Way Too Much Information!

When I went on vacation in March, a couple of my friends helped me out by taking care of some of my animals. I, in turn, am reciprocating by taking care of their animals this week. Over the weekend I met up with said friend to pick up her dog. We had a nice visit. The problem I had all weekend was getting way too much information from people.

Friend 1: As I was getting my dog sitting instructions, the conversation turned to Friend 1's new boyfriend. And the active sex life the two of them have. Honestly, I really don't care about Friend 1's active sex life. I'm happy for her that she has a new man in her life, but really folks, I don't need to hear that you are at it like rabbits. Please, keep that information to yourself.  The other half of the conversation centered around how she was finding it a bit of stretch to live in her new home that her parents gave her financial assistance to buy. I found the second half of the conversation annoying since I also know how much financial assistance her parents gave her,which was significant both in terms of cash and helping with the house, what her mortgage payement is, what her take home salary is and what bills she has.  How do I know all these things, Once again, she told me and I really don't want to know, nor did I ask. From my perspective, she should not be stretched on this houses' upkeep, but, hey maybe she has not told the world EVERYTHING. 
Friend 2: I stopped by Friend 2's  house on my way back home and was given an earful about a mutual acquaintances' impending divorce. I knew said couple had been going through a rough patch, I did not know it had escalated to divorce status. Again, since these folks are not in my immediate circle of friends, I really don't need to know the gory details. I'm sorry it's happening, they have teenaged kids and I know there are some assets in the relationship that will have to be divided and or sold, but you what, not my business. Even saying "Oh, that's horrible" and trying to change the conversation did not work. I got the full low down on the breakdown of the marriage. I felt helpless to stop the monologue and left Friend #2's with a slight headache.
Nice Neighbors: Stopped over quickly on Sunday to say hi to the neighbors and got an earful on their latest financial struggle. Not very surprised to hear what has transpired, I could see this train wreck coming for a while. I am very sorry that this is happening to them, but as I've posted before, if you are having a problem paying your bills, you don't go out and buy 52' flat screen plasma TVs (or 40' or 42) or pay for your 20 year old daughters apartment because she still does not have enough money to pay for it and or refuses to get a job to pay for it. They have totally maxed out both credit cards (less $400 they are keeping for a trip they are taking next month), their HELOC and limited savings. They also told me they just paid their mortgage 20 days late so they could give money to their kids. I just don't get it. 

You get the picture. I don't know, maybe there is something tattooed on my forehead that screams "Tell Me Everything!" along with "Doormat". I don't have any answers to most of the above problems and when asked for my advice and opinion, I gave it and I could tell it was not the answer folks wanted to hear. I told Friend 1 that maybe she should cancel one or two of her weekend mini breaks with the new boyfriend especially if she was paying or paying half and put that money towards her new house. They could have "staycations", instead of taking trips like they were taking this week to some resort for 4 or 5 days.  I told nice neighbors that I thought it was time for them to cut the money cord to the 20 year old. The 20 year old has a few choices, move home, get a cheaper apartment or get a real job.  They could not continue to spend upwards of $700-$800 out of pocket on that apartment and it's bills.  Yup, last month nice neigbors spent $750 towards daughters apartment, phone, and utilities and they paid their own mortgage 20 days late.  The landlord bitches at them in person, the bank just sends them a letter, they can avoid the bank phone calls.

I'm going to go into super hermit mode this upcoming weekend so I won't have to be told things I really don't want to hear.

Passing On The Offered All In One

I looked at and priced out all in ones as part of my research for getting a used one.  The unit I was offered was a Canon Multi Function, scans in color, but only prints in black and white.  The company that was selling it offered it to me for just slightly more than I could buy a refurbished one (which would also come with a warrenty). The wanted to sell it to me for $200. It is barely used, but I can and have found cheaper.

So, I'm passing on this unit for the time being.  I'll save some pennies and I've bookmarked a couple on line sites that sell them and in a few weeks, I'll make my purchase. Prices range from $145 to $393 new. I had hoped to spend part of the weekend scanning the piles of paper in my filing cabinet and on my desk, but tis not to be at the moment.

The Weekend Update

It was an interesting weekend to say the least and gave me some ideas for PF blog posts.  Why people feel the need to tell me things I have NO interest in hearing is beyond me, but they do anyway.  Over the past few days I've heard way too much information on an impending divorce, one persons sex life, another couples PF issues, another persons hysterectomy, the list goes on....

I am looking forward to a quiet night at home, me, the new computer that I've only half set up, some TV and an early bed time. I'm bringing the laptop to work this weekend, will complete my transfer of files I need/want from the old laptop and use the high speed cable to finish downloading some programs. 

I also got the remaining pay due me from my weekend job on Friday.  I dropped the check into my account, wrote out checks for the last of my winter propane bill, mobile phone, land line, electricity, car insurance, student loan. I did take about $150 over the course of the weekend and spent it on myself. I got a haircut, bought a pair of Crocs, and got some other little things I wanted, but did not need for the house.  It felt good to my wounded little soul to spend some cash on wants and not needs.  I do need a couple summer tops and pants for work, but I just did not want to face a clothing store this past weekend.

Anyway......hope you all had a great weekend and I'll be back in a day or two.

Taking Advantage of Free Classes

I live in what an ex-boyfriend called New England's equivalent of "Hooterville", a small town in a rural area of New England that has a lot of green grass and hayfields, but not much else. I'm still known almost 9 years later, as the lady who bought the Smith house. And like a lot of New England towns within spitting distance to more suburban and urban areas.

Two towns over from me is a more "upscale" town. It has the typical New England Town Green, overlooked by the large white Congregational Church and a very well supported public library that runs some amazing free programs. I will admit, I don't think to take advantage of programs that neighboring towns offer. I sometimes read about them in the local paper, I also get the library bulletin delivered to the office (our office places ads in the various library newsletters). I've started to actually READ the bulletins that cross my desk for the other towns.

This other local library has recently offered a bunch of programs on home based businesses. Everything from how to navigate the Secretary of States web site to set up a corporation, to a course on the fundamentals of Quick Books, to a course on the fundamentals of a small business management. Did I mention these classes were free? Actually one cost a measly $10 and that $10 benefits the library, a local bank sponsors many of the small business seminars (and it happens to be my bank as well, I'm glad my overdraft fees are going to good use!) I'm happy to spend the $10, heck each program also offers light refreshments and sometimes those light refreshments are my dinner or post dinner snack.

The timing on the small business seminars is great for me. I attended the Quick Books seminar a few weeks ago and while I don't have the budget to upgrade my Quicken to Quick Books at the moment, I think I will upgrade, it goes along with my philosophy that being prepared for an unknown opportunity can only be a good thing!

I spent some time early this morning and did a little research on free or almost free classes and seminars and was pretty amazed at what I found within a 15 mile radius of my home. The chamber of commerce occasionally offers classes and seminars (usually put on by chamber members), the various libraries have classes, two local banks are offering business, budgeting and money management classes, the local board of Realtors has offered a class open to the public on landlord tenant fair housing laws. I will admit I am very selfish about my off time in the evenings given the fact I work most weekends, but if I can take a free or almost free class to further my professional and personal goals, it is so worth the couple hours of my time!

Planning Ahead-Sort Of

Is life really 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration? I think it is. One thing I think folks need to do is help themselves be ready and available for that great opportunity that can come at any moment.


While I am trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life, or at least the next few years, I do know that one goal I have is to work for myself. And I'd like to do that sooner rather than later. One reason I bought my new computer was so that I could scour sights like Elance for virtual assistant projects, both long term and short term. In order to be a self employed person who does anything and everything from admin work to research (which I've done before, verifying facts for a writer and this particular writer paid really well.), I know I need certain tools. In no particular order....
A decent laptop/computer
A fax
A printer
A scanner
Cable at home
plus the usual office supplies, paper, envelopes, etc

I have the decent lap top, and I will probably get a decent all in one fax/printer/scanner-the early versions of the all in ones were horrible, the more recent models seem to have better ratings and work better. With space being a premium at my house and my home office literally my small desk, a file cabinet and some shelves on my book case, I can't have tons of office equipment. I just don't have the room.

I may get an all in one from another business if the machine is in good working order. I have my eye on two units, one a color unit, one a black and white unit, both scan in color. If the slightly used unit is in good working order and the price is right, I'll probably take it. If not I just have to get off my lazy arse, prioritize the money, do my shopping research and buy a unit.

The cable I am waffling on. I know that right now my lap top picks up my neighbors WiFi, but I can't rely on that and that's just not ethical anyway. Plus if I can pick up the WiFi, it means it's not a secure connection. I have a modem on the computer so I can use my dial up, but it's slow and oh so 1990's. My local cable company is offering a one year package, cable, internet and phone for $69. I can keep my current phone number and get the basic cable. I just don't know if I want to make that jump yet. I have no idea how long the promotion will last or what the fee will be for the bundled package once the year is up, I did not look into that part of it yet and I should. I will admit the lure of my own high speed internet is tempting, but do I really need it NOW? Do I need it now for a variety of reasons? Oh the decisions one has to make!

Setting Up The New Computer

I've been slowly setting up my new computer with e-mail, downloading the programs I need for my personal web site and all those other fun things one likes to have on a computer.  Open office is a huge program and the download said it would take 4 hours to do. I think I'll down load it on Friday when I'm home and can keep the computer from going into sleep mode and disrupting the download.  Thanks to all who suggested it!

One thing I will be setting up is Quicken to my computer. I've noticed that I am not that diligent in manually tracking my spending.  I've used Quicken before and it forced me to track my spending and categorize my expenses.  I've made the decision that I'll start using Quicken again. I get to the end of the month, go to recap my expenses and sort of wonder what, why and how I spent money.  Even by keeping all my receipts, I still shake my head in wonderment over my own lack of self control and sense of spending justification. For what ever reason, holding myself accountable to Quicken's reports seems to keep me on a smart money track.

A Performance Review-Sort Of

Last week I posted that I had a meeting with my boss at my "full time" job.  It was a very unexpected and short notice performance review.  Like I had all of 5 hours to prepare.  I was dead certain I was going to get the proverbial boot from the office because of the slow down in our work.  I did not.

The reveiw was to tell me that I still had a job, no return to full time hours, no increase in salary, but I still had a job.  I got some feedback on my job performance, none of which was a surprise to me. I pretty much know where I "lack" and what I do well.  Thankfully, there was nothing major thrown at me that was negative.  My job description stays the same, my pay stays the same, he is happy with my work, our vendors like working with me, etc and for now I will have reduced vacation hours based on my working hours. I did in turn tell my boss I was not happy about the unclear notification on my vacation time and he acknowledged that he did not flat out tell me my vacation time would be cut.  To be fair, I did not ask flat out if my vacation time would be cut,at the time I was more focused on my health insurance.  A majority of my time off in 2008 revolved taking the odd Friday off, I did not take a "real" vacation in 2008 like I did in 2009. Since I was no longer scheduled on Fridays, neither of us really thought about it until I decided to go to the UK in March.  Oh well, live and learn. When I go back to full time hours, I will get more vacation time. I don't have any thing planned until fall anyway.

I guess what I have to put some serious thought into is what I want to do with my working life.  I feel like I'm in a limbo stage. Can you say Mid Life Crisis?  I know that the next few years are crucial to me, personally and financially.  The decisions I make in the next few months will impact my life going forward.  With the reduced hours at the "full time job" and the reduced hours at the weekend job, I have to decided what I'm willing to give up or change. I have given up certain work perks because one decision I've made is to work no more than 20 miles from my home.  I used to commute almost an hour by car to a job and the quality of my life suffered.  It did not help that the job also did not offer enough "perks" for me to put up with the commute. Jobs and perks are a whole 'nother post.

I have almost no savings, my small Roth IRA got hit hard in the stock market downturn and my house, while retaining it's value barley, really is not going to provide me with any sort of a nest egg if I decide to sell it. In fact, one of my goals going forward is to pump up my income and qualify for a new mortgage and maybe I can move into a larger home. My current home is very small, like large studio apartment small.  I do know that a person with a discharged BK can get an FHA loan, provided you have kept your credit clean, are gainfully employed and meet the other lending criteria set up by the FHA. 

Ah well. Like I said, I have a lot of thinking to do in the next few months about where I want to go,what I want to do and if the BK will affect any of it.