday, else I would have shopped during the sale.

I looked at some pants, and the ones that fit, the ones with the removable insulated liner, with the reflective striping, the waterproof ones, the ones a woman totally needs for October - March motorcycling: $189.99. I did ask for a discount. The woman I usually see at the Cycle Center sales counter is happy to ring me up at a 10% standard discount when she can, but she wasn't there. The young guys give me maybe 5-8%. But the young guy and I did discuss the merits of the new pants.

I'd save the cost of the pants over three months with the lower costs of busing and motorcycling it to the office. I think some planning is involved to make these savings goals work.

Last night we ate out, at a local burger joint, plus went to see Charlie Chaplin comedies at a theatre, complete with sound effects/percussionist and an organist playing the 1928 Publix Wurlitzer. This was the last screening of the four-part series, and it included my son's favourite Chaplin comedy, so we went. A pricey day. This week is his birthday week, so it's going to be a pricey week.

I gotta start making some evenings available to make stock and soup and ready-made lunches and dinners. This just isn't the week I can start: I want to see what plans the new School District Administrator has, I'm giving blood on Wednesday, a newlywed girlfriend wants a cocktails-and-artwalk night (already she needs a night out with her friends!), and Friday will be a private celebration for the day my little boy ripped my insides--errrr, joined the living.

I went to Super Supplements to pick up some melatonin, better-tasting cod liver oil for home, more vitamins for the eyes, and Blood Sugar blues. All four were on sale. Still, I paid $72. The Cod Liver Oil was pricy.

I know tweaking my diet and engaging in exercise would eliminate at least three of those supplements. I have vitamins galore at home.

If I could carve the time to schedule exercise, design six daily mini-meals (LuckyRobin was onto something when she suggested postprandial insulinemia -- I think there must be some blood sugar issues going on and I can't distinguish among hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, diabetes and postprandial insulinemia) that meet ALL my nutritional requirements with IN-SEASON LOCALLY GROWN FOODS, then I could cut down on these vitamin supplements. I could consult a local nutritionist. It would also help if the salmon stocks weren't dwindling.

Calcium/magnesium w/Vitamin D for bone health;
Acerola Vitamin C to keep contagious viruses away;
iron for anemia common in child-bearing-age women;
Vitamin A for eye health;
Vitamin D for depression/anxiety/anti-oxidant properties
Cod Liver Oil for Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids
B-complex vitamins for energy
Spirulina for eye health/energy/protein

A multivitamin doesn't cut it.

And I may need a daily, rigourous program for exercise. My adipose tissue around my abdomen led one woman to ask when I was due. I can't spot-reduce that bit around the waist, but it's the only area that needs reducing. So, an allover exercise regimen for me, and a diet that is even more sugar-restrictive and dependent on complex carbohydrates and more protein.

Yesterday I went out for a nice thirty-five minute walk, but what about when it rains hard? What should I do today?

I learned that my health insurance isn't going to cover my primary physician anymore as of next month, and my husband's insurance, which does cover my primary physician, expires next month.

I love my job, but I think when my contract ends I'm going to start looking for jobs in Canada or full-time jobs with terrific health benefits. Nobody has yet convinced me that bouncing from HMO to HMO, and from primary care physician to primary care physician is in my best interest.

yet so appropriate for my life.

1. I had my virtual hand slapped for making a change that I misinterpreted as okay (I announced a problem, the recipient said it would be nice if a solution could be found, I offered my change as a solution, and the recipient said 'nice.' 'Nice' is not an explicit 'go ahead and do this' message, I now know and understand. "Communication Breakdown."

2. My Majesty is in the shop for safety recalls, so I'll bus it for awhile. No biggie. "Commuting Breakdown."

3. I got the date wrong on a film noir event, and left work early, on the same date I had an extended lunch across the lake. I got very little work done in a crunchtime. "Communication Breakdown."

4. I've been in a ridiculous e-mail volley about "side salads" for an event luncheon. I was forwarded a link to a restaurant's online menu, with the request that I put my order in ahead of time. I do so. The response is that I have to specify the types of salads. No salad choices are within the e-mail response, so I look at the salad page of the menu and make an order. The second response tells me that my salad is considered a meal in itself and I should choose something else. I'm confused because the price and size of the salad I chose was similar to the prices and sizes of the other salads available on the page. I worry that if I choose another salad I will get a third response telling me to pick another salad. No one should have to go through "what's my side salad" guessing games. "Communication Breakdown."

I'll be happy to get off the road for awhile -- it'll allow me to spend some time on my spouse's scooter, mastering acceleration through a curve and countersteering, and I will save six dollars in gas by not having it for three days! Aggressive drivers have been honking at me because I've been signalling and moving at an accelerated pace in a space (200 ft or larger) between them and the vehicle in front, stopping them from accelerating to their comfort point of three feet behind another vehicle. I don't need to invite rage that way, through assessing 250 ft is adequate space for my scooter, wearing my ultravisible yellow jacket, understanding my acceleration power, and signalling with my lights. I could try also signalling with my hand at the same time, or I could use my ESP to divine if they are hotheads, or I could listen to their acceleration, the "I am an aggressive jerk" birdcall.

5. At the lunch I was at yesterday, I brought my motorcycle jacket because my trunk was already full with my bag, boots, helmet and pants. I was dressed in a nice dress and heels so the motorcycle jacket was anomalous and attention-getting. The financial advisor who sponsored the luncheon I attended marvelled at my bravery to ride over, considering I was pregnant.

I am not pregnant. One big blow to the body image.

This morning:
"The neighbor kid has more money than me."

"I doubt that he does."

"He has more toys."

"His parents don't own a home, they rent space from the kid's uncle, whose girlfriend we can hear yell at him about credit card bills because they don't realize how much we can hear being next door. The boy's room is smaller than yours, so he has less room for his toys. He also has a grandmother nearby who can give him toys."
--------------------------------
"The coworkers have more money than me."

"No, they just live higher on the hog."

"They take trips to Europe. They have newer cars."

"They're ten to twenty years older than you. They don't have kids in $950+/month daycare. You don't know what they're doing to fund their retirement. You don't know about their mortgage equity withdrawals or credit cards. You don't know that maybe last year their car of 22 years' service finally gave up the ghost."

1. My Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) supplier is raising its box price by $1, a 3% difference, owing to increased expenses.

2. The gas prices have increased 5.5% since last week.

I have brought my lunch every day this week. I also took the bus once. I will have at least eight hours of overtime this week. My commuting bus runs from Mo-Fr, so I scoot when possible on the weekends.

More lentils and garbanzos on the menu for next week. A good thing it is we have free water, juices, carbonated beverages and Starbucks at work. Maybe even, if energy allows, a I may engage in a batch cooking weekend, as my joyboy/sireling/coborrower is on call this week while I have my "death march" to May 8... must be cheaper than ordering pizza.

I wonder if I'm going to see middle-aged and middle-income white men in parking lots begging for gas money again, like I did last summer.

The first week of the month is always scary for me, with the high-powered flush of daycare and mortgage. The first week of April is more ravaging on the heart circulation too: between the IRS and the IRA, I R Broke.

Another bright beam of financial sunlight: without me making any extra payments to my mortgage, my interest over the amortized term would be $100,009. And the Treasury Department has already deducted from my bank account my 2006 1040 tax statement amount owing.

Of course I'm going to make an early payment, just to see that six-digit figure drop to five-digit. That's just the competitive, obsessed debtor I am.

I saw a BBC Channel 4 documentary on families who have been pushed to extreme limits by banks' credit lending. Specifically two family breadwinners who killed themselves over the staggering debts they incurred.

My empathy was with the widows, who not only were bereft of their main income and their life partner, but were left with those mounting bills, harassing calls, and the lingering question why their departed soulmates didn't confide in them earlier, so they could attempt to fairly and judiciously manage the household. Leaving those messes behind is really awful to do to someone who loves you and who's made a commitment to be with you in rich times and in poor times.

If the departed didn't have the trust and faith in their companions to share what's going on, why did they have the trust and faith in the banks to regulate themselves and stop lending them enough rope to do themselves in financially?

I don't have any faith in the megabanks: taking away the terms of my account of ten years doesn't inspire trust, changing the credit cards' terms and agreements for the worse every couple of years doesn't inspire trust either.

Where do people come up with the trust and faith that they'll never be offered the opportunity to borrow more money than they can actually pay back? Or that the person selling them an ARM is certified, regulated, and is telling them everything they need to know? Doesn't anyone have lawyers look over their loan documents that potentially may cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars anymore? We had a lawyer look over ours.

Somehow people have ideas that they'll be saved or bailed out from their recklessness, but prefer their closest confidantes not know. Maybe they haven't had the profound losses at an early age I have. Maybe they don't feel so much of a heavy burden to fend for themselves. Maybe they get better credit card offers or loan terms than I do, or have solid recession-proof, unlayoffable jobs.