March Goals

March promises to be a busy month, both personally and professionally.  This is what I’m aiming to accomplish:

Financial Goals

·         Stay on budget, especially with respect to grocery shopping and household "stuff".

·         File our income taxes.

·         Consolidate our bank accounts and update direct deposit info.

·         Track spending on a weekly basis.

 

Career-Related Goals

·        Complete preparations for an important mid-March meeting. 

·        Arrive to work by 9:00 every morning.  We have flexible hours, but I still like to get in at a decent time.

 

Personal, Non-Financial Goals

·         Purchase a new computer.  We both have computers that are seven years old.  We’ve been trying to delay this expense as long as possible, but it’s time to take the plunge.  Our computer situation has actually been amusing at times.  For instance, when I try to access some websites, I’m redirected to the mobile platform because I’m using such an outdated browser.  But in all seriousness, buying a new computer is a necessity.   In fact, we can’t even run tax software on either of my computer because the operating system is so old.  And Mr. W’s computer won’t even turn on, so…

·         Finalize my name change.

·         Buy a bed, if our tax return is large enough.  When we got married, we moved Mr. W.’s queen mattress and box spring into my apartment.  However, we haven’t purchased a bed frame yet.

·         Keep in touch with friends and family. 

Let's Do the Numbers (2/24-3/2)

Here is what last week looked like, according to the numbers:

*I drank two fancy-schmanzy coffee drinks from Starbucks.  Purchased using a Christmas gift card, so they were free to me. 

*We baked three loaves of bread, six whole wheat biscuits, one batch of Cocoa Crunch Granola, one batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and one chocolate cake.  I promise we didn’t eat all of that ourselves.  We took the cake to a party (where Mr. W. ate 2.5 slices).    

*We attended a total of six fitness classes (three for me and three for Mr. W.).  He also went for an eight-mile run.   

 

*I took the train to work two times. It’s an improvement over last week, but three times would be ideal (At three+ times per week, it’s financially worthwhile to have the monthly parking pass that I purchase). Sidebar: I made an earnest attempt to take the train three times last week. Read here for the full story.

*I spent 90 minutes waiting in line, outside of the Department of Motor Vehicles.  Mr. W. and I have been married for more than five months and I still haven't finalized my name change with the DMV.  I attribute the delay to three factors: busy work/travel schedules, my own procrastination, and an intense dread of the DMV.  Case in point: On Saturday, I arrived at 11:30 AM, which was a full 90 minutes before the DMV closes. It seemed like it should have been enough time, especially since the DMV is obligated to process the paperwork of anyone who arrives before closing time.   But there’s a sneaky loophole: this DMV only allowed a dozen or so customers inside the building at any given time.  This tactic was bogus, because there were seats inside for many more (maybe 50? 100?). With the exception of those dozen lucky souls, everyone else was forced to wait outside. Then, anyone who wasn’t inside at 1:00 was turned away. After shivering and standing in line for 90 minutes, I was one of those who never made it in the door. I had paid $3.00 in municipal parking and had wasted 90 minutes. And worse of all, I’m still not officially “Mrs. J. W.”  I've learned my lesson: next Saturday, I'll be waiting in line when the DMV opens at 8:00.

You know who dislikes the DMV even more than I do?  Dane Cook.  Watch this sketch, but not at work, or when your grandmother is listening.   

*Attended one dinner party, where we played a boisterous round of the board game Apples to Apples.  I won nine of those green adjective cards.  That's seven more than Mr. W (not that I'm counting).  The other players seemed to like my suggestion that "whipped cream" is "timeless."   Isn't it?


Hope your week is off to a good start.

"A" for Effort; "F" for Execution

This is a post in which I fail miserably at a task that doesn’t really relate to personal finance. 

 

In which I miss the train due to lemming-like behavior.  Here is how the story unfolded:

 

I can either drive or take the train to work.  There are pros and cons to each method of transportation.  On days when I take the train, I make an effort to dress appropriately, given that my office is ten minutes away from the train station and a portion of the route is unpaved.  On Thursday, I dressed in my standard commuter uniform of ballet flats, wrap dress, and a warm, unfussy coat.  I packed the New York Times in my computer bag so I would have reading material.  All was progressing according to plan.  I felt proud of myself for being so prepared (whenever I start to feel too smug, we know things are about to go downhill). 

 

I drove into the parking structure twelve minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive, thinking about all the wonderfully efficient things I could do during my 30 minutes on the train: Read the newspaper! Compose a blog post! Write an email to my cousin!  Decide what to make for dinner tomorrow!  Be a productive and conscientious member of society! (clearly, I have low standards for what constitutes productivity and conscientiousness.)  

 

Unfortunately, I was stuck behind an out-of-state driver who was perplexed by the train station parking structure.  I found myself getting more and more frustrated by the glacial pace at which this person was driving.  Did he not realize that this was a train station?  That it was rush hour?  That the train was scheduled to arrive and depart at a specified time, now a mere seven minutes away?  I seethed inwardly with mounting irritation, while continuing to follow the confused driver in search of empty parking spaces. 

And then, he accidentally turned down the exit lane.  And before I realized what I was doing, I had followed him.  A classic case of the blind leading the blind, right off a cliff.  Once I’d made this wrong turn, there wasn’t any option except to exit the parking structure completely.  The voice inside my head, which sounds suspiciously like Seinfeld's Soup Nazi, screamed, “WHAT?! YOU LEMMING! You knew he didn’t know where he was going, but you were distracted and followed him anyway! No train for you!”

At this point, there wasn’t time to re-enter the parking structure and park my car before the train’s arrival.  And the next train wouldn’t arrive in time for me to get to work by 9:00.  My only choice was to drive.

If my husband were narrating, this is the point at which something exciting and interesting would happen: he would become the subject of a high-speed chase.  Or, the automobile would transform into a spaceship and he would save civilization from an alien invasion.  Or, he would discover Spanish galleons in his glove compartment (why does he always store money in there, anyway?).  He’s a much more imaginative storyteller than I am.  Plus, he drives a Honda, for which all of those scenarios seem plausible.  But this isn’t his story.  Instead, I just drove to work in my 2002 Volvo, not having an opportunity to read the Times or write to my cousin.  An inefficient contributor to greenhouse gasses, but with better intentions.  I give myself an “A” for effort, but an “F” for execution.