Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog

Having a nice relaxing day at home, balancing the books and drinking coffee. A payment went to the UK credit card: US$80 to principal. $1572 down, $964 to go on the December goal.

I was going to go mail my payment to my dad today, but I don't have anything else to do until later, so I'm just going to mail it Monday. That way it'll still count for December and I'll reach my goal.

My parents sent boxes of gifts and were way generous as usual, so I guess the recession isn't hurting them too bad. I realized that they probably sent the three of us enough in Xmas gifts, gift cards and money to about cancel out the check I'm sending to them. Oh well. I didn't get them Xmas gifts, just sent a card, but NT decided that with part of his bonus we should get flowers or something else nice for each of our families, so I ordered a really nifty birdseed wreath to be delivered on New Year's Eve. They have several birdbaths and bird feeders, so hopefully they'll like it. My dad's diabetic and not really into flowers, so it was the one thing that grabbed me on the FTD site.

Hope everyone's week has been great so far! We went to our friends' place for Christmas Eve, and a few other people came over as well. We fixed Japanese and traditional holiday treats and drank sake, and our friend read aloud a David Sedaris essay about Xmas in Norway.

Xmas day was really mellow, just lots of opening presents and then playing around with said presents. We'd picked up a vegan roast from Whole foods and made some mashed potatoes, stuffing and vegan green-bean casserole to go with it.

I have today off, and AS doesn't have a job anymore, so we're both home. Ironically, NT, the lone person used to getting Boxing Day off, has to work, but with any luck he'll get out early. This afternoon/evening we're going out for drinks with some friends, so I don't know if we'll cook the dinner we planned or end up getting some carryout food somewhere. We've got plenty of spending money right now, so it's an option.

Oh, and we booked our Vegas trip (flight and hotel) for March! Woo hoo! With those parts out of the way, we can plan the rest of the trip at our leisure over the next few months.

Assets:
NT's UK pensions: 7,250 pounds ($14,500)
10,725 pounds ($21,450)
NT's 401(k): $2,898
AS's 403(b): $3,010
AS's CD: $500
CJ's 401(k): $20,212
NT's flat: 130,000 pounds ($260,000)
CJ & AS's condo: $170,000
---
Total Assets: $492,570

Total Debt: $411,044

Current Estimated Net Worth: $81,526

November 2008 estimate: $78,119

Change in net worth: +$3,407

Summary: We paid off at least $1,500 in debt; AS and I showed small gains in our retirement accounts; AS has a new CD in her name; and NT's bonus included 401(k) contribution (with matching!), so his account's value went up nearly $1,000.

I will update my "Individual Net Worth" page shortly so you can see how it breaks out.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are conservative, and retirement totals don't include amounts currently unvested. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update. UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $2 for every British pound, which was the exchange rate when I started keeping track. I maintain that ratio for the purpose of tracking progress, even though the exchange rate is now closer to $1.50 per British pound.

NT got some more money recently (he's my golden goose!), from England this time. US$40 from his aunt and uncle, and an FYI from his mom that his gran had deposited 750 pounds in his UK bank account. We are doing great over there--we have enough in the checking account to cover 4 months of UK bills. This extra money will take care of the 999-year land lease we have to buy next year, as well as those months when management fees get taken out of his rental income. That means we won't have to send a penny over for the forseeable future. (Remember when I had to send thousands over, at $50 a pop?)

We are telling gran her gift is going into the baby fund, because essentially it is--now we know that every extra cent we make here in the U.S. can go toward baby. I always had it in the back of my mind that I was going to have to deal with that lease, but now I know I won't!

OK, I've put this off long enough. I've decided that I can't see far enough into the future to see what I'll be capable of in the upcoming year, but I know what areas of my life need goals. My monthly debt repayment goals have really helped me focus on something that needs ongoing commitment, so I'm going to try that with other self-improvement projects that also need constant focus to keep going strong.

So for each of the following areas, I'm going to post a goal at the beginning of each month and a result at the end. It might be something small or large depending on the circumstances of that particular month.

1. Continue to pay off at least the required minimum amount of debt.

2. Start saving money in a baby/emergency/eventual-debt-repay fund.

3. Pay attention to health and fitness.

4. Become more green and reduce my footprint.

5. Be more craftsy or creative: Learn new skills or start and complete new projects using existing talents.

6. Be more philanthropic; try to do things for the good of others.

Christmas came early this year for us! Well, a few days early anyway.

First, AS applied for unemployment, and they gave her an estimate for her weekly payment. It's about $75 more per week than I thought! Then I realized that I was calculating based on her net income, which usually has retirement, health insurance and bus pass taken out. So we're looking at nearly $300 per month more than expected. That's really great! I'm hoping I also overestimated the dent my new, more expensive healthcare will put in my own paycheck, but I won't find that out till Jan. 15. That's OK, $300 is quite enough to play with! $120 will go toward AS's third student loan, but that doesn't start till March. Looks like the baby fund will be getting a little infusion of cash, and I think I'll set aside some for AS's retirement too, so she's not missing out on contributing just because she's unemployed.

Also, NT's bonus came in. Now, my company gave us a $100 gift card, and I was happy to get it considering the state of the economy. We knew NT's company did quite a bit better and that he'd be getting about $4,000, or maybe $2700 after taxes. Well, it turns out they decided to give him $6000, so we cleared $3957 after taxes!

I'm garnishing $2300 of that to make sure our Vegas trip is fully funded, but I'm not going to fight NT for the remaining $1657. He's been looking so forward to this bonus, and he's worked damn hard this year: 40+ hours at work plus 4 nights of classes + homework. And he still does some of the chores, despite my best efforts to stop him. Anyway, I have a feeling some of that money's gonna benefit me one way or another, knowing his generosity. So I'm quite happy for it all to be mad money. With AS's unemployment being so much, my budget has plenty for me to use for more-practical purposes.

AS and I are racing to get her health insurance settled before Jan. 1, because her work insurance only lasts through the end of December. If we don't get there, we'll either try and get COBRA set up for a month, or I'll strap pillows on all her limbs and make her sit perfectly still until we get her covered again.

So I started this journey in July 2007 with $457,714 [EDIT $459,388; my initial tally back in '07 must have been a little off, because I've been scrupulous about tracking debt paid and debt remaining, and those add up to this amount] in current and anticipated debt. And I've paid off $48,344 since then. I've been keeping an eye on the total amount so I could celebrate passing the $50,000 mark, but I just realized another milestone that I actually passed in November and didn't even notice: we've paid off more than 10% of our entire debt!

Could I really have missed that? I looked through my November entries and don't see mention of it, so I guess it escaped my notice.

Someone (creditcardfree, maybe?) posted recently about how it's important to note these little steps. And since our debt repayment is going to go way slower for an indefinite time period, I'll celebrate anything that helps me keep my enthusiasm up.

Personal loan payment hit, with $523 going to principal. That's $1,492 down, $1,044 to go on my December goal. I will mail my dad's check out after Christmas (per his request, to avoid mail rush) and then I have a student loan payment for AS and a credit card payment for NT near the end of the month, so I should surpass easily. Yay! Since I've decided to continue my challenges right to the end of the month, even if I hit my goal before then, I won't post my final results till New Year's Eve.

Still considering what I want to do for my New Year's resolutions. Since monthly debt payoff challenges have worked so well to keep me focused in that area, I'm thinking about creating monthly fitness and environmental challenges as well. I might make that my resolution, rather than specific measurements, since it's really an unpredictable year I'm facing (exciting, but not good for making specific resolutions ). But, I've still got a little time to think it over.

AS just asked me an interesting question. She wondered how optimistic (or despairing) frugal people are about the future (economic and quality-of-life-wise and existence-of-country-wise) of the U.S.

I told her personally I was 95% confident that the U.S. would continue in some form or another, that our self-interest as a country would save us, but that I wasn't confident our home or retirement investments would end up being worth anything, and that we might not be retiring, like, ever. But I don't think we'll be foraging for food in the city park, or be wiped out by mass starvation and hunger.

Without straying into partisan tirades on either side, what do you think are the best- and worst-case outcomes of our current financial distress?

OK, it's 2 a.m. here and I should be asleep. It's rare I stay up past midnight, but AS and I were completing some craft projects as gifts for NT's family. She made bath "tea bags," taco seasoning blend, lemon and orange flavored sugar, some sugar and salt bath scrubs, and monogrammed hankies for NT's dad. I made candied ginger, some ginger-scented sugar with the remainder in the pan, and the labels and instructions for all the containers. Now I'm trying to relax so I can get sleepy. I'm going to be dead tomorrow! I hope it's an easy day at work.

Anyway, I checked AS's student loan account, and the payment finally hit. $55 went to principal, so that's $969 down, $1567 to go in my December goal. I've realized I can't pay my dad $1000 until the 15th, and that's about when a couple other payments hit, so I probably won't see any movement on my goal till then.

So I've recently decided to stop focusing on extra debt repay in the new year and try to save up emergency fund/baby fund money instead.

Question for those of you who already have emergency funds: How do you calculate a month's expenses? I went through much more of a thought process than I expected to when setting up my amount:

- I figured I could drop my cable and Internet with no penalty, but it would cost so much to cancel our three cell phones that it would be less financial stress to keep them going in an emergency, and I'm already at the cheapest family plan I could find.

- I dropped all fun money categories except $20 per week per person, knowing that in extreme privation we could of course drop that too.

- I was going to slash our rather extravagant household/grocery expense category a lot, but then I figured there was a chance I'd be expecting or have a child, so I couldn't have too little in that category. I took it down from $900 to $600.

- Two of the student loans are government issued, and I know from experience that you can get those deferred fairly easily in times of financial woe, so I cut those out of the emergency expenses.

- Our condo costs nearly $2000 per month between mortgage and association dues (which include utilities), and I know I could rent an adequate place in our neighborhood for half that. However, the financial ruin it would cause to walk away from the place or try to sell it in a way-down market makes me think I should factor in those costs and try to keep the place in an emergency. For this same reason I decided I would keep homeowner's insurance if possible.

- One of our bus passes is free due to work and school, and two of them we get at a reduced rate. But assuming a true emergency would mean none of us could work (and we'd want to drop school so as not to incur further debt), I had to add $85 per person to the budget for monthly bus passes, so we could all get around during our imagined emergency.

- I was going to cut out barber completely, until I realized that we would be looking for work and need to look at least passable. So I thought maybe one of us could skip the barber each month, and I allocated $40 instead of $60 per month.

- If none of us could work, we'd need to purchase health insurance. I decided to allocate $1200 for that, because AS applied for health insurance recently and it will cost $400 per month to pay the $100 fee and save up enough money to cover the annual deductible. Of course best-case scenario we wouldn't go through the entire deductible, but this year has taught me you can't assume that just because you think you're healthy.

So all told, a month of emergency expenses would be $5,451.43. Yikes, it will take a while just to save one month's worth. I could probably get it down more if NT and I could find health insurance together and if I spent less on grocery/household expenses. But that is my best estimate. Here's the breakdown if anyone is interested in the details, and feel free to give your opinion (I'm new to figuring this sort of thing out):

Monthly expenses need for emergency fund (estimated)
Set aside for Nationwide annual bill ($240 on Feb. 26) -$20.00
Bus passes (3 @ $85) -$255.00
Cell phones -$83.00
Personal loan -$622.67
Spending money -$65.00
16th-31st groceries/household -$300.00
Spending money -$65.00
Barber -$40.00
Health care -$1,200.00
Mortgage -$1,436.03
1st-15th groceries/household -$300.00
Spending money -$65.00
AS student loan #1 -$64.08
Credit card -$275.00
Condo association -$548.64
Spending money -$65.00
NT student loan -$47.01
TOTAL -$5,451.43

EDIT: I'm still considering what my goals should be, but one thing I did accomplish was cut spending money and reduce grocery money in my emergency budget, so I've got it down to $4,991.43.

The last few days I've been spending money by the boatload! It's all planned, allocated spending and/or use of my own spending money, but it's kind of amazing how much I've gone through.

I spent over $300 on Xmas gifts for AS and NT, mostly online.

I bought about $150 worth of books for NT's next semester (saving over $100 off full-price books, woo hoo!).

Our grocery shopping, which usually runs about $125 for the main Saturday trip, was up closer to $200. But we were gathering supplies for a bunch of homemade gifts for family and friends, so really a cheap price considering how many people we'll be able to make gifts for with it.

And I bought $25 shoes and $10 double-sided clothing tape for NT's holiday party. AS made me a gorgeous strapless dress, and I wanted to make sure it had some help staying up!




So a very "spendy" week, but nothing I didn't have money for, so I guess I feel pretty good about it! Plus, it's going to be exciting when all the packages from my online ordering start rolling in.

Oh, and a follow-up to the last entry about where to put my extra debt repayment money: NT and AS agreed it would be a good gesture to give it to my dad. Then I'll have paid half what I owed him, and he'll know I'm good for the rest eventually. Besides, my dad is 76 years old, and his retirement funds are probably tanking like everyone else's, so maybe it will even be a welcome infusion of cash for him (even though I'm pretty sure my dad's doing well--he's a smart, frugal guy). And at most, it only delays repayment of my 8.9% loan by two months, so it's not affecting our progress that much.

So I'll get his bank info and make the transfer on Monday. Yay!

I owe my dad $7,000. He loaned me $12,000 back in 2003 for a down payment on my condo. I paid him back $5,000 over the first two years, but more recently I've chosen to put extra money toward debt that charges interest and has a regular payment. So it's been about three years since I made a payment.

My most recent plan was to pay off my final higher-interest (8.99%) debt and then focus all my energies on paying my dad off. He's never asked for a payment or displayed any need or urgency, but I feel compelled to make good on this as soon as I can.

My 8.99% loan is now at $14,000. It looks like, with AS's layoff, general economic instability and baby plans in the future, I won't be able to pay extra on it much longer. If I pay the minimum on the debt, I'll pay it off in 28 months. That's over two years before I'd start paying my dad...

I was going to pay an extra $1,000 to my 8.99% debt this month, and then stop paying extra until things have stabilized. But I am starting to think I should give that $1,000 to my dad. I won't be able to pay him the remaining amount anytime soon unless I take out another debt to do so; this may be my last chance to give him any part of it for awhile. It doesn't make financial sense, but does it make enough emotional sense that I should do it?

U.S. mortgage: $271 toward principal
And my credit card: $228 to principal

$914 down, $1,622 to go on my December goal.

And $38,859 in official CC/personal debt left to go.

BTW, I got an e-mail from the above credit card, reducing my credit limit to just above what I owe on it. Then I saw in the news that more and more credit companies were rescinding credit. Funny! There was a time where if I paid down my credit cards on time or ahead of time, they would keep bumping the credit amount higher and higher. Honestly, I like it better this way.

The UK mortgage payments hit today:
$166, $36 and $37 went to principal, for a total of $239.

$415 down, $2121 to go in my December goal.

When I went to the UK account online to verify the mortgage payments, there were e-mail notifications about interest rate changes. (NT's rates can change at any time.) I'd actually missed notification from about a month ago saying the rates had gone down to 5.49%. That would have been exciting on its own. These newer notifications let me know that the rates have gone down to 3.99%! That's just amazing; the payments are significantly smaller this month, meaning more money saved for other UK rental expenses. I don't know how long it will last, but even for a little while it's going to be very helpful.

My U.S. mortgage payment has not hit, weirdly enough, but it says it's processing, so I'll check again tomorrow. When I checked my account online, I noticed something truly bizarre. Our interest rate was listed as 5.75%, but I swear it adjusted up to 5.99% from 5.0% in November, and was not going to adjust again until November '09. I didn't see any notices about it either in e-mail or regular mail. I'll have to call them when I get a chance and see what's going on. I hope it's for real!

First off, happy Thanksgiving everyone! AS is cooking cakes and pies right now, and our house smells heavenly. I'm doing a stuffing, gravy and Waldorf salad, so that can all be done tomorrow. NT is handling three dishes, and our friends NJ & CC are doing five dishes together. Two other friends are coming over and will supply the wine and possibly some snacks. Most of our dishes are vegan even though I'm the only one in the party; I feel so loved! It's gonna be fun! We also have a lazy social day on Friday, with friends coming over when they feel like it, to do puzzles or watch movies and eat. Saturday we try to shake off our lethargy and go out to a couple bars in downtown Minneapolis; we'll see how that goes! Either way, we're going to take it easy and go to brunch on Sunday; I have plenty of spending money set aside for all this going out.

Anyway, thought I should post some payments since I won't be thinking about it for the next few days. NT's UK credit card payment hit with about US$76 going to principal, and AS's student loan #2 got $100 toward principal.

So that's $176 down, $2,360 to go on my December goal. And the credit card debt is down to $39,087.

I don't know when I'll be ready to post my 2009 resolutions--right now the new year seems so far away! But I think it's safe to see how I did, or am doing, on last year's resolutions.

So here they are:
1. Become personal-debt-free within two years. That's right, by Dec. 31, 2009, I want to see my nearly $70,000 of credit card and personal debt go pffft!

STATUS:
A partial success. I project that I'll be at about $38,000 by the end of 2008, by paying off $28,000 and using about $4,000 of returned student-loan money to reduce my higher interest personal loan. So not quite halfway there, and with layoff and baby plans in the future, not sure that I will get there by the end of 2009 as originally planned. Still, I made quite a dent, and I reckon at a minimum I'll pay off another $10K next year. Hopefully I can do better than that.

2. Look seriously at what it takes, character-wise and money-wise, to become a mom. I am 33 and almost (not quite) to a place where I want to have kids more than anything. This is a very new feeling for me, so I want to go slow, do lots of research, talk to some moms, talk to my doctor, and by, say, mid-2009, know whether this is the way I for sure want to go, and (if so) when.

STATUS:
On track! We've been discussing on and off all year in my household, and we know this is the way we want to go. I talked to my doctor and got the green light to start trying, so now I'm going to start researching the financial implications to determine when we'd be ready (enough) to begin. We're thinking we'll start trying early next year.

3. Continue to work out almost 5 times a week.

STATUS:
Strong start to the year, but fizzled out in August. Mainly because of despondency over various health issues; probably due to eliminating the exercise-incentive money from our budget; but also because my workout buddy, NT, is working full-time AND taking a nearly full course load at college, so it's been hard motivating myself. Hope to have him back over the winter break from school, and maybe that will get me somewhat back in track. I'm going to set myself a fitness challenge for December, but I haven't decided what yet.

4. Grow my second balcony garden, and try for bell peppers this time!

STATUS:
Partial success. None of my pepper plants made it this year, the cilantro was a no-go, and one of our tomato plants had a defect where the fruit rotted as it grew. But we got some small tomatoes from some other plants, a nice crop of baby lettuce and arugula, and a really strong basil plant that yielded several crops.

5. Complete my debt-repayment "Ad Hoc goal" by 3/31/08 (see sidebar for info).

STATUS:
Complete success! The goal was to pay off enough extra debt to more than fund our England trip, and we surpassed it. In fact, the trip was completely paid-for before we went, and we even stayed under budget in our spending while there.

So that's pretty heartening; I at least made some headway on each of my goals. Makes me even more determined to post some ambitious goals for 2009!

I finally had my annual exam yesterday, which I've been trying to get done for awhile now but kept having to reschedule due to various issues.

The reason I was so anxious to see my doctor this year was to discuss what I'd felt was a bad health year, and to see what she thought about my trying to get pregnant soon.

I rattled off my various health woes of 2008 (chronic heartburn, infected gums, dental surgery, three UTIs in four months). She basically said she understood how it could feel like a big deal coming all in one year like that, but that overall I was really healthy and shouldn't worry about a series of fluky mishaps. She recommended preventive heartburn medication rather than Tums, and told me that UTIs can sometimes happen in clusters because the body's defenses are weakened by the first one, causing a chain reaction. She said we wouldn't worry about it unless I had more in quick succession.

Then I asked about pregnancy; how did she feel about my being 34 or 35 when I got pregnant for the first time? Would the surgery scar running the length of my belly affect anything? What would I do if I got UTIs while pregnant? Should I stop drinking completely when I started trying? She wasn't concerned about my age or my scar, which she said might get sore but would stretch. And she advised me to be very moderate with my drinking, but told me what time periods I might want to cut it out completely. And she said antibiotics for UTIs were fine during pregnancy if needed.

I got some other pieces of good news too: My doctor said she was no longer worried about my bone density because since my last visit, she'd learned that women who lose bone density while on Depo tend to bounce back quickly once they're off it. So other than taking calcium supplements, I no longer have to worry about my bones, basically until menopause! No more expensive tests. Also, the cysts in my breast had not returned since I got them drained out in January, so no worries there.

I felt such a sense of relief! And earlier that day I'd finally turned in a story I was trying to write at work, and the person I was writing it for said it was perfect, and she didn't mind it was a little late. The two burdens off my mind made me positively giddy yesterday. Today I got confirmation that my office is closed Wednesday before Thanksgiving, making me realize the holidays are upon us. I'm glad I get to go into them feeling youthful and healthy once again!

Assets:
NT's UK pensions: 7,250 pounds ($14,500)
10,725 pounds ($21,450)
NT's 401(k): $2,296
AS's 403(b): $2,795
CJ's 401(k): $19,614
NT's flat: 130,000 pounds ($260,000)
CJ & AS's condo: $170,000
---
Total Assets: $490,655

Total Debt: $412,536

Current Estimated Net Worth: $78,119

October 2008 estimate: $75,944

Change in net worth: +$2,175

Summary: We paid off more than $3,000 in debt, but my 401(k) tanked more than $1,000. However, AS and NT both showed small gains in their retirement accounts, so we had a good month overall. (I bet our U.S. condo value dipped even more, but I'll wait till I have proof of that.)

I will update my "Individual Net Worth" page shortly so you can see how it breaks out. (Hint: NT's nice net worth is still weighed down by AS's and my negative net worth.)

Note on the numbers above: House value estimates are conservative, and retirement totals don't include amounts currently unvested. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update.

I've been keeping an eye on my Total Visits stat on the blog for the past couple days, and it just went to 100,003! How cool is that--it boggles the mind that I have so many people interested in my plight and cheering me on.

Thank you to everyone who reads and comments on my blog. It would be very hard to sustain the momentum, with SO much debt to get rid of, if I didn't feel like I had a support network (and friends that I was accountable to).

I love the feeling that we're all in this together, no matter what level we're at. And I benefit so much from all the wisdom and encouragement in members' comments. You're all amazing!

OK, I have my regular debt-repayment goal as well as a couple others.

My December debt reduction goal is to pay off $2,536. Why this odd number? Well, I figured out that I could probably pay off close to $2,500 by Dec. 31. Then I noticed that I was getting close to $410,000 total debt, and thought I should go for that. I was torn between that and going for $409,999, but I like the zeroes. Plus, if all goes well, I will tip the odometer down below $410K.

I also have a December eco-friendly goal, which I've already been practicing for this month: to not take a single disposable bag from a retailer of any kind. I'm considering even washing and reusing the clear plastic bags that produce goes in. Generally I don't use those bags, but for some things (lettuce, snow peas) it's unavoidable.

We already do pretty well with our regular weekend grocery trip; we have a backpack and two cloth grocery bags that we take with us. It's the little purchases that kill me; getting a few things at Target, or buying a CD or a shirt or a couple snacks somewhere. To try and avoid using bags in those cases, I've smoothed out, and folded very tiny and flat, two Target plastic bags for my purse and one for the inside pocket of my coat. I've been doing pretty well at practice; if I forget initially, I will go back to the counter, take my stuff out of the bag they just gave me, and give it back to them. Hopefully they reuse it. Today I didn't notice that the clerk put a second bag around the one I gave him to bag with at Target; I had more bags and could have used one of those for double bagging. But, I'll learn.

I also want to have an exercise challenge, but I haven't quite clarified it. I think I'm going to wait till after Thanksgiving to decide what that will be. I haven't exercised, really, since late July or early August. Amazingly, I took another 2 lbs. off since my raw foods cleanse, but not by doing anything right. Probably just by being ill a couple times, and by losing muscle mass. Not good. So I want to do something in December to get moving again at least a little bit.

My big payment finally hit! $2,183 went to principal on my personal loan, so I hit my November goal and then some.

I wanted to pay off $1,400 this month. Instead, I paid off $3,147! Yay!!!

Time to update my sidebar and come up with a new goal for December. Incidentally, this brought my official CC debt total below $40,000, though technically I didn't pay all that off; I used student loan money to pay about $4,000, so I will still have to pay that off the student loans before I feel CC debt free. Still, nice to see that total get into the 30Ks!

This week has flown past, thanks to another icky bout of illness no cranberry juice could conquer. I took two days off work and am now on antibiotics. Feeling better for the most part.

AS finally got her layoff notice! You know, the real one, not all the vague references to it. She has to work till Dec. 14 to qualify for unemployment. So she's going to try and go to work as little as possible while still getting done the few tasks that come her way. The best part is, I know when we can apply for unemployment (Dec. 28, or I guess Monday the 29th), I know when her last regular paycheck will be (Dec. 31), I know when her bus pass stops working (Dec. 14), I know when her health care ends (Dec. 31). Now we can start taking concrete steps in all these areas, thank goodness.

The holidays are upon us! We've gotten about five invitations in the last couple days. It's so great, but overwhelming. So we're going to try and start a shared Google calendar, since Google docs have worked so well for us. That way we won't forget any of the parties. Tonight is a happy hour with NT's office (they pay for the drinks!) and possibly going to see Quantum of Solace afterward. (I was never a fan of Bond films until Casino Royale; now I'm hooked!)

I decided to sign up for my company's health plan and try a Health Savings Account. I'm putting the full $3,000 in, since you don't lose any if you don't use it all, and if 2009 is anything like 2008 I'll go through it all anyway. My paychecks are going to be about $30 more than NT's, and he makes almost $8,000 less than me! It's not just health care of course; I contribute 6% vs. 3% to 401(k), and my bus pass money gets taken out vs. he gets to buy his with a company credit card. (I have stopped my bus pass purchases, but may start them up again if AS can't find a good deal on passes through the U before she leaves.)

I haven't completely stopped extra debt repay, but I have taken merch's advice in some part; I'm going to put aside enough money for our CSA farm share in Dec., NT's U bus pass in Jan., and our home insurance in Feb. And I'm going to set aside $1,000 as an emergency fund. If we don't need it by the time AS finds a job, I may keep it as an EF or put it toward extra debt repay, depending on what our situation is at that time. That still leaves $1,000 for debt repay in 2008, and about $450 (may be more with paycheck fluctuations) that I'm still deciding what to do with. I might see if that's enough to open an IRA with, because I want to make sure AS continues saving for retirement during her unemployment period.

And, some bad family news. AS's cousin G, an honor college student and all-around upstanding kid, got arrested for shoplifting Monday. He spent over $100 at Wal-Mart, but failed to scan a pair of socks at the machine. The guard stopped him, wouldn't let him just apologize and pay for the socks, called the cops, told them G had left the store and had spit on him. The cops arrested G and his friend, wouldn't let them have a phone call, decided to jail them for arraignment, and kept them there for 3 nights. AS's aunt and uncle nearly went crazy trying to find their son, until he was allowed a phone call on Wednesday night, after his friend had been released and he'd been kept there. Needless to say G was emotionally and psychologically shattered by that point. Police said he had to post bail to be let out, so his parents got some relatives in that state to take some money there.

Luckily, there are cameras in Wal-Mart that will prove the guard was lying about the leaving and spitting. Luckily, the Atlanta police chief admitted to the parents that A) G should have been given a phone call, B) most shoplifters are not held for arraignment, and C) under local law, 19-year-olds are supposed to be taken to juvie, not adult lockup. Luckily, G's going to get counseling, so hopefully this does not change his psyche forever. Luckily, G's mom is like a junkyard dog who is going to take down Wal-Mart and the police station, or at least cause them a lot of public embarrassment trying.

I don't have to tell you that this stellar student, dutiful son and upstanding citizen is a young black man, large in stature and with cornrows in his hair. You probably guessed that part already. I'm just bubbling with rage on his behalf. Three days in jail without a phone call for (supposedly) stealing a pair of socks!!!

$6 in principal, to be exact. LOL.

It was the first payment on NT's student loan, so it gets better from here.

Soo, what is that? $964 down, $436 to go on my November goal.

Can't wait for my big payment to hit on Monday!

So we've always had a somewhat fluctuating budget, but I feel like I've had a pretty good idea of where we're going to be a few months out. With this looming layoff/unemployment thing, it's been really hard. Also I didn't know when student loans would start coming due for AS. Also my choice of health coverage is still up in the air, the total cost unclear.

Still, I'm trying to predict what the budget's going to look like as best I can. I know you can get up to 50% of your current pay in unemployment, and AS usually brings home about $1800-$2000 per month after tax. So I'm lowballing and saying she'll get $200 per week on unemployment; I think that's a safe estimation. I hope it's more because I have a feeling my pay's going down one way or another when I figure out my healthcare plan. And I haven't found out when her transit benefits will end and we'll have to buy bus passes for her. But we have places we can cut back; reduce the grocery budget, take away the $20-per-person-per-month raise in spending money I just gave us, cut back our travel savings...So I know we'll be OK.

One bright spot is that I checked her outstanding student loan, and it's not going to come due till February '09! That's wonderful because it gives us plenty of time to work out how to pay for it. Who knows, AS might even have a job by then.

Anyway, at present, assuming $200 per week unemployment, assuming $400 per month for AS's health care, not factoring in bus passes or my health care, I've got the budget to a good place where all I've cut out is extra debt repay. My four blanket budget categories are looking like this percentagewise: Mortgage/Utilities/Telecom
$2,140.15 (34% of net)
Debt Repayment/Savings
$1,176.41 (19% of net)
Spending/Entertainment/Travel
$1,549.66 (24% of net)
Household/Groceries/Healthcare
$1,481.00 (23% of net)

If it changes as I suspect it will, Spending and Household will go down, but the overall takehome will go down as well, so I don't know how the percentages will work out. I don't want to assume anymore until I figure out what AS's unemployment pay and my healthcare premiums will be.

One of AS's student loans hit: $54 went to principal. (Reminds me I need to check and see why her 3rd student loan isn't in repayment yet--and make sure it's not just that we haven't been getting the bills.)

So that's $958 down, $442 to go on my November goal. Which I'm going to CRUSH in about a week.

Ugh, I've been soo busy at work I haven't had time to think about anything else. I've been soo ecstatic about Barack Obama but mentally it's been kind of an anticlimactic time because I've been too busy to really bask in this achievement. I actually forgot about a doctor's appointment yesterday! I rescheduled for this Wednesday.

Speaking of doctors, I'm still waiting to hear from NT's HR whether it would be cheaper to join his health plan or to stay on my company's next year. It's hard because their open enrollment isn't till the first of the year, but I've got to make my decision here by mid-November. Hope I get some information in the next day or so!

AS is still waiting to be "officially" laid off, though it's been acknowledged by everyone she's spoken to. And the terms of the layoff keep changing. First they said she could leave whenever she wanted after it was announced, and still be eligible for severance and unemployment. Then it was stated that they had to put in the letter that she would work for 28 more days, but that she could still leave whenever and get unemployment, though no severance. The latest scoop is that she'd have to stay the 28 days, or else it would count as a resignation, and if that happened, she'd get neither severance nor unemployment benefits!

Well, that leaves her with two options, both of which she's willing to go forward with depending on how things pan out. 1. Try to get them to retrodate the letter, pointing out (if they protest) that she has been working for at least 2 months since she learned about the layoff, and that they've broken any number of well-documented rules regarding the layoff notification process already, so why not break another (and avoid legal action against them)? (This option contains several levels of escalation which may or may not be necessary.) Or 2. When she gets the letter, "work" the 28 remaining days by calling in sick, taking vacation days, working from home and taking advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday so that she's not actually in the office for any of the days. This might actually end up being the road she takes. (Did I mention she doesn't have any work to do because there is no budget for any new products? And that she commutes 45 minutes each way to sit around and do said nothing?) Whatever it ends up being, she's determined to get at least unemployment, if not severance, since she's stuck it out this long solely for that reason.

I've signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org) again this year, but thanks to Halloween party, election fever and the insanity at work, I haven't written a word. Well, I probably will try to participate anyway. It's not like I ever finish, so doesn't really matter when I get started!

I've fallen behind on my budgeting too this week, but all it really needs is for me to total up our grocery and party spending and subtract that from the household line item, so it won't be too hard to catch up. Hopefully I'll have a little time this afternoon!

One of NT's student loans is already coming due--the private one. I thought those didn't need to be paid until after he stopped school. I was going to call them and check it out, but it's less than $50 per month, so I've decided to just start paying it. I can find room in the budget for it, and it will mean chipping away at our big student loan debt, and it doesn't take that much away from our CC debt snowball, so I don't mind.

BTW he is getting straight As and high 90s grades in all classes so far! I'm very proud of him.

I guess that's all in my frazzled world right now. Just felt like writing for awhile. Thanks for listening!

All four mortgage payments hit today:
US mortgage: $269 toward principal
UK #1: $133
UK #2: $28
UK #3: $29

For a total of $459. So that's $904 down, $496 to go on the November goal!

My credit card payment hit; $233 went to principal. So that's $445 down, $955 to go on the November goal.

I was intrigued by a vague story on CNN about a mortgage rescue plan in Congress right now. They don't know what it might entail, but they mentioned helping people with adjusting ARMs and mortgages that are more than their home's fallen value, both of which apply to me. So I wonder if there will be some legislation that could help me refi or something before the ARM adjusts again next fall. Here's hopin'!

I've been playing around with a new way of crunching numbers, courtesy of my friend NJ. He came up with the idea of putting all upcoming income and expenses in strict chronological order (not grouped in semimonthly sets of income and expense as I had been doing) and of showing what the balance would be after each transaction (to see if the account would ever fall short; something that took a little more work with my old method). It's taking some getting used to visually, but I think I like it:

In other news, I'm really busy at work these days since I took on some writing assignments. It's great, but it also means I can't just blog all day.

AS is still waiting for the hammer to officially fall at work, and has been channeling her stress into baking and sewing (lucky me!) She just made me an awesome padded vest, which she also entered in an online contest:



So comfy yet striking. I love it!

We've been planning for our Halloween party, but we can't tell how many people are coming so we're taking it a bit easy on decorations and snacks. It'll still be a great time if only the people who RSVP'ed come, but we're not going to knock ourselves out completely. So we're planning on making buckeyes, cupcakes, spinach dip and rye bread, and corn fritters with store-bought salsa. Then we've got an easy apple-cinnamon punch recipe and a recipe for black vodka martinis that we'll just print out and let people make their own. For decorations, we'll recycle whatever's left from last year plus add some crepe streamers.

For my costume, I wanted to do something kind of mean and ripped from the headlines, like last year. I try to be nice 364 days a year, but Halloween is for channeling my bitchy side! Last year I was zoned-out Britney Spears from the VMAs, and this year I'm going to be Ashley Todd, complete with "Wanted" poster for a gigantic black man! It should be relatively easy to put together this week--I just need a dark wig and some makeup to make the black eye and the carved "B."

I'll probably go shopping for it Friday after work. I just hope it warms up a bit this weekend--this morning it was 27 degrees!

What do you know--I checked AS student loan #2 on the off chance the payment had hit, and it had! $132 went to principal, so now it's $212 down, $1188 to go on the November goal.