October 2010 Recap

Better late than never! Here's what October looked like in terms of expenses and income:
My income from salary and interest was about $8,512.
Expenses were as follows:

Taxes	$2,740
Clothing	$1,959
Housing	$1,716
Gym & Fitness	$1,339
Total Dining	$701
Home Insurance	$335
Misc	$207
Utilities	$199
Medical	$153
Travel	$76
Gifts Given	$74
Charity	$52
Education	$44
Subscriptions	$37
Entertainment	$24
Household	$13
Business expense	-$709

Clothing looks outrageously high because I ordered a few pairs of boots from Zappos that I ended up returning, with the credit showing up in November. Gym & Fitness is high because I renewed my gym membership for a full year. With several free months tacked on, I now won't need to pay for this again until sometime in 2012. Home insurance is another yearly bill that happened to come due this month. Business expense is a reimbursement of things I paid for over the course of several months.
The net effect of these odd expenses, plus routine things being slightly higher than usual, was that I saved no money this month! I was in the red by about $448.

As for my net worth:
It's approximately $458,780, up $10,718 / 2.39% from last month. One major change is that I moved some money from a savings account into my E*Trade investment account. You can see the higher credit card balance here too, which should correct itself next month (and of course, as always, I pay it in full every month anyway). I haven't made any more adjustments to my home equity, but I feel pretty good about where it's at based on some recent sales data I've seen in my neighborhood. Of course, there aren't tons of sales to base things on lately, so I continue to think of that number as being a rough ballpark estimate.

	Sept.	Oct.
Cash and Bank Accounts	$ 69,355	$ 45,665
Retirement Accounts	$ 272,805	$ 282,052
Stocks & Mutual Funds	$ 22,236	$ 49,780
Bonds	$ 5,091	$ 5,091
Credit Cards	$ (2,915)	$ (5,664)
Home Equity	$ 81,490	$ 81,856
TOTAL	$ 448,062	$ 458,780

So the good news is that I've surpassed my net worth goal for the end of the year already. In November, I'll also add $15,000 I inherited from Great Aunt Minnie, so I'm hoping that even if the market is down somewhat, I can still beat my net worth goal. Onward and upward!

David Cameron's "Big Society"

I found this New Yorker magazine article fascinating: "All Together Now!"
The topic is Britain's new conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, and his plan to solve the country's budget woes by having average people pitch in to help in small ways with things the government can no longer afford to do. Say the government can't afford to keep a playground well-maintained-- his concept is that local residents would get together in some sort of committee and assign each other tasks like raking, sweeping, painting, etc.

The article points out all sorts of weirdnesses to this-- why is a Conservative politician championing collective labor that sounds like it belongs in a Communist country? How does the Government expect to just totally back off from responsibility and not even provide any funds for getting these community schemes set up? Who's going to take charge of these local programs, and do people really want it to be the neighborhood busybody with too much time on his hands?

There's something to be said for the "niceness" of community participation but a lot of people just don't want to deal with the reality of it. As one man comments, more or less, he doesn't have time and prefers to pay other people to do this stuff-- the payments are called "taxes," and the "other people" are called "the Government."

But here's what didn't come up in the article that I'm curious about. Many of the the sorts of things the Government is looking to crowd-source are the kinds of programs that don't even get a lot of public funding in the US, like arts programs. Here, they get a lot of funding from rich people who want nothing more in return than social prestige and the satisfaction of doing something for others, and often, their name etched in stone on some building.

Why is David Cameron trying to get all the "little people" to volunteer to rake parks instead of getting a billionaire to pay the salaries of park-rakers in exchange for some warm fuzzy feelings and a bench with his name on it? Perhaps that sort of thing just doesn't play as well for P.R., especially in a country like the U.K., which has such long-standing class issues. Cameron is from the upper class himself, so I suppose he thinks he has to take this "we're all in it together" attitude rather than a top-down approach... but it doesn't sound very efficient to me.

It's not that I think the answer is for everyone to live off the charity of rich people whose whims dictate what services and enrichments the rest of us are allowed to enjoy. We'd probably end up with free eco-friendly dog-grooming salons on every corner (of terribly pot-holed roads) in some states, and free gun-shooting lessons for toddlers (but no public K-12 education) in others. As far as I'm concerned, taxes and government and elections are a pretty good way to provide the basic standard of living we've all come to expect as Americans living in the 21st century, with some private funding icing the cake. But I do wonder why the U.K. seems to have such a different approach to these things...

E*Trade Investment Gains

I did an interesting project the other day-- I went back through my E*Trade investment transactions to trace all the cash I put in and took out. This goes back to sometime in 2001 or even a bit earlier, I think, when I first deposited about $1,000 in order to start doing some investing outside of my 401k. Other than that, all my money had been in savings accounts and CDs up to that point.

When I totaled everything up, my net contributions to my E*Trade account were about $33,875. This was never done on a regular basis-- I'd sometimes put in a couple thousand dollars at a time, sometimes more. And there was a period in 2005 and 2006 where I cashed in some funds and took out money in order to pay the down-payment and closing costs on my condo.

As of the day I did this, the current value of my E*Trade account was $49,779. So my net investment gains were $15,904, or a total return of about 47%. It's interesting to compare this to how E*Trade shows my current portfolio gains as an increase of about $2,960 or 6.3%.

Obviously, two very different calculations are being done here. E*Trade considers every reinvested dividend as part of the cost basis the gain is calculated against, so as shares go up in price, those incremental purchases have gained less in relation to the current price. By either method, it's hard to really say how much my annual rate of return has been overall because I've bought and sold various funds at various times, and it's all a bit complicated, at least for someone like me whose math expertise hits a brick wall at a certain point!

Since I put money in and took it out over 10 years, I can't really compare my performance to an initial investment of $10,000 that was just put into a fund and left sitting there with all gains reinvested, which is the standard way funds are compared on E*Trade. But just to look at a few examples, the first of which seems to have the highest average annual return over the 10-year period of any mutual fund offered on E*Trade:

Symbol	$10k invested 10 years ago now worth	Avg. Annual 10 Year Return
INIVX	$134,996	27.46%
BGEIX	$89,987	22.91%
EITEX	$51,714	16.79%
DPCAX	$48,578	16.60%
AAFPX	$9,097	-0.99%

INIVX and BGEIX are gold/precious metals funds (that I really wish I'd invested in!), EITEX is an emerging markets fund, DPCAX is a China fund, and AAFPX is an S&P 500 index fund.


Anyway, to me, the bottom line is that I have $15,904 that I didn't have before, and that's quite a lot better than just looking at my current E*Trade balance. I've invested in a variety of stocks and mutual funds without any cohesive strategy other than to have a blend of aggressive and conservative investments and not put all my eggs in one basket. Given that we've been going through an extraordinary economic crisis, with the S&P 500 about 20% below where it was 10 years ago, and the Dow about flat over that period, I think I've done ok.

Wall Street Pay

Today's reading from the NY Times website: On Wall Street: All Reward, No Risk by William D. Cohan.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why Wall Street bankers, traders and executives get paid so much money year after year for doing jobs that rarely require them to innovate, enlighten or put their own capital at risk, and have the nasty habit of periodically sinking our economy.

After a two-year stint as a reporter on a daily paper in the early 1980s, I worked on Wall Street for nearly two decades, and quickly discovered that I could make more money in one year as a banker than I could in a lifetime as a journalist. And that was when I was a relatively junior banker. By the time I was a managing director, the pay — and the pay spread — was astronomical.

Curiously, though, the amount of time and energy I devoted to the two professions on a daily basis wasn’t all that different; both were totally demanding. While it was true that as a banker I generated revenue, or helped to generate revenue, and as a journalist, the publisher likely figured I was part of a cost problem, the discrepancy in pay never made much sense to me since I always had trouble imagining a newspaper without writers.

Now, after six years of writing about Wall Street — including two lengthy books — I remain at a total loss to explain the pay phenomenon. What’s worse, even the most modest slights when it comes to pay on Wall Street — “The guy next to me got a $2 million bonus, why did I only get $1.9 million?!” — is enough to reduce someone to tears. Indeed, I have yet to encounter a person on Wall Street who can, with a straight face, justify his compensation on other than the most painfully tone-deaf grounds, usually along the lines of how they “add value” for their clients....

This was a key paragraph for me:

Do Wall Street firms exist for the benefit of their shareholders, like other public companies, or do they exist primarily for the benefit of the people who happen to work there? The answer to this rhetorical question is painfully, and sadly, obvious. No other large public companies pay out anywhere near as high a percentage of revenue to their employees. But where is it written that this madness has to continue? Why does a financial engineer have to get paid exponentially more than a real engineer?

It does fascinate me how we value different kinds of work...

My Stimulus Tax Cuts

Did you get a tax cut in 2009? No? Are you sure? According to this article, a lot of people don't realize they got a tax cut: From Obama, the Tax Cut Nobody Heard Of.

At Pig Pickin’ and Politickin’, a barbecue-fed rally organized here last week by a Republican women’s club, a half-dozen guests were asked by a reporter what had happened to their taxes since President Obama took office.

“Federal and state have both gone up,” said Bob Paratore, 59, from nearby Charlotte, echoing the comments of others.

After further prodding — including a reminder that a provision of the stimulus bill had cut taxes for 95 percent of working families by changing withholding rates — Mr. Paratore’s memory was jogged.

“You’re right, you’re right,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you: it was so subtle that personally, I didn’t notice it.”

That was kind of the point: economists hoped people would be more likely to spend small amounts of money they got each month, as opposed to a lump-sum payment that they might just sock away in the bank. Whether or not that strategy was right is debatable, but politically, an invisible tax cut doesn't help the current administration's reputation.

I did realize that something was going on with my taxes because I had to adjust the repeating paycheck deduction transactions I enter in Quicken, but I'd never stopped to think about how much it came to. I just checked: in January, February and March of 2009, I was having $935.56 in Federal taxes withheld from each paycheck. After the Obama tax cut kicked in, that dropped to $891.14 in April 2009 and beyond, a decrease of $44.42 per month, or 4.7%. It's hard to calculate the total effect for all of 2009 because I maxed out my 401k before the end of the year, and of course taxes withheld are not the same as actual taxes paid after you factor in refunds, but I'd guess it might have totaled a couple hundred dollars in the end. I don't have the energy to dig up my tax returns and do all the math right now, but the actual terms of the tax credit are basically this:

In 2009 and 2010, the Making Work Pay provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide a refundable tax credit of up to $400 for working individuals and up to $800 for married taxpayers filing joint returns.

This tax credit will be calculated at a rate of 6.2 percent of earned income and will phase out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income in excess of $75,000, or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.

More details here.

Compare that to back in 2008, when Bush issued his one-time stimulus checks: I got $19.70.

Neither of these windfalls was enough to make me change my behavior-- I'm fortunate enough to be able to save a good chunk of my income, and my spending decisions are made within an overall sense of what I want my budget to be, and other random factors of whatever I happen to want to spend money on at various times. But if I was living paycheck to paycheck and spending all the money I had, Obama's tax cut would have stimulated consumer spending more than Bush's.

Of course there are much larger debates going on about what's going to help our economy and whether tax cuts are a good idea, who should get them, etc. etc.-- I won't get into all that, but regardless of the bigger picture it's frustrating that so many people either aren't aware of facts or actively spread disinformation about Obama's actions on tax cuts.

Income Inequality

I liked this article from the New York Times: Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore

During the three decades after World War II, for example, incomes in the United States rose rapidly and at about the same rate — almost 3 percent a year — for people at all income levels. America had an economically vibrant middle class. Roads and bridges were well maintained, and impressive new infrastructure was being built. People were optimistic.

By contrast, during the last three decades the economy has grown much more slowly, and our infrastructure has fallen into grave disrepair. Most troubling, all significant income growth has been concentrated at the top of the scale. The share of total income going to the top 1 percent of earners, which stood at 8.9 percent in 1976, rose to 23.5 percent by 2007, but during the same period, the average inflation-adjusted hourly wage declined by more than 7 percent.

Yet many economists are reluctant to confront rising income inequality directly, saying that whether this trend is good or bad requires a value judgment that is best left to philosophers. But that disclaimer rings hollow. Economics, after all, was founded by moral philosophers, and links between the disciplines remain strong. So economists are well positioned to address this question, and the answer is very clear.

This part echoes what I've said here myself about the bar being raised for everyone when we're exposed to the spectacle of how the rich spend their ever-increasing wealth:

The rich have been spending more simply because they have so much extra money. Their spending shifts the frame of reference that shapes the demands of those just below them, who travel in overlapping social circles. So this second group, too, spends more, which shifts the frame of reference for the group just below it, and so on, all the way down the income ladder. These cascades have made it substantially more expensive for middle-class families to achieve basic financial goals.

It's to everyone's benefit to have a healthy middle class:

The middle-class squeeze has also reduced voters’ willingness to support even basic public services. Rich and poor alike endure crumbling roads, weak bridges, an unreliable rail system, and cargo containers that enter our ports without scrutiny. And many Americans live in the shadow of poorly maintained dams that could collapse at any moment.

Ultimately, the article concludes that increasing income inequality doesn't benefit anyone-- the rich people who benefit from it aren't really happier, and everyone below them on the ladder isn't happier, and the costs to society affect us all. This doesn't mean that "income equality" is the goal, as those paranoid about communism and socialism may fear-- there will always be rich people and poor people, but when the division between them grows too out of proportion, we all suffer.

If you want to read more about the negative effects of income inequality, I recommend the book The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I recently read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for the first time-- it's an extraordinary book, and full of so many interesting thoughts about money. The main character is Francie, a little girl growing in Brooklyn in the early 20th century. Francie's father is a charming alcoholic who can never keep a job for very long, so they're always poor and scrambling for whatever money they can get. Francie and her brother sell old rags or metal (I forget which) to a junk dealer in order to get a few cents of pocket money for themselves, and here's what Francie does with hers:

Arriving at the store, she walked up and down the aisles handling any object her fancy favored. What a wonderful feeling to pick something up, hold it for a moment, feel its contour, run her hand over its surface and then replace it carefully. Her nickel gave her this privilege. If a floorwalker asked whether she intended buying anything, she could say yes, buy it and show him a thing or two. Money was a wonderful thing, she decided.

Here's an excerpt from a scene describing the family's mealtimes, where they each drink a cup of coffee. Francie often doesn't drink hers and her brother wonders why she's even given one. Here's Francie's mother's response:

"Francie is entitled to one cup each meal like the rest. If it makes her feel better to throw it away rather than to drink it, all right. I think it's good that people like us can waste something once in a while and get the feeling of how it would be to have lots of money and not have to worry about scrounging."
This queer point of view satisfied mama and pleased Francie. It was one of the links between the ground-down poor and the wasteful rich. The girl felt that even if she had less than anybody in Williamsburg, somehow she had more. She was richer because she had something to waste.

As she grows older, Francie is constantly aware of the need to save money. Her mother has learned this lesson from her grandmother, who insists that she should save whatever money she can, hide it in a coffee can nailed to a closet floor, and never touch it until someday there's enough to buy some land:

"It is winter, say. You bought a bushel of coal for twenty-five cents. It is cold. You would start a fire in the stove. But wait! Wait one hour more. Suffer the cold for an hour. Put a shawl around you. Say, I am cold because I am saving to buy land. That hour will save you three cents worth of coal. That is three cents for the bank...."

And then there's this painful scene, where Francie wants to win a beautiful doll that is being given away at her church by a girl from a rich family. They announce that it will be given to a "poor little girl named Mary" and Francie wants it so badly that she raises her hand and lies about her name, while having to publicly acknowledge that she's poor. As she leaves the church with her prize, she is tormented by the other poor girls:

Francie's eyes smarted with hot tears. "Why can't they," she thought bitterly, "just give the doll away without saying I am poor and she is rich? Why couldn't they just give it away without all the talking about it?"
That was not all of Francie's shame. As she walked down the aisle, the girls leaned towards her and whispered hissingly, "Beggar, beggar, beggar."
It was beggar beggar, beggar, all the way down the aisle. Those girls felt richer than Francie. They were as poor as she but they had something she lacked-- pride. And Francie knew it. She had no compunctions about the lie and getting the doll under false pretenses. She was paying for the lie and for the doll by giving up her pride.

If you've never read this wonderful book, I highly recommend it, and not just for the insights on money and class. There's great historical detail about old New York, and it's a fascinating portrait of a girl's coming of age.

3rd Quarter Recap

I've fallen behind on my monthly recaps-- the last one was for June, so today I'll just catch up by doing a summary for July-September.

Income:
I got some retroactive pay relating to my recent raise, so my income was high this quarter:
Salary $25,831
Interest Income $87
Other Income (employer 401k contributions) $775

Expenses:

Taxes	$6,908
Housing	$2,290
Dining	$2,003
Travel	$1,038
Misc	$931
Clothing	$747
Business expense	$694
Utilities	$686
Medical	$409
Gifts Given	$286
Household	$260
Subscriptions	$194
Education	$100
Outflows - Other	$80
Charity	$50
Entertainment	$41
Bank Charge	$36

Some notes:
Housing was lower than usual as I got a refund of over-escrowed property taxes
Dining and Travel are a bit out of whack because I took a 10-day vacation with Sweetie, and we still haven't worked out who owes whom what. But it was a relatively cheap vacation since I got the tickets with frequent flyer miles.
Miscellaneous includes a few hundred dollars spent on some prints during the trip, one of which was for Sweetie.
The business expense is for work and will be reimbursed.
I was surprised to see that Clothing was so high, but then I remembered that I'd bought some shirts and a dress that cost almost $150. It's funny, I never wear dresses but I saw that one and just had to have it! Now I need an occasion at which to wear it...
Outflows Other was the fee for renewing my driver's license, which I'd forgotten to categorize.

My net savings for the 3 months were $9,938, more than a third of my gross income.

As for net worth, as of the end of September, it was $448,062, an increase of $40,883, or about 10% from the end of June.
Cash, CDs, Bank Accounts: $69,355
Stocks/Mutual Funds (non-retirement): $22,236
Bonds: $5,091
Retirement Accounts (401k and Roth IRA): $272,805
Home Equity: $81,490
Credit Card (paid in full every month): $2,915

I'm starting to feel too cash-heavy again. I need to shift some more money into more aggressive investments, but I've been lazy about doing my research. Part of me wants to invest in some individual blue-chip stocks again if I can find some that seem undervalued, but the other part of me remembers that I've had mixed luck with that in the past, and thinks I should just go with some more Vanguard funds!
And as usual, home equity is a rough estimate. I decreased my valuation back in June, and occasionally see other stats that make me think I could raise it a wee bit again, but I'm not going to worry too much about it. I have wondered if I should re-finance my mortgage, though...

Anyway, the numbers are all pretty good-- the important thing is that I'm controlling what I can control and consistently adding to my savings, even though I've been sort of on financial auto-pilot for the last few months. But it's time to dig a little deeper into the investing side of things again, to make sure I'm using my savings well. Onwards and upwards!

Good News: Raise, Promotion, Inheritance

A little happy news! I was promoted and got a raise of a little over 6 percent. The percentage seems a bit small for a promotion, but I wasn't going to quibble over it, especially as I've yet to be asked to do anything more in exchange for my more exalted title!
It's funny, I've often felt conflicted about my career ambitions-- on one level, I do want to make more money, do fulfilling work, and feel that my efforts are publicly acknowledged by a prestigious title. But another part of me worries about hitting what I think of as "the responsibility wall." In part, this is an anxiety about exceeding my level of competence, and failing after years of succeeding. But it's also about not wanting to work too hard! I have a life outside my job, and I want to have time for activities I enjoy and not feel like work consumes all my energy. It's an issue I'll continue to mull over, but for the moment, I guess I have the best of all worlds!

It actually feels like a bit of a milestone-- I've reached a level in my career that I wasn't sure I'd ever attain. And although my total compensation including bonus has been over $100k for a few years now, this is the first time my actual salary will rise above $100k-- I'm not sure why this means anything to me, but it does!

One sad thing about my promotion is that I can't help wishing it had happened before Great-aunt Minnie died. She was the first person I would have wanted to tell, because I know how proud of me she would have been. Quite coincidentally, I also just got word via my sister that it looks like my share of the inheritance may be around $15,000, which means Minnie's total estate must have been over $180,000, even though she never owned a home. I'm even more impressed that Minnie managed to have so much money saved at the end of her life, and I feel very lucky to benefit from her wisdom and generosity in this unexpected way.

Changes in Household Spending

This graph appeared in yesterday's New York Times and I found it fascinating:


Look how much the share spent on food and clothing increased during World War II, and how much lower they are now than at any time since. And I was surprised to see the share spent on education being quite low, and not showing as much of a spike in recent years, despite other stats that show the price of college skyrocketing. This could be because not everyone goes to college, and because although the rack rates for tuition have skyrocketed, more and more people get financial aid in various forms to cover a lot of it. And of course health care costs have risen hugely, after being quite stable through the '30s and '40s-- but it still surprises me that on average we spend more on health care than we do on housing.

The article the chart accompanied mainly focused on the housing part of the budget, and whether this data suggests housing prices have stabilized or are still likely to fall. David Leonhardt says:

I can’t claim to clear up all the uncertainty. But I do want to suggest a framework for figuring out whether you lean bearish or less bearish: do you believe that housing is a luxury good and that societies spend more on it as they get richer? Or do you think it’s more like food, clothing and other staples that account for an ever smaller share of consumer spending over time?

If you believe housing resembles a luxury good, then you’ll end up thinking house prices will rise nearly as fast as incomes in the long run and that houses today aren’t terribly overvalued. If housing is a staple, though, prices will rise more slowly — with general inflation, as food tends to.

The difference between these two views ends up being huge, and it’s become the subject of an intriguing debate.

After digging into it, I come down closer to the luxury good side, which is to say the less bearish one. To me, housing does not rank with unemployment, the trade deficit, the budget deficit or consumer debt as one of the economy’s biggest problems. But you may disagree.

What do you think?

I'm an Heiress

Remember Great Aunt Minnie? She died peacefully a few weeks ago. I had a chance to see her one last time in May, and spoke to her on the phone a few days before her death. I couldn't go to her memorial service, so it still seems almost surreal that she's gone, after her being such a constant, steady figure in my family's life all these years.

So it was even more weird to find a thick envelope in my mail the other night, which turned out to be from Minnie's lawyer, because I'll inherit a share of her estate.

Minnie had no children-- she left everything to my father and his 5 sisters, to be divided equally. Since my father died before her, his share now goes to my sister and me. At first, I thought this was weird-- my father's estate was all in some kind of trust going to my mother, and I thought as his surviving spouse she'd be entitled to a share in whatever Minnie had left. This gave me an icky feeling when I saw that her name wasn't included on the papers-- it's not that I want my mother to have more money to burn in irresponsible things, but I didn't want to think she was somehow being shut out. On the other hand, I didn't want to rock the boat, so I asked my sister about it, and she reassured me that my mother was well aware that the will specified that the kids of any of the siblings who were deceased were to be the heirs, not the spouses. (Perhaps because of my family's many divorces and other relationship issues!)

So now I just have to see what happens once the estate is settled and divided up. It's very odd-- I've never been named in a will before. I mean, I was named in my Dad's, but because I was so involved in his estate planning, and it was all about my mom being provided for, I never thought of it as anything actually being left to me. And although Minnie didn't single out me or anyone in my generation, and I'm only getting anything because my dad is dead, which was certainly not a happy matter-- despite all this, I feel weirdly pleased that Minnie is passing something on to me, because I think she would be happy to give it.
After her death, one of my aunts emailed to say that all Minnie's stuff had to be out of the assisted living apartment by the end of the month, and that I should come and claim any items I might want. All I could think to ask for was a book I'd given her about a year ago that I know she had really enjoyed. Other than that, I have other mementos of her-- an old stool that was hers (and made by my great-grandfather), a cracker tin that was in her old kitchen, and a few other small items she'd given me over the years. More importantly I have audio and video recordings of parts of our conversations from the last time we saw each other. And most importantly of all, I have a lifetime of good memories.

But now, I guess I'll also have some money. Weird, weird, weird. I have no idea how much money it will be. I certainly don't expect much, given I'll only get one twelfth of her estate. Though she had a good career and was very frugal, the assisted living place was expensive and I know she worried about being able to afford it. And she was paying for extra nursing care towards the end. So it's not like this will be some great windfall. But it's nice to know I'll get some small amount, whatever it is. We shall see.

2010's Highest Paid Authors

Here's a juicy little tidbit for anyone who's ever hoped to write a bestseller! Forbes has posted a list of the authors who made the most money over the past 12 months:

James Patterson ($70 million)
Stephenie Meyer ($40 million)
Stephen King ($34 million)
Danielle Steel ($32 million)
Ken Follett ($20 million)
Dean Koontz ($18 million)
Janet Evanovich ($16 million)
John Grisham ($15 million)
Nicholas Sparks ($14 million)
JK Rowling ($10 million)

Of course, this is just an isolated 12-month period, so it's not a good indicator of how much these authors might make on average over a few years. And though James Patterson is by far the highest-paid author, he freely admits that he doesn't do that much writing of his own books any more-- he basically outlines them and has other people write them, so you'd have to deduct what he pays his staff! But still, he's doing just fine.

What I'd love to see would be broader stats about how much writers make, sliced and diced by fiction/non-fiction, and showing income deciles. There are only a tiny handful of authors who make the big bucks, and many more who make pretty much nothing... but I wonder how many in between are making a pretty good living?

"The First Shoppable Children's Storybook"

Ugh! This ad popped up when I looked at the NY Times web page this morning and I was so shocked and horrified, I had to share it:



Ok, people are going to advertise products, and ads include more and more elaborate entertainment content. And plenty of movies for adults and teens include product placements, and it's happening more and more in books too. But what tin-eared advertising genius had the bright idea to create "the first shoppable children's storybook?" And actually be proud of it! Is this really what the world needs now?

Some of the proceeds are being donated to charity, at least...

Money Art

I stumbled across this and thought it was quite cool: Scott Campbell's laser-etched dollar bill art.

Cogitating on Cohabitating

Here's a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately-- how do you decide whether or not to move in with your sweetie? As I write this, mine is recovering from a knee surgery, and I'm playing nurse, maid, chef, and chauffeur. I haven't been home in a week, and I keep wondering if it's silly for us to live in two separate apartments, as this kind of situation highlights the need and desire to be together.
A while back, I tallied up the amount of space we occupy between the two of us-- 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, close to 1800 sq feet... in NYC, this is not necessarily palatial, but still rather luxurious for a childless couple. And yet, though we are a couple, we are also two individuals. We can each afford our individual lifestyle and we each have our preferences and desire for our own space. If two individuals are each living financially responsible lives on their own, does the fact of their being a couple change that and mean that they are financially irresponsible?
We'd easily save almost $2000 a month when you consider my rent and utilities. (Though I personally might not save all that much depending on how we split the bills-- Sweetie's expenses are somewhat higher than mine, and include things like basic cable TV, which I don't pay for at all right now.) We'd save on groceries. My plants wouldn't keep dying of neglect. And we'd save lots of time in not having to go back and forth. But how do you decide what the right balance is?
I feel rather self-indulgent thinking about how I need "MY SPACE." How many millions of people around the world don't even have a square inch to call their own, let alone a small New York apartment? But it's not really about a measured amount of physical space for me-- there is some consideration of that, of course, when you calculate how many books will fit on the shelves and how many hangers will fit in the closet. But for me, it's more about the mental space, and the feeling of control, or perhaps assertion of identity. I like having some sort of space, even if it's just a corner, where I am surrounded by my own things, chosen and arranged by me. Maybe it's books, objects, posters, or a combination of these things. And maybe I can find a way to have this in Sweetie's apartment, but I'm not sure. It's a bigger apartment than mine, but not that much bigger. And I don't want my moving in to mean that Sweetie has to completely turn the place upside down.
Ideally we'd just move to a different, bigger apartment together but there are a lot of good reasons not to give up Sweetie's place. So another thing I've thought about is renting the tiniest studio I can find within a block or two of Sweetie. I could use it as a sort of extra room, and if I had my sister's family visiting, it could function as an extra guest room. If I rented out my place, I could probably get a bit more for it than I pay in mortgage and maintenance charges. But a studio in the location I'd want would cost me anywhere between 2/3 to 3/4 of what I pay now for a two bedroom. That's a bit depressing, but would it be worth it for my own peace of mind? Would I actually have that peace of mind? Would I use the studio enough for it to be worth the expense? Maybe it would just be a transitional thing as we adjusted to occupying the same apartment and finding ways to fit in all our stuff without each sacrificing our preferences and habits.
New York is somewhat famous, I think, for being a place where couples move in together sooner than they normally would, and continue to live together long after breaking up, just because it's financially impossible to do otherwise. I don't want to make this decision based on money. But it's hard not to think about it...

Monthly Recap: June 2010

Finally getting around to another "monthly" net worth update! June was not a great month in many ways-- my investments lost some value, and I also decided to lower my home value by another $10,000 based on some comparable sales. (I had lowered it by $10,000 in September 2009 also.) My cash on hand increased nicely, but I had a bigger than usual credit card bill to pay off at the end of the month. Here's the details from NetWorthIQ:

Assets		$ Diff	% Diff
Cash	$64,186	$3,115	5.1%
Stocks	$20,237	-$502	-2.4%
Bonds	$5,091	$0	0.0%
Retirement	$240,608	-$10,221	-4.1%
Home	$80,404	-$9,641	-10.7%
Total Assets	$410,526	-$17,249	-4.0%
Debts		$ Diff	% Diff
Credit Card	$3,347	$1,676	100.3%
Total Debts	$3,347	$1,676	100.3%
Net Worth	$407,179	-$18,925	-4.4%

Whenever I look at this chart lately, I'm struck by the jagged ups and downs starting in 2007-- there's a huge dip, as you'd expect with a worldwide economic meltdown, but even aside from that, it's been pretty bumpy month to month when you compare it to the earlier dates. Part of the reason is the frequency of updates-- in 2005 I did about 6 entries, and went to almost monthly in 2006 and later. Years prior to 2005 are represented in annual entries. But when I look at Quicken, where my data has been updated religiously every month since 2002, I see the same pattern-- a nice, gradual upward slope until I bought my condo, then a giant spike in my assets and liabilities, then a series of monthly ups and downs. You'd think having a big chunk of net worth tied up in a home would stabilize those ups and downs... but not in today's world!

Deposit a Check With Your iPhone

I saw this article today and my inner tech geek went "WOW! I have to try that!"
I just happened to have a check in my wallet that I needed to deposit (for a miserable $141 reimbursement of a $2,000 root canal, but that's another story), so I went right to it!

First of all, not all banks offer this, as the Consumerism Commentary article notes. I do my local banking with Chase, and had already downloaded the iPhone app, but I'd never noticed that at the bottom of the screen, there's an icon for "Deposit." The first time you click it, you'll be asked to sign up for online depositing, which is free. The sign up took no time at all, just a few clicks.
When you're ready to actually deposit a check, you have to select which account (i.e. savings or checking) you want the deposit to go to, and enter the amount. Then you have to photograph the front and back of the check. They say it's best to do it in good light, against a dark background. I had had the check folded in my wallet, so I had to flatten it out. The camera frames the check and reminds you to hold still. You take a photo of the front and then the back-- you can zoom in to make sure your photo isn't blurry before you finalize the deposit. Some kind of processing then takes place, and you get a confirmation back, which includes the routing and account numbers from the check-- I assume that if the camera hasn't read the info properly, you'd get some kind of rejection at this point, but they do caution you to hang onto the check until the deposit has cleared, just in case.
I just did this 5 minutes ago, and immediately got an email from Chase confirming the deposit (though it still notes that it's "pending" and not "cleared.") We'll see if it all goes through properly in a day or two, I guess, but it looks like it will save me a trip to the bank. I have to say, I'm kind of amazed that this is possible!

The $7 Greeting Card

Would you believe it's possible? I just had to buy 3 cards for various occasions, and when I paid, the total was over $15. It's rather hot out today, so my brain was only slowly and foggily digesting this as I watched the cashier look closely at my receipt-- obviously even she couldn't believe it! I'm no longer surprised when cards are $3 or $4, but when I looked at the receipt myself, there it was, a $6.99 birthday card.

But I do feel I need to point out that the card involved a vibrating nun on a mechanical bull, so it was worth every penny.

Ads in Free iPhone Apps

I'm still loving my iPhone, despite the extra expense each month. Of course, as I'd expected, they've introduced the iPhone 4 and dropped the price of the model I bought by $200, but the iPhone has been such a life-saver over the last 3 months, some of that money has probably been made up by not having to buy extra gas because of getting lost on road trips. I had no idea I'd end up using the Google Maps feature so much!

I've also been having fun playing a free Scrabble-like game with a friend of mine who lives across the country. I've always enjoyed word games, and it's a great way to stay connected. Especially since I'm pretty consistently slaughtering her. Anyway, the one downside to the game is how intrusive the ads are-- after every turn, they pop up and take over the whole screen for a second or two until I can manage to dismiss them, and there's always a bar across the bottom of the home screen with an ad. A couple of times, I've been very tempted to just click on the button that takes you to purchasing the ad-free version for $2.99. But then I keep holding back, telling myself to just suck it up and save the 3 bucks.

This is always my dilemma-- I know $3 is not a lot of money. But I guess I think it's good practice to say no to spending on any occasion where it's possible. So an ad flashes in front of my and wastes a second or two of my time, so what? As a general value and guideline for life, I want to be the kind of person who is willing to put up with a little inconvenience, who isn't a prima donna. This may be only a very small and insignificant way of asserting that value, but heck, why not just do it? It's not that I live a 100% spartan lifestyle where I always take the cheaper, more difficult option, but that's the point: every time you say no to spending, it allows you to say yes to something else in the future.

How do you feel about ad-supported apps? Are you willing to pay a few more dollars not to see ads?

The Silly Bandz Fad

Have you heard about Silly Bandz? If you have a grade school age child, I suppose you must have. The last time I visited my niece and nephew, they were playing with these colorful little rubber bands that vaguely resemble animals and other shapes when they're laid flat. Apparently all the kids at school have gone so bonkers for these things that the teachers have had to send notes home, asking parents not to let kids bring them to school. But of course the kids do anyway, stuffing their collections into little Ziploc bags so they can show them off and trade with their friends. I thought it might just be a local trend, until a friend of mine in a different part of the country posted a plea on Facebook asking if other parents knew where she could buy Silly Bandz, as one of her kids wanted to give them to her sibling as a birthday present.

I was trying to remember if there was any big fad item like this when I was in grade school-- I know there were things when I was a bit older, in junior high school: stickers, barrettes with little strawberries painted on them, a certain kind of lip gloss. But it's not surprising for kids to want status items when they're anxious pre-teens. My niece is only 6, so I was kind of surprised that younger kids like that would be so caught up in a fad. Perhaps it's less about peer pressure and status than just the wantability of the item itself-- but it's not like it's a toy that's fun to play with in and of itself-- it's just a rubber band that you wear as a bracelet, and collect and trade with your friends, which seems to make it more of a social necessity. It's nice to know that kids can still get enthusiastic about simple things that don't need batteries, but it's also a little disturbing to think that kids can start to feel like they need material things for social success at such a young age. For what it's worth, my niece had apparently been given a couple of Silly Bandz by her best friend even though she had none of her own to trade, and as far as I know, she hadn't yet been begging my sister to buy her some. But of course the minute my mother heard about them, even though she knew the teachers were outlawing them, she went out and bought my niece and nephew each a great big bag of them!

At least they're not too expensive... from prices I've seen online, Silly Bandz seem to cost less than 25 cents per band.

An Apology from Telemarketers... with a Bonus

I received the letter below a week or so after a phone call I vaguely remembered, where I politely hung up on a telemarketer, telling them I did not want to participate in their survey:


And yes, that is a real dollar bill they sent me. I was happy to get the dollar, and I guess it's a nice gesture, but what I really want is for them to stop calling me, which hasn't happened!

Single Ma Wants Me to Write About Booze. Again.

I do so hate to disappoint my friends!

In April's spending, I listed a total of $653 for dining, which includes all food bought in restaurants or take-out, as well as groceries and liquor. This is close to what I've budgeted for monthly spending for the last few years, $650. This always sounds like a lot, especially people who live outside NYC, but I've always rationalized it by noting that the culture here is just to eat out a lot, because people don't tend to have enough space to socialize at home. Compared to most of my peers, I probably dine in restaurants less frequently.

Anyway, of that $653, only $24 was sub-categorized as liquor. I was shocked to see this! The Dinner sub-category, for restaurant meals, was $336, and that probably included some wine. But other than that, I tend not to go out to bars and just drink wine at home. That wine tends to be purchased by the case, which Sweetie and I alternate doing. April was not a month where I made that purchase, but March was-- my liquor expense that month was $157. When we buy a case, it tends to come to a little over $100, as we try to find the cheaper stuff where mixed cases are discounted. Recent faves include Robertson, a South African Sauvignon Blanc, a Torrontes called La Linda, and Chateau de Castelneau Entre-Deux-Mers. If I started a separate blog called "Cheap White Wines I Drank This Week," would anyone read it?

The only other story I have to tell about booze is actually a couple of months old. Sweetie and I went out with an old friend who has become a total wine snob since moving to the West coast. We went to Henry's End, a cute little place in Brooklyn Heights that has a nice wine list. After much discussion with the waiter, a very good bottle of red wine was ordered. Then a different one was ordered when that was done. And then I think we might have had a third, I don't even remember! But what I do remember was feeling a bit shocked when I saw my share of the bill-- those bottles were way beyond my usual price range!
I don't remember what they all were, but I know one was called The Prisoner, which is listed at $55 on the Henry's End wine list. This is one of those classic situations that always pop up in etiquette columns, about how to deal with people who want you to pay for what you wouldn't have ordered if you were in control, but in this case, I have to say I didn't mind. The total I ended up paying for my share of the whole meal was something like $120, and it was an incredible meal. The wine was delicious and I was glad I tried something I never would have tried otherwise. And the friend knew us well enough to know that it wasn't a financial hardship totally out of proportion with our lifestyles.

So that's the scoop, SingleMa! You can live vicariously through my drinking while I live vicariously through your training for that 5k!

Brief Notes

Here's a few quick notes about money matters I've been thinking about. I suppose I should be using Twitter more actively if I'm going to write like this instead of managing to finish longer posts!

I used to track all my miscellaneous foreign currency in Quicken as part of my net worth. I kept a separate account for each currency, and occasionally adjusted the US dollar value to account for exchange rate fluctuations. There were times when I was traveling a lot and these accounts might have totaled over $100, but that's not the case any more, so I decided it was a stupid waste of time and just deleted those accounts! I still have the money in my jewelry box and will take it with me the next time I visit Canada, the UK, Europe, Mexico or New Zealand! I think I have a few Botswanan Pula and South African Rand too, though I never set up an account for those.

One of the best things you can do for under a dollar is to write a good, old-fashioned postcard and send it to a friend. I came across a whole shoebox full of cards from 15-20 years ago and they are gems. I'm still friends with many of the senders and we've started sending cards again, having been reminded that email and Facebook just aren't the same!

My home value just dropped by about $25,000 yesterday according to Mint.com. When I first signed up for Mint, I thought their valuation seemed pretty accurate, but now that it's around $40,000 lower than it was a few months ago, I'm not so sure! Wishful thinking may be playing a part, but I also think they must be basing this on some comp sales that aren't truly comparable.
I've also been paying close attention to rents in my neighborhood, and I think I could rent out my apartment for at least a couple hundred dollars more per month than it costs me. This has been on my mind more lately, as Sweetie and I seem to be talking more and more about the possibility of cohabitation.

Remember my friend Richard, the successful business owner who got a big bonus this year? I saw him again recently and was very pleased to hear that he put a huge chunk of his $2 million bonus towards paying off and refinancing the mortgages on his two homes. Richard seems to enjoy luxuries more and more as he gets more accustomed to the level of income he's been earning, and I've heard him say he's never been much of a saver, so it wouldn't have surprised me to hear that he'd spent money on a new car or some incredible piece of art, or a big vacation. I'm sure he's treating himself to some nice things, but it's good to know that he also has his eye on the long term picture and used his windfall to lower his monthly expenses in case he hits a rough spot in the future.

More bills set up on auto-pay: utilities and condo maintenance. I think I will now only write one paper check every 5 weeks, when I pay for my French lessons. Sometimes I even pay that with cash, so who knows how long it will take me to use up all the old checks with my previous address still on them!

Fat Finger Friday

You know, it's been a while since I got into some of the details of my daily spending. So I'll tell you exactly what I spent yesterday, a day in the life of Madame X:

Breakfast: $3,360.00 for coffee and a muffin

Lunch: $9,100.00 for a salad and a vitamin water

Dinner: $51,000.00 for dinner at a sushi place with Sweetie

Miscellaneous: $2,000,000.00 to buy a New York Times because my delivered copy was stolen.

Wow, realizing I spent this much, I am now TOTALLY FREAKED OUT!!! I have blown my budget for not just this week or this month, but for like, my whole lifetime! I'm going to have to cash in my retirement savings to pay for this! Oh Noooooooo!!!!!

April 2010 Monthly Recap

Whoo-hoo, I hit yet another all-time networth high at the end of April: $445,960. The stock market was up, I didn't spend too much, and my outstanding credit card balance was lower, so everything went in the right direction. You can see the details at NetworthIQ.

As for income and expenses, one thing to note was that I got a state tax refund of $926 this month. I did my taxes back in February but I guess I was one of the people caught up in New York State's cash crunch, in which many refunds were delayed. Here's the rest of the details by category:

Taxes Deducted	$2,070
Housing & Utilities	$2,049
Dining	$653
Gifts Given	$205
Misc	$182
Household	$127
Information & Entertainment	$98
Clothing	$90
Travel	$77
Gym & Fitness	$22
Medical	-$187
Total Outflows	$5,385
Salary (before taxes)	$8,017
Interest & Other Income	$282
Total Inflows	$8,299
Net	$2,913

I didn't include the tax refund there so total net was actually $3,839. I almost can't believe it's that high, but I guess I just didn't do much spending this month. Dining was pretty normal, gifts were things for my niece and nephew's birthdays and a few miscellaneous things I bought when they visited me. The miscellaneous category is a haircut, some conditioner, a notebook, and an iPhone case. Information & Entertainment includes internet access, a book, some iPhone apps, some music from iTunes, and Netflix and New York Times subscriptions. Medical is negative because an insurance reimbursement came through. Gym & Fitness was a new pair of swim goggles. Household included a new alarm clock, some batteries, drycleaning and an extra iPhone charger. (This iPhone is costing me a lot of money not only in terms of the device and the monthly fee, but also in various accessories as I try to figure out what sort of case is best, what apps I want to use, and how to keep the *&*%!^ battery charged while playing with it constantly!)

Anyway, that was my month in money, and it was a pretty good one. I don't think May's picture will be as pretty, but you never know! Onwards and upwards....

2010 Goals

Gosh, I've been bad about updating my net worth lately! I've missed doing my monthly updates for 3 months in a row. But that's not because I'm unhappy about my net worth progress-- it's actually been great.

The first quarter is always a good time for me in terms of cash flow-- I'm usually getting a bonus and tax refunds and discretionary 401k contributions from my employer. In addition to that, it's been a pretty good run for the stock market. All in all, my net worth has increased by $26,875 year to date, bringing me to $435,365. Since I'd never set a goal for my 2010 year-end net worth, I've decided to see if I can get to $450,000 by then. This may be a little conservative, but we'll see how things go and perhaps I'll increase it! On the flip side, it could end up being too aggressive. If the recent stock market rally doesn't sustain itself, and if I get pricing data that leads me to lower my home value again, that could easily wipe out some of my gains. We'll see.

Hitting a net worth number isn't my only goal for this year. I'm continuing to try to adjust how I manage my finances. I don't want to fuss around with my bills as much, so I'm trying to automate more payments and go paperless with more accounts. I don't want to get too hands-off, as I've forgotten to pay things or transfer money once or twice in the past, but hopefully between email alerts and monitoring my info via PocketMoney and Mint on my iPhone, I'll stay on top of everything, and save time on filing etc later.
My other goal is to take a good look at my overall portfolio and rebalance things. I probably have too much cash on hand right now earning hardly any interest, so I need to invest some more. I wish now that I'd done even more of that last year when the market was in the toilet! But as always I try to remember that timing the market is not as important as time IN the market.

Another goal will be to dive back into my mother's finances again. This has been such a source of anguish lately-- as I'd feared, she's going a bit crazy trying to re-do her whole house. I haven't been there since Christmas, when I left in tears after a total meltdown about her whole attitude and how irresponsible I think it is. So far, at least, I think most of what she's done has been minor cosmetic stuff like painting, but even if these jobs are only a few hundred dollars at a time, she's doing more and more of them. There have also been some "necessary" repairs like a new furnace and some plumbing, but I'm worried that she's starting to get a reputation among the local tradespeople as the crazy widow with money to burn, so who knows how much she's being talked into things that may be costing more than they'd need to. A lot of the time, I just have to back off-- I don't want to destroy my relationship with my mother and I just can't take the stress of thinking about it too much. But I also feel like I need to give her a reality check every so often before she's past the point of no return.

Whew! I didn't mean to end on such a downer. All in all, things are pretty good for me right now, and I'm just thankful for that. Onwards and upwards!

Mint Adds Manual Transactions

Mint.com has added a feature many people wanted: the ability to enter cash transactions and manually enter future transactions in other accounts. But the way it works is a little weird.

Let's look first at adding manual transactions, for instance to a checking account. This makes a lot of sense, as you really need to know what pending transactions could affect your account balance. You can enter a future check with a check number and later, when that check has actually cleared against your bank account, it will be automatically reconciled so you don't have a duplicate entry. I'm not sure how this would work with a savings account where there's no check number to help with matching the transactions.

As for cash transactions, I don't like the way they've implemented this. You can add a random transaction that isn't counted against any account if you just want to track cash expenses against a budget, but there's no way to maintain a cash account and enter expenses against it. Instead, they want you to assign your cash transactions to your recent ATM transactions, which some people were using as a workaround already. I guess they've made it a little easier to do that, but they've missed half the point of bothering to track cash in the first place. Cash is cash, and what matters is the total you have and the total you spend-- why would you need to assign it to a particular ATM transaction? And what if you receive payment in cash and then spend that money?

Another thing worth noting is that you can't yet enter new transactions from the iPhone app, which is really a necessity. Mint says they're working on adding that soon, though.

You can read more about this all works at the Mint Blog. Some of the comments bring up these exact issues so perhaps they'll listen to their users and make some changes.

But on the positive side, after using Mint for a couple of months now, I have to say that there is a lot to like about it. It's very easy to set up and I love being able to check my balances and see transactions on my iPhone. That makes it all the more frustrating that they have left a lot of good features out-- I wish I could see how the individual stocks and mutual funds in my portfolios were doing on my iPhone (showing how much they were up or down, not just the current price), rather than just a total balance. I wish the budgeting categories were a little more flexible. And the cash transaction thing is just bizarre. Let's hope they keep refining this without heading off in the wrong direction...

Emergency Clothes Shopping

Single Ma's post about wanting "hawt" spring clothes made me laugh... and reminded me that my own spring shopping, so far, hasn't been that pleasurable. I've definitely had the itch to buy some new duds, but I haven't had the time or energy to really focus on it, until I was forced to!

This is one of those nightmare scenarios, but it could have been worse: a couple of weeks ago, I was all dressed up in a suit, for a big off-site meeting where I had to help make an important presentation. We nailed the presentation, and afterwards, I stopped in the ladies' room before getting on the subway back to the office. While I was in the bathroom, I bent over to pick up something I'd dropped, and in doing so managed to slam my butt against the corner of a waste bin. For a few seconds, all I could think was "ouch!" But then my brain suddenly focused on the sound I'd heard as it happened: "rrrrrip!" My hand flew to my backside, and sure enough, I discovered a huge tear in my pants-- through the fabric, through the lining, and indeed through a bit of my own skin too!
I think my jaw literally dropped, thinking "OH SH*T! I'm in a client's office, with a giant hole in the butt of my pants-- what do I do??" Luckily, I remembered then that although my suit jacket would not cover the hole, the raincoat I had on that day would. I was incredibly glad the meeting was over and that all I had to do was put my coat on and get out of there! But I did have to go back to my office for the rest of the day-- and was I really going to be able to sneak around with my back to the wall all afternoon? I didn't think so.
My solution was to head straight for everyone's career-wear standby, good old Ann Taylor. I don't always have good luck with clothes there, but fortunately, I found a decent pair of black pants that fit pretty well and were only a teensy bit too long. Since I was wearing a black top under my suit, the black pants still made a nice outfit even though they didn't match the lighter color or pattern of the suit jacket. I bought them and wore them out of the store.
The pants, of course, weren't on sale-- that would have just been too lucky, wouldn't it? The total including tax came to about $140. Under the circumstances, it seemed a small price to pay for the convenience of immediate full butt-coverage. But I seem to remember having seen these same pants on sale a couple of months ago, in some buy-two, get x% off deal, so it was annoying to have to pay so much for them. But of course if I'd bought them months ago, I'd have had to go home and get them on the day my suit pants ripped! Which would have made the whole experience an even bigger pain in the ass...
So the real moral of this story, I guess, is that if you're an on-the-go career gal (or an on-the-go career klutz) who has to look sharp, you should always buy black tops and pants whenever they're on sale and then stash a few extras in your office! And don't bend over without checking very carefully behind you!

P.S. SingleMa, would wearing a sharp suit with a hole in the butt make me a "hawt mess?"

P.P.S. Yes, everyone, this is a true story, despite today's date!

Time Flies...

I have been insanely busy lately. Work and personal obligations seem to keep me running from one thing to the rest. When I get crazed like this, I always find myself wondering how people manage when they have kids-- as a single woman, I feel I hardly deserve to complain! But I guess life just fills up with whatever you have to fill it with-- family, a significant other, creative activities, exercise, and necessities like eating, sleeping and earning money.
For most of us, earning money is what takes up the biggest chunk of our day, and it's usually less fun than all the other stuff! So many of us find ourselves wondering about that trade-off: you have to earn money to support the other things in your life, but could there be a better balancing point between money and free time?
I knew someone who took a 20% pay cut in order to cut back to working only 4 days a week. She wanted more time to devote to writing. The writing did earn her a few dollars here and there, but nowhere near what she gave up in salary. It was hard for her to make ends meet, and she sacrificed things that other people probably wouldn't give up, but the choice was worthwhile for her.
For me, working part time isn't an option right now. I could perhaps make a case for it with my boss, and I think I'm valued enough here that they'd consider it if the alternative was me quitting. But I feel like I need every penny I'm currently earning in order to meet my long-term financial goals. I'd like to think I could use any extra "free" time to generate income in other ways, but it doesn't seem like a good gamble to me. The kind of blogging I'm willing to do is never going to turn into a big money-maker, though I'm always impressed that other finance bloggers have managed to go pro. And though I think I have a great idea for a book, which is almost entirely fleshed out in an outline, I know too much about the publishing business to think that it would be likely to make me much money, even IF I could get it published, after the even bigger IF of actually getting it all down on paper!
All this is not to say that I'll give up on these projects-- just that I need to find a way to fit them in while still working at a full-time job. And that means I have to be more efficient!

Since time is money, I'm thinking about lots of ways to waste less of it. I'm not sure how many of these things will make a meaningful difference, but maybe they'll help:

Less media-- I have to do so much reading already, blogs make it even more difficult. I've really cut back on my RSS feeds, and am more selective on what I click through to. I'm also trying to be more ruthless about magazine articles, podcasts, books, etc. If I'm not getting enough out of it, I have to just move on to something else rather than trying to finish it anyway!

More automation-- I've been putting more bills on auto-pay, and letting go of more paper statements. I've always found certain things to be easier with a piece of paper in front of me, but I'm going to try to act on email reminders, and save paper only when I think it's really necessary for tax purposes.

Multi-tasking-- Can I read while exercising? Can I work on the subway? Can I blog at my desk during lunchtime? This is a tricky one-- sometimes I think trying to do too much at once actually ends up wasting time rather than saving it. Therefore:

Concentration-- I'm trying to be less distracted at work so I can finish what I need to do and not have to stay late in the office or be catching up on emails outside the office. The only problem with this is worrying that I'll look like a slacker when I am working within an office culture where few people walk out the door at 5pm! I also need to apply this to other parts of my day: sometimes I get home from work and realize I've just waffled around for a couple of hours without accomplishing much of anything.

Time Off-- I can't just turn myself into a task-churning robot either. I need to allow myself some down time too, and fully enjoy it. Snuggle time with Sweetie shouldn't be cause for anxiety about all the other things that aren't being accomplished during those moments!

Does anyone else have any good tips to share on how to make the most of your time? Have you ever traded money for time?

A $10 Dose of Happy

At least I hope I'll get some happiness out of the $10 I just spent for a dose of Valium! Actually, I seem to have been given 5 doses, so I guess it's only $2 a dose.

Why have I suddenly turned into a pill popper? I'm getting my first crown at the dentist tomorrow, and after the last time I had a filling replaced, I decided I couldn't take it-- I've never been particularly afraid of pain, but the idea of my whole tooth being ground down is pretty disturbing. And what's worse is that my dentist has started using some weird contraption that holds your mouth open and that claustrophobic feeling of almost choking makes me panic a bit.
Part of me thinks I should just suck it up and deal with it... but another part of me is very happy to be cradled in the comforting arms of modern chemistry. Let's just hope it works.

I'm only supposed to take one of my pills before my appointment tomorrow, which leaves me thinking about the possibilities for the other 4... I may have to pop another one when I see the final bill for the crown: it's supposed to be about $2,500!

The iPhone Decision: How to Sync With Outlook and Quicken

How time flies when you suddenly get a bee in your bonnet about something! When I wrote the last post about 3 weeks ago, I was stuck in the position of tracking my finances with a Treo and Pocket Quicken and Quicken 2006 for Mac on my desktop. I was somewhat attracted to the iPhone but was daunted by the fact that there was no comparable program available to sync with Quicken, and I didn't want to pay the higher monthly charges for the required data plan. But I decided to start digging a little deeper into the possibilities of changing my set-up.

As I started my research, I read a comment somewhere in which someone mentioned using a program called Pocket Money on the iPhone, which he sync'ed with Quicken via importing and exporting QIF files. A little bell went DING DING DING in my head, and I was off and running! I suddenly lusted after the iPhone!

I know this sort of "thing lust" feeling is dangerous, and fortunately I don't have it too often. I anguish over spending more money on certain things but sometimes I realize that I can allow myself a little leeway and it won't be the end of the world. Sweetie, who is also quite frugal, was the one who pointed out that I've always been into technology and I really make use of the functions of a handheld device rather than it just being a toy, and I have a very online-intensive life that I have to manage, so why on earth wouldn't I want to upgrade to an iPhone? Of course there are lots of equally valid arguments against doing so, but the bottom line was that I decided I just wanted one! But first, I had to make sure it was really going to work for me.

The financial apps weren't the only issue-- when I started researching the iPhone I realized that a lot of things weren't going to be quite as simple as they were with the many Palm OS devices I've had over the years. I'm pretty locked in to Outlook at work for my calendar, contacts, tasks and notes, business and personal stuff combined, all of which sync'ed to my Treo at the click of a button. But iPhones and iTunes aren't supported at work, and the iPhone doesn't even have a built-in Task app, so I'd have to find a work-around that still allowed me to manage everything from within Outlook. Here's what I came up with:

• Outlook Calendar syncs with Google Calendar (via Google Calendar Sync, free), which syncs with iPhone
  
• Outlook Contacts sync with GMail contacts (via gSyncIt, $14.99), which sync to iPhone
• Outlook Tasks sync to Toodledo website (free) (via Toodledo Sync, free but donation appreciated), which syncs to iPhone Toodledo app ($1.99)
  
• Outlook Notes sync to Toodledo website (via Toodledo Sync), which syncs to iPhone Appigo Notebook app ($4.99). I'm also sync'ing the Outlook Notes to Google Docs via gSyncIt, and Google Docs can be viewed (but not edited) via the Safari browser in iPhone.

For email, I realized I needed to streamline a bunch of accounts I've been using-- an AOL address I've had forever, a GMail address, a Yahoo address, a custom domain address-- The iPhone can easily get mail from all these services, but I funneled everything into GMail, where I can answer them from the original address if I want to. By having my calendar and notes on Google too, I've managed to centralize and cloud-ize a lot of stuff, which is so much more efficient. I do have some worries about giving Google so much of my info, but I'm not sure it's any worse than having so much personal stuff residing on my work computer! (And it's worth noting that I don't store any sensitive info such as passwords in these places.)

Back to financial apps: I set myself up on Mint.com, which has an iPhone app (both are free). Mint makes it very easy to add all your accounts and see your net worth. You can't track cash or add transactions manually, and you can't see pending transactions, but you can categorize transactions on the website. It will be a nuisance to recategorize transactions on Mint, but once I do, it will do an okay job of giving me a snapshot of my finances.

I also tried to set up an account with Wesabe (free), which I'd heard allows you to track cash spending and also offers an iPhone app, but Wesabe's way of pulling in your bank account data is a drag-- it made me download a Firefox extension with which I'd then have to record a macro for downloading a statement from each of my accounts, i.e. once for E*Trade Savings, then again for E*Trade Money Market, then again for E*Trade Checking, etc.. This was so cumbersome right off the bat that I just gave up. Other sites have managed to make this process so much easier for years now, I don't see why Wesabe can't get to that standard.

As for the Pocket Money app mentioned above, it's an iPhone standalone that costs $9.99. It does pretty much everything Pocket Quicken does, and more, including some cool animated pie charts. The only thing that doesn't work as well is the syncing: instead of an automatic 2-way sync built into Palm's Hotsync feature, here's how it works: from Quicken, you export all your data as a QIF file. Then using a program called SyncDocs (free), you import that into Pocket Money via WiFi. It will bring in all your accounts, categories, transactions and budgets, but investment accounts seem to show up with zero balance and no transactions. You can then add new transactions in Pocket Money, and export them as a QIF, filtering for recent changes. You then use SyncDocs again to get that to your desktop, and import that QIF from within Quicken. Some account types don't support QIF imports, but for me, I mainly want to import cash and savings/checking transactions, so it works. After the desktop version is updated, you export from the desktop again and import it back to the iPhone, telling it to "restore from desktop" so everything is overwritten. It's not the most streamlined solution compared to Pocket Quicken, but for now it seems to be the best option for my needs.

The only other thing I really had to have was a French dictionary, and there were a few iPhone apps to choose from, so that was painless.

With all of that resolved, I bought the iPhone and said goodbye to PalmOS after about 12 happy years (and $5,000+ spent!) (As an aside here, I have to say it's amazing to me how much Palm as a company has totally BOOTED IT-- they had a really great product that still does a lot of things better than anyone else does, but they just let Blackberry and Apple kill them when it came to the email and phone and multimedia functions that users really wanted. It's a really sad case study in corporate failure.)

I went with the 32GB iPhone 3Gs for $299, plus a case for about $30. I got the cheapest AT&T plan, which will cost me about $70 a month before taxes. I'm on a 2-year contract, after not having been on any cellphone contract since 2001. This was definitely not my most frugal moment, and I suppose in a few months the price will drop when they come out with a new, fabulous iPhone 4 and I'll be really annoyed.

But I LOVE my iPhone. It's fun and it makes a lot of things so easy, and I haven't had any of the problems with AT&T that some people complain about. I love it that there are so many apps available, and many of them are free or very inexpensive. The only one I've spent real money on was the $24.99 Collins French dictionary, which is totally worth it. The second most expensive app I bought was Pocket Money. My main issue with the iPhone is that I had a much better calendar on my Treo using DateBk6, and in general the iPhone OS requires more tapping around than PalmOS did. But despite a few minor gripes, I think it's a great product and I've already had many "WOW!" moments where it helped me easily answer a question or communicate more efficiently. In terms of value, it's a win.

I'll continue to look into financial apps for the iPhone and report back on them here, but would love to hear suggestions from others on how the iPhone can help you reach your financial goals.