Frugal Friday

Well, I am done with my paid work for today and can finally do some bloggin'!

This has been a good week: my paycheck was slightly early, the busiest time of the month is behind me, and I can begin setting priorities (both work and personal) for October.

The highest personal priority for me this month is to practice frugality on a higher level. I'm taking it up a notch, folks!

One of the ways I can be more frugal is to make use of things I have on hand when planning meals this week. I just checked the freezer and found an unopened bag of frozen chicken breasts. In the pantry, I have some canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, and in the refrigerator I have some white wine and grated parmesan cheese.

This means all I have to buy are some onions and a box of whole wheat spaghetti and I'll be ready to fire up the crock pot and make Chicken Cacciatore for our weekend dinners. Yippee! We'll have leftovers for the week, too, and all for the price of some onions and spaghetti.

Any money I save this month on groceries will be put towards paying down debts. This is another step I'm taking to improve my finances and help fund my escape from the paycheck economy. What are some of your steps?

It's Friday, and you know what that means--I get to celebrate!!! I've got a bag of microwave popcorn with my name on it and a book I bought with a gift certificate back in May and I plan to thoroughly enjoy kicking back and reading for the remainder of the afternoon!

Happy Friday, paycheckers!

Thankful Thursday

Thursday often reminds me of what I am thankful for, especially in the fall. I think that's because Thanksgiving is in the fall and it is always on Thursday. At any rate, here are some of the things I am thankful for today:

• Family and friends, of course!
  
• Being born in what is still (arguably) the best country on the face of the earth.
  
• Interesting work to do and wonderful people to do it with.
  
• Credit that is available to me in case of emergencies.
  
• My beautiful dog, Tiny Chalupa, "The Best Little Dog in the Whole Wide World."
  

There are many more things for which I am thankful, but those are the things that came to mind right now. What are you thankful for? Let me know.

Happy Thursday, Paycheckers. The picture of Tiny Chalupa is to brighten up your day!

My Opinion re: Outsourcing Labor Costs

Any questions???

Life on the Hamster Wheel

As you can see, I have not posted since Sunday. This week has been one endless loop on the Hamster Wheel--extremely hectic at work and problems with low-life neighbors and incompetent apartment management company at home, among other things.

On the plus side, there were no unanticipated budget breaker expenses this week.

On the minus side, groceries and gas keep getting more and more expensive. I am a consultant, and since there was a holiday at the beginning of the month, I won't make as much this month as I had hoped. Oh well, I sure did enjoy the holiday, so that is some consolation.

Since it is finally Friday, I am going to have myself a frosty glass of beer to celebrate, and kick back and watch TV. Not for too long, though--the Hamster wheel keeps turning!

Happy Friday, paycheckers!

Schadenfreude Saturday

Housing Woes Go South!

I’m sorry, but it does my heart good to read an article in the online L.A. Times today entitled “U.S. housing woes go south -- to Baja.”

The sub-heading says it all: “'Flippers' from California who invested in the construction boom on the northern Mexican coast are now finding it difficult to unload their condos.”

Some snippets as reported by Marla Dickerson:

“Ground zero was this mid-sized community about 20 miles south of Tijuana, where developers sold hundreds of condominiums on spec. Most jacked up their prices as their projects filled, fueling a sense of urgency among U.S. buyers to get in while the getting was good.”

“Greed has turned to regret for some investors who now can't sell their Mexican properties.”

“Flippers who can't find buyers will have to come up with the cash to honor their contracts, or secure Mexican mortgage financing at rates as high as 12%.”

”Those that can't close the deals risk forfeiting their down payment, often 30% of the purchase price.”

Wow, that just made my day. Hope it makes your day, too. Karma, anyone?

Happy Saturday!

Sub-Prime

This month I’ve been making an effort to improve my financial position. I am determined to pay off my credit cards and loans and increase my savings. (Actually, to save anything would be an increase.) I recently made a list of all the bills and am now keeping track of everything I spend. This is step one (of many).

On another note, I’ve been reading about how our politicians want to help the people who are losing their houses because they cannot afford the payments on their sub-prime liar loans. Funny, the politicians refused to help people who lost jobs a few years ago when companies started offshoring their work. I guess if you are irresponsible, then you should get help from your fellow taxpayers, otherwise, you are on your own. This is another wonderful feature of the Paycheck economy, brought to you by our master manipulators.

I wonder if the mortgage help is for the benefit of the home owners or the bankers. Hmmmmmm….

Happy Thursday, paycheckers!

What's Your Excuse?

You are probably wondering how I ended up stuck in the paycheck economy, with no end in sight. Well, here are my (lame) excuses/reasons:

1) Selected bad mates
2) Became a single parent due to widowhood
3) Stayed too long at a job because it was close to home near children
4) Developed debilitating levels of fatigue due to arthritis and diabetes
5) Spent small inheritances by taking time off from work to get some rest
6) Was unable to find new job for almost 2 years after a layoff
7) Ran through savings while out of work
8) Too tired to work at two jobs for long enough to get clear of debt

I may have missed some....now, if you care to share, what are yours?

Tomorrow, will discuss plans for the future. Have a great day!

Back to Work

Well, the Labor Day holiday is over and it is back to work for most of us. Hope everyone had a great weekend. At my house, we had one of our "kitchen" barbeques, where we grill hot dogs on a stove top grill (hey, it was about 112 degrees outside). I made Sabrett-style onions for the hot dogs, corn on the cob, chili beans, and potato salad and we chowed down!

Over dinner, my daughter and I discussed (of course) the state of the economy. She told me of reading in the newspaper about banks with large inventories of foreclosed homes who would rather let these houses sit empty than reduce the prices. What we have noticed of late is this: many organizations seem to think that the "market price" of something is the price they wish to get for that something when they sell it. If they are unable to get their desired price, they refuse to take what they consider "below market price." Consequently, they are stuck with lots of unsold houses and unrented apartments, and they wonder why. Hey banks and landlords--here's a clue: the market price is what people are actually willing to pay for the thing being sold, not what you wish they would pay.

As usual, we could only shake our heads and wonder about how divorced from the constraints of reality some of these entities are. Then we continued to snarf our "kitchen" barbeque.

Now get back to work!!!!! LOL

My Stress Reliever

In the Paycheck Economy, we are subject to numerous forces beyond our control. We plan for emergencies, we put away money for a rainy day, we borrow if need be, but all the plans can go astray if those who are controlling our economy decide to make unanticipated (by us) changes to the way certain portions of the economy are functioning, usually at the behest of some of their cronies.

Happenings beyond my control have, in the past, caused me great stress, but I have learned and continue to learn how to cope with stress. One way, which I present to you at left, is by making collages out of bits of materials that I recycle from junk mail, newspapers, magazines, etc. These are a labor of love, and I will display more of them as time goes on. Have a happy and safe Labor Day.

I Finally Did It!

I've been wanting to start a blog for the longest time, and here it is! I will be writing about what life is like for those of us surviving in the "paycheck" economy, where although many of us make a decent amount of money, there is little left at the end of the pay period. In some ways this is a blessing--there is not much to lose if and when (probably when) the macro economy goes south, but for the most part, we struggle, taking one step forward and two steps backward each year, never seeming to get ahead. At any rate, life in this portion of the economy is always challenging and rarely boring. Let's examine how we all got here and how we can improve our financial situations.