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Posted
Sep 29 2008, 07:54 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I've been very nervous about money lately. Who hasn't? But my jitters aren't solely the result of the recent Wall Street turmoil and bailout babble. For me, and maybe for you, financial angst has been building for a while. Talk of a bailout is merely the insult that tops a series of injuries.
Here's my list: Last week my bank, Washington Mutual, failed. The apartment building I manage is about to be sold, so my job is up in the air. My monthly health insurance premium rose a startling $119 overnight. I had to write a check for quarterly income taxes. The alimony ends in six months. A credit card statement for almost $3,000 arrived in Friday's mail, and it's due three days before payday. The money left over from my educational grant was 75% lower than I'd expected.
Bills are showing up for my colonoscopy (can't skip this since there's a major family history of colon cancer) plus the three doctor visits and numerous tests it took to deal with a recent, unrelated health problem -- and I have a $1,500 deductible. Underlying it all is the fact that I'm almost 51 years old and I haven't had a "real" job since November 2002.
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Posted
Aug 04 2008, 12:06 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
On Friday I visited Office Depot for school backpacks at the killer price of $2.99. Along with other loss-leader school supplies, they'll be donated to a local social services agency. At the checkout, I handed over a "20% off all backpacks" coupon from an Office Depot mailer. The cash register wouldn't accept the coupon. "These are already on sale so the coupon won't work," the salesclerk said.
I noted, politely, that the coupon did not say "not good on sale-priced items." The cashier tried again. No dice. "It's not letting it go through," she said, and waited. I got the distinct impression she wanted me to say, "Oh, that's OK." But I wasn't going to say that, because my belief is that a store should honor its published offers.
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Posted
Aug 01 2008, 01:11 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Gas is expensive and food is going higher and higher. I'm not talking about today -- I'm flashing back to my teenage years. Times were tight between 1974 and 1976, when I ran the household for my father and younger brother. I remember how quickly the grocery money evaporated even though I made all our meals, desserts and snacks from scratch. Gasoline was not only costly but rationed during what was widely referred to as the "energy crisis."
People combined errands and stayed home a lot more. They cut back on nonessential foodstuffs, did without entertainment and new clothes, and generally tried to make their dollars go further. But this austerity didn't last. The age of conspicuous consumption cranked up in the 1980s, and cars seemed to get bigger each year. More than a few times I've said to myself, or to others, "Have we learned nothing from the '70s?"
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Posted
Jul 28 2008, 09:40 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The past few days would have gone a lot more smoothly if I'd listened to MSN Money columnist Liz Pulliam Weston regarding the wisdom of those economic stimulus gift card promotions. For weeks I'd been mulling over the pros and cons of those cards, which are sold in $300 increments and come with a 10% bonus.
Liz thinks it's a punk idea (more on that below), yet I decided to go ahead. This move seemed cursed from the get-go (much more on that below), yet the experience reinforced a basic Smart Spending credo: Always keep your receipts.
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Posted
Jul 09 2008, 12:01 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Yesterday I was thinking about "hypermilers," those folks who go to great lengths to squeeze maximum mileage from their cars. While of course I strive for the best mileage possible, I don't hypermile -- with my car, that is. As a frugalist, I hypermile my whole life.
Meal plans, shopping, entertainment, transportation, utility usage, gift-giving -- all are done with an eye toward achieving maximum bang for the buck.
Plenty of you are right there with me, if posts on the Smart Spending message board and the comments about my articles are any indication.
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Posted
Jul 07 2008, 12:34 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It can take years for a big Hollywood movie to get approved, let alone filmed. That's why I think that the parallels between "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" and our current economic situation are probably coincidental.
Foreclosures. Job loss. Hungry people lining up for food handouts. Families who can't make ends meet no matter how hard they work. But enough about today; let's talk about the Great Depression, the setting for "Kit Kittredge."
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Posted
Jun 20 2008, 09:16 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Scared that your money won't keep pace with rising food and energy costs? You may be tempted to cut to the barest of bones, buying nothing nonessential and pinching every penny twice before putting it under your mattress.
I have a better idea. Spend a little money. And spend it on something that isn't strictly necessary.
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Posted
Jun 18 2008, 08:35 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A recent Wall Street Journal article noted that the Cold Stone Creamery franchise is in trouble. More than 100 stores closed last year, and just over 300 shops -- 20% of total Cold Stone outlets -- are for sale. The article quotes franchisees as claiming that the parent company provided misleading information and made unreasonable demands that ate into profits.
I have a theory of my own: Their ice cream is really expensive.
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Posted
Jun 16 2008, 08:57 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A year ago, a regular reader who calls herself "SC CDF" really wanted an ice-cream maker. These days she can barely remember having wanted it. She proposed that we write down what we want and then check back later to see if we still want it. That's why in April I started a Smart Spending message board thread called "What do you want? Will you still want it a year from now?"
Readers posted their burning desires: a great camera and printer, electronic gadgets, new cookware, computers, automobiles, furniture. Most of those who reported back later on the updated thread said they did not get what they wanted. But all of them were OK with that.
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Posted
May 14 2008, 09:17 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I was intrigued by the "What busts your budget?" item that Karen Datko posted at Smart Spending last week. In it, a number of personal-finance bloggers described some costs that hurt: gasoline, haircuts, dentist appointments, new shoes for the kids, (unnecessary) new shoes for the moms, soft drinks, veterinary care and the like.
A guy calling himself "Caja del Oro" left a comment describing his own budget buster: all those "deal of the day" Web sites. It's not that the deals are particularly expensive -- it's that they're too darned cheap, and therefore irresistible. "Most of the time I don't even know I 'want' something until one of these sites offers it at a discount," Caja laments.
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