Things have changed.

[raybear]

I woke up at 6:20 am, to the sun rising and a clear sky. A chilly, nice-feeling morning, when I took the dog into the backyard. In the past two hours, the outside has been transformed to a murky-brown overcast of pre-rain. Wait, no, as I was typing this, I stopped to look out the window and now it is officially raining. Leaving the house is going be a bit harder now.

Also, I don't understand why large companies that are making money discontinue products that are amazing. I am wearing the most perfect t-shirt in the world, except it is imperfect that I don't have more of them in various colors and sizes (I mostly wear mediums, but sometimes I want larges). I found it in the clearance bin at TJ Maxx and in my looking online, can find no more anywhere else, everyone is out of stock and its not being made anymore. It is soft and well-tailored and held up after being washed. O! Universe, why, must I bear this cross?

My Presidential Tax Refund went through right before the weekend. Ok, I am spending some of it on non-needs, like a few meals out and a $10 necklace, but most of it I'm putting into a savings account and start drawing out monthly deposits from my paycheck too. I'm finally starting one of those damn things. I've been following the pay-down-your-debt-first strategy for the past couple years, and I'm far from done with that, but I want to do both because I figure, if some emergency comes up, or even smaller cash needs like an unexpected plane ticket ot medical bill or something, I'd rather have cash to pay than have to reload the credit card balances and put myself back in the same boat. Also, its a sort of philosophical/political act for me, of going against the unsustainable ways our larger economy and microcosm economies are perpetuating. Even though I'm sometimes strapped for cash a few days before a paycheck, I can't honestly and in good conscience say I live paycheck to paycheck, since I'm sure my privilege, education and good looks, er, friends, I mean, could get me a few months time to straighten it all out; but even so, I don't always have the luxury to act in every minor way of resistance I would like to do with money. So it feels good.

Even though I still kinda want to buy some bottles of cologne from Lucky Scent, and new shoes, and new clothes, and maybe a new ipod. Hey, I'm human.

Comments

[fuzzilla.livejournal.com]

Man, I hear ya. I feel like I really shot myself in the foot by not starting a savings account sooner. When most of my LJ friends would talk about financial crises they'd be like "I don't like how much I've been dipping into my savings" and I'd be like "umm...you *have* savings..?" They seemed to view owing anything at all on your credit card as "OMG, financial DISASTER..." (My credit cards are all paid off now, BUT that's only because I took a bank loan to pay them, so now I owe the bank instead. The loan is guaranteed to be paid off in three years and in the meantime it'll allow me to put more into savings and make up for lost time).

Anyway, 'round the end of 2006 I started one of those ING Direct things that automatically deducts from your checking account. That's the only way it'll get done is if it's automatically done for me.

[raybear.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm doing the same thing, with automatic withdrawl, for the same reasons! My partner has one of those accounts so she'll get a bonus for signing me up and then I'll make her buy me a meal with it. Haha.

[mrmturtle.livejournal.com]

do all pres returns end up in our bank accounts?
they didn't give me a choice.
curious.

[raybear.livejournal.com]

It will get sent to you via the same way you requested your refund to come -- and if you had to pay taxes this year, they'll just be sending your a check.