Catching FIRE

So for anyone who does not recall part one of the diabolical roommate saga, here is a refresher.

Last September, roommie got a shiny new AmEx Blue Cash credit card with a 15 month 0% introductory APR and $3700 credit limit. He got it specifically so that he could charge a $2000 LCD projector on it during October. His plan was to pay $200 per month while the 0% APR lasted.

Now, I had doubts that he was disciplined enough to stick to that plan, but you never know. He was very proud of the fact that he has no signficant credit card debt.

Fast forward to last week, and two clues emerged that indicate how his plan went badly awry.

Clue one. Last Thursday, we went to Costco, and I had a $14 bill. Since Costco only accepts AmEx, I usually let my roommate charge my bill on his card so that he can get the rewards, and then I pay him back via bank transfer, usually on the same day.

That day, however, he didn't want to charge my bill anymore, saying that his balance was already $3000, and he didn't want to increase it further. I was a little confused. $15 was not enough to drive him over his credit limit, so either his actual balance was much higher, or he had plans to charge more on his card later this month.

Either way, it revealed that he has not been paying off his balance.

Clue two. The next day, he tells me that he got hit with a $30 late fee for not paying his AmEx balance on time ("Late Payment Fee: Subject to applicable law, $15 on balances less than $100, $29 on balances of $100 to $1,000, and $35 on balances greater than $1,000"). I told him to call and get it taken off, but he didn't want to go through the trouble.

In a fit of curiosity, I checked out AmEx's terms and conditions for his particular card, and ran into the following (my emphasis):

"Your account is reviewed monthly and will be considered in default if minimum payments are not timely paid one time, or seriously in default if minimum payments are not timely paid two or more times, your account is overlimit three or more times, or your payment is returned by your bank or financial institution. ... The introductory APRs and any other promotional rates will terminate upon your account being considered in default or seriously in default and the applicable Default APR will apply."

And then: "The APR for defaulted and seriously defaulted accounts is determined monthly by adding 12.99% and 21.99%, respectively, to the Prime Rate."

Source.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. Now I'm not sure if what I THINK happened actually DID happen, but if it did, he has seriously cooked his own goose.

It would mean that he defaulted on a $3000 balance and forfeited his introductory 0% APR for whatever "Prime Rate + 12.99%" must be. And while I have no clue what the Prime Rate is, it's probably not pretty.

Can this train wreck get any worse?

Here in the northeast, it has been a very mild winter. Temperatures have been consistently hovering in the 40's and 50's.

New York City broke the records for latest appearance of snowfall. And here in CT, except for a light flurry in the first half of December that lasted for only few hours, it has also been snowless.

Cherry blossoms are blooming in Brooklyn, because the wildlife think that it is spring.

Earlier, I placed my new cilantro plants outside on the deck for the day, where it was 61 degrees, because I was worried that it was too warm in my room, as cilantro is a cool-weather herb, and will bolt to seed when soil temperatures rise above 75 degrees.

And in the context of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's documentary on climate change (which I've already watched four times), all of these signs are quite, quite disturbing.

Currently, I don't drive, and I'm rather enjoying the monetary savings. The occasional hassle of having to take public transportation or carpool or walk is worth not having to pay for insurance, gas, parking, and maintenance expenses every month.

But I'm also a bit of an environmentalist, and burning one gallon of gasoline adds 19.8 lbs. of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And if I don't absolutely HAVE to do that, then I WON'T.

I'm going to delay getting a car for as long as I can bear it. If I can hold out for a few more years, hybrids will hopefully drop in price. If electric vehicles (EVs) become widely available by then, even better. I'm willing to pay a little extra if it means lower emissions (and lower gas expenditure!).

I'm also lusting after solar panels (or hydrogen fuel cells) for generating my own electricity, and growing my own food organically.

Someday. If the world doesn't end, first.

An article in the New York Times caught my attention recently: Elder Care Costs Deplete Savings of a Generation.

This brings to the forefront one of my major worries concerning my parents--specifically, my mother.

Oh, it's true that she refuses to invest in the stock market for retirement, insisting that it's an unwise and risky gamble. It also doesn't help that her income is low, and unlikely to increase. On top of that, she overspends to keep up appearances and bolster her fragile pride.

But that's not all.

I also have much reason to believe that she is suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness. And since she and I have a crappy personal relationship (possibly exacerbated by aforementioned mental illness), I don't have the leverage to convince her to seek treatment.

Although her prognosis differs dramatically depending on the diagnosis and severity of the disorder, I do fear the worst. And mental illnesses are so stigmatizing and dehumanizing.

I guess that's another reason to keep chugging at the financial planning, huh?

It's the new year, and there's one thing I really, really want to change about myself.

I *need* to start taking better care of my teeth. Specifically, I need to start brushing regularly before I go to bed.

The problem is that I never decide to go to bed. I always just allow myself to conk out whenever I feel tired enough. And I never know when that will be.

As a student, I fell asleep all the time while studying in bed (I don't believe in desks; plus, my chair sucks and I like my bed because it is warm). Now, I find that I'm falling asleep while reading in bed.

I know a possible solution is to brush my teeth *before* I start reading in bed, but I like to snack while reading. Also, I read all the time, and I never know when I'll conk out. Sometimes, I stay awake for hours. Other times, I'm out in ten minutes.

And, of course, once I'm already nodding off, I can almost never summon the willpower to wake myself up enough to go and brush my teeth.

I am terrified of seeing a dentist, even though I know I really need to. I regularly have nightmares about my teeth falling out. I can't sleep well at night because of the guilt, although it's still not enough to get me to wake myself up. I can feel my teeth rotting (I really hope that's all in my head).

In order to motivate myself, here's my plan. I'm going to pay myself a dollar for every time I brush my teeth. It'll be my dentist avoidance tax.

God, I hope this works.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Not much new to add, but a few notes...

I got my Colgate rebate for $2.79! Now I can put that nonsense out of my head once and for all.

I referred a friend to ING, and earned $10 for me, and $25 for her! That was exciting.

I discovered that I could get a multi-ride car for public buses at a discount per-ride of 25 cents. They were introduced in the beginning of November.

A very, very old loan got paid back.

I contacted payroll and the summer sublet folks about my paycheck and deposit.

Never trust Verizon again, as they can't do basic MATH.

Finally, my BF and I looked at a house last weekend. (We're not buying one together or anything, just looking.) I'll probably write more on this later.

It wasn't as difficult as I thought.

I have five open accounts, all in good standing--my credit card, two student loans, and, apparently, two of my father's credit cards.

Seriously, I didn't know this until just now.

I also have four old student loan accounts that were paid off and closed when I consolidated. Except they each show up twice on Experian--once as "paid/closed", and once as "transferred/closed". Dunno what that's all about.

I also found the following interesting:

American Express requested info from TransUnion 7 times in the past year.

Capital One requested info from Equifax 11 times during the past year. As if that wasn't enough, they also requested info 25 times from Experian since March 2005.

Eek?!

I should ask my parents if there are floods of credit card offers from those two companies. It'd be amusing if there were.

I spent all of this evening attempting to track, once and for all, every single penny that came into and out of my stewardship since June 12, the day I moved to this fine town and started my job.

Through this process, I discovered a few things.

One. I may not throw out any of my receipts, but I sure as hell can't FIND all of them. FRUSTRATION.

Two. I was missing over a grand in net pay, until I finally figured out that I never cashed a paycheck of mine, issued back on August 3. I cannot for the life of me locate said paycheck. DEFINITELY CONTACTING PAYROLL ON THE MORROW.

Three. I also never cashed a $400 deposit check that was returned to me when I vacated my summer sublet housing. Oops.

Four. The fact that my credit card posts transactions two days after the fact is very, very annoying, especially when it doesn't match the receipts I have.

Here are some random stats:

- Net income: $10,283.80 (this includes the missing paycheck)
- Total spending: $4727.22 (this includes the $400 deposit)
- Roth IRA contribution: $2203.33
- 403(b) contribution: $998.41
- Targeted savings: $2440

My pattern of spending:

- Public transportation: $93.5 (mostly to visit the BF)
- Groceries: $409
- Student loans: $401.16 (repayment started in September)
- Housing: $3275 (includes $400 deposit that I should have gotten back, plus $1000 deposit that I get back later)

Damn is housing pricey!

I really, really hope I can call up the subletters and have them rewrite my deposit check. Sigh. I need to get better about depositing checks. Gah.

I also need to get my free annual credit report thingy. Running out of time for that one!

I finally took the time to walk into a Bank of America and close my soul-sucking savings account--you know, the one with the 0.0000001% interest rate.

Then, I downgraded my checking account from Regular to MyAccess.

Then, I transferred my entire savings account, plus a good bit of checking, into ING.

Come next February, I transfer my last remaining fixed-term Roth IRA over to Vanguard.

And then I shall be FREE! Mwahahahaha!

(Whoa, when did I reach 10,000+ hits?!)

12/1
- $500, rent
- $24, cc payment
- $13, round-trip Amtrak tickets
- $1.25, shuttle bus

12/4
- $1.25, shuttle bus

12/8
- $13, round-trip Amtrak tickets
- $1.25, shuttle bus

Utilities
- cable modem: ($45.95 + $0.18)/2 = $23.065
- electric: $49.51/2 = $24.755
- gas: still screwed up; $8-ish?

I brought back two pots and topsoil from Thanksgiving with the 'rents.

I planted two scallions in one of the pots. They're just scallions bought from the store, with the greens cut off.

I measured them yesterday. 4.5 cm and 5 cm.

Today? One of them is still 4.5 cm...

But the other one is nearly 6 cm!

They're so cute! I'm going to be sad when I eat them.

I've decided on a little holiday splurge.

I generally don't do presents, and I have a very hard time spending on myself, but this year, in celebration of my newfound indepedence, I'm going to kill two birds with one stone.

I'm going to buy Guitar Hero 2 for the SO.

But wait, there's more!

I'm getting him GH2 because... I WANT TO PLAY IT! In two-player mode! ROCK ON!!

The best part? Due to my SO's relationship with our school's computer store, he can order the game at cost from the distributor.

Which means I'll save $20-ish off the retail price of $80.

And now, I have something to look forward to!

If only the damn game weren't so popular that it's backordered till goodness knows when... Grrrr...

11/1
- rent: $500
- credit card: $76.02

11/10
- $13, round-trip Amtrak tickets
- $1.25, shuttle bus

11/13
- $1.25, shuttle bus

11/16
- $10.21, HK market

11/17
- $6, pizza dinner

11/22
- $11, Metro-North

Utilities
- cable modem: $24
- electric: $28.10
- gas: screwed up

Wow. Total spending for the month, discounting rent, utilities, and student loans: $42.71.

Food total: $16.21. Because my mother bought me groceries for my birthday, and my father bought me groceries when I went home for Thanksgiving. Not because I, like, stopped eating.

(One of) my desktop PCs bit the dust a couple of weeks ago. It was a little over four years old.

My father jumped at the chance to replace it for me.

The thing about our family is that we do not walk into a store and point to a box--oh no. My father's hard-core. Here's how we shop.

- Pentium D 830 3.0g GHz processor: $133.86 ($50 rebate)
- motherboard to match processor: $49.13
- 1 gig RAM: $149.99 ($100 rebate)
- cooling fan: $18.99 ($10 rebate)

End result?

A spanking new computer with quite decent specs for $201.20 (includes $9.23 shipping and handling).

The only caveat? Assembly required.

He would've gotten me a double-layer DVD-burner to compliment my pre-existing CD-burner, but I turned it down. I also turned down a new monitor.

I did, however, accept a 1 gig Flash memory stick for $7.98 (after rebate).

I'm all tech'ed out for the season.

Way back when, I read part of Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki at the bookstore. I found it at the library sometime later, and have since finished the whole book.

I've been trying to write a post on it for a while now, but I've had blogger's block the entire time. I just... couldn't figure out how I felt about it.

On the one hand, the book introduced an entirely different way to think, which I've always found that to be valuable, even if I end up disagreeing vehemently in the end.

On the other hand, it just rubbed me the wrong way, and actively pissed me off in many parts.

I wanted to do a "balanced" post on it, discuss the book fairly, but everything I tried to write came out heavy-handed and negative, and I didn't feel comfortable or confident enough to post it.

But then I found John T. Reed's website, and the floodgates broke. This entry came pouring out, and here it is.

Beware, you are now entering Rant Country. You have been forewarned.

To start off, I must point out that my family is pretty much a carbon copy of his "poor dad". And guess what? We're not rich, not by a long shot. So I don't know--maybe poor dad's views and advice are, in fact, antiquated, and causes one to be stuck in an inescapable rut/"Rat Race".

But in order to convince me that this is TRUE, especially since the majority--the VAST majority--of people are NOT rich, he must present logical, evidence-based arguments that this is the case. And I found Kiyosaki to be quite underwhelming in this regard.

First of all, a stylistic nitpick. His prose was god-awful. Having been a lit major for three years, I feel like I have the right to make this claim. Not only was his writing mind-numbingly repetitive and blatantly padded with extraneous phrases that were ultimately meaningless and downright distracting (he ought to either fire his editor, or hire one, seriously), he often takes a righteous, holier-than-thou attitude that I found incredibly distasteful and inappropriate (read: unprofessional). Most of the book felt like a mindless, barely coherent rant with quite a bit of propaganda.

I know this is harsh, but just based on the quality of the writing ALONE, I get warning bells on the intellectual acumen of its author. But enough about style. It's superficial, and I'm willing to overlook it if there's substance behind it.

...But is there?

One of Kiyosaki's main points is that "financial literacy" is more important than "traditional" education. After all, poor dad had a prestigious law degree and a successful "career", but he still struggled financially, while rich dad barely finished eighth grade (or something to that effect), and became one of the richest people in Hawaii.

I'll grant this point--to a degree. It's true that schools don't teach you "financial literacy"--if by "financial literacy" you mean "ability to analyze financial opportunities". That's not what schools are for. School is for learning how to think critically, nurturing intellectual passions, and developing skills for a fulfilling career, not for teaching ways to spot get-rich-quick schemes. Even if it's true (via the evidence-based research by the authors of "The Millionaire Next Door") that higher education is inversely correlated with net worth, it's certainly not because higher education teaches you to become a tool, which is essentially his argument.

To make himself sound more credible, no doubt, Kiyosaki claims to support "education reform". This sounds nice (since who would claim to be against it?), except if you actually READ into what he's saying, he's alarmingly anti-education, and I certainly wouldn't trust him to inform educational policy, since I seriously fear what he would do to the curriculum. His measuring stick for the value of any form of "education" is its ability to put (tax-deductible) profits into one's pocket.

I don't know about anyone else, but I find this to be quite disturbing. Whatever happened to learning something because you love it, not because it makes money? It's apparent that making money is right in line with Kiyosaki's own passions and priorities, but he must concede that at least for some people, it doesn't work that way? Maybe some people aren't willing to quit their full-time jobs so that they can "not work for money" by looking for real estate foreclosures and speculative microcap stock investments all day? Isn't there some sort of middle ground for the average Joe/Jane, who has a fulfilling career, but would still like some more financial security without sticking it to the Man, so to speak? According to Kiyosaki, such people are clueless, fearful, and wasting their potential genius. Uh, thanks. YOU find the cure for Alzheimer's Disease, then!! Sheesh.

Furthermore, I find his attempt to posit a dichotomy between "education" and "financial literacy" to be absurd. Financial literacy requires education. In my experience, many, if not most, subjects are easy to learn in terms of basics, but difficult to master thoroughly, and I believe the same is true for real estate and stock market investments. Now he may be just being selective about what constitutes "financial literacy" (knowledge useful for making money) and "education" (everything else), but the fact remains that I simply do not believe that such profitable real estate and stock market investments can be accomplished so easily and in a matter of hours. People spend years in those fields, gathering the experience and mastering the nuances. Kiyosaki himself claims that he doesn't invest in anything he doesn't understand. But reading this book is enough to send Joe Shmuck on his way from rags to riches?

To answer my own rhetorical question, NO, I don't think it's enough, and Kiyosaki doesn't think so, either. He gives himself away when he said that his personal examples of making money were "not recommended" and only meant to "inspire". Now if his examples were any good, they would be recommended, so I can only understand this to mean that his examples are, in fact, crap. So he's trying to inspire you with... crap. Wonderful disclaimer there, eh? Of course, a more charitable interpretation would be to say that he's admitting that these deals were closed by professionals, so don't try this at home, which implies that you do need REAL knowledge and training not given in his book to pull something like that off.

The only decent advice I feel he gives is his recommendation to buy "assets" and not "liabilities". But strip away the asset/liability rhetoric, and all that remains is the standard advice to maximize investments and minimize spending. So in the end, I really don't see what this book says that is new and valuable, despite its bestseller status.

Not all that glitters is gold?

I don't know if I'm asking for trouble posting this, since I've been advised to never discuss religion or politics on the internet and/or with strangers, but...

SQUEE! Go Dems for taking back Congress! And buh-bye Rummy. Good riddance.

Without even going into other issues (don't really want to open that can of worms on a public forum), I, for one, am sick of the financial indiscretions of this Republican administration.

I fully and freely admit that I am nowhere near educated or informed enough to feel comfortable presenting an ind-depth argument supporting my views, which are subject to change, but at the moment, I'd call myself a FISCAL conservative.

That means responsible, sustainable government taxation and spending. I generally side with taxing the rich, and government spending for necessary or good causes (social justice, education, research and development, etc.).

Oh, did I mention minimal government debt? Yeah, can't forget that one.

What has this current administration achieved? Tax cuts for the rich, spending cuts in non-military research and development (which happens to pay my salary), corporate handouts, burgeoning national debt, and a downright financial HEMORRHAGE into Iraq (which has also achieved next to nothing), none of which is consistent with my financial philosophy.

Now I have no clue if the Dems will do any better, but I think it's time for a regime change.

In other words, I'm with the kitty on this one.

Something funky is going on with my gas bill, and I'm not sure what to make of it.

FYI, the gas company is Southern Connecticut gas, and the account is under my roommate's name.

It started last month, when the bill for September came in--

--as being $0.

Now since gas was obviously consumed during the month of September, it was kind of baffling. I told my roommate to call the gas company and ask, but he moaned and groaned and of course did nothing. His argument? They messed it up, they fix it themselves. The implication being--don't argue with a good thing, he'll take the free gas.

Um, okay. Not what I would do, but hey--his account, his problem, ultimately.

I surmised that the bill would probably be double for October.

Well, the bill for October just came in. It was... $3.48. Again--very, very wrong. Again, I told my roommate to call the gas company. Again, he's dragging his feet. I really can't get him to do anything that he doesn't want to do, because he is Just. That. Stubborn.

*bangs head*

I really don't know what any of this means. I just don't want him to accidentally default on the bill and get our gas cut off or something, or slap me with half the late fee/penalty when it finally catches up to him.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

This is from the October 23rd issue of Time magazine, "How credit cards soak you", p. 90:

"Card companies are weighing a fee for people who pay their balance every month."

Well, isn't that grand.

I stand by my old adage of "TRUST NO ONE" when it comes to any entity that attempts to profit off of you.

You can never let your guard down, can you? Argh.

Today, our department had a little Halloween party, with prizes given out for best costume.

I went as Sadako, from The Ring. I simply wore a white dress, and let my hair down.

It worked. Everyone recognized me immediately, and were totally wigged out. I ended winning both Scariest Costume *and* Best Overall Costume.

Here's the photo.

I got a Sensi-Cush (aka Super-Squishy) pillow as my prize.

Hee!

Went shopping, as expected, on 10/28. Bought:

- mushrooms: $1.81
- eggs: $0.99
- scallions: $0.80/bunch
- tofu (2 boxes): $0.99/each
- coconut milk: $1.20/can
- green curry paste: $0.90

Total: $7.68

I made a perfectly passable Thai green curry with those last two items. Since one can of green curry paste suffices for two cans of coconut milk (I'm too wussy for the full-strength dose), that comes out to $1.65 for the curry sauce. Add in veggies for the sauce and plenty of rice to serve the curry over, and you have quite a memorable dinner for $2 - $3.

And a proper green curry at a Thai restaurant would put one back around $10 around here. And one is never sure if fish/shrimp paste gets into it. Since I'm becoming more paranoid about the vegetarianism of Thai food by the minute, this affords me valuable peace of mind, especially since I can't always get a straight answer from waitpeople.

Man, I love my HK grocery.

I got hit up for another loan from a colleague today.

$200.

He's going home to India at the end of October until Thanksgiving, and I guess he needs a cash advance before his next paycheck. He even said he'll write me a check beforehand, and let me know when I can cash it.

I haven't gotten back the $300 I lent another colleague earlier this month.

Yes, it has apparently gotten around that I am the one sitting on top of wads and wads of cash.

Ironically, I earn less than ALL of them.

I'm more amused than annoyed, really. All of my colleagues are good friends, and I'm totally willing to help them out if it's in my power.

But I don't know how far I should let this go, or where I should draw the line. Could this turn into a slippery slope? Will they get used to this, and continue asking for loans, even for non-emergencies?

Once I get my desired cash flow scheme in place, I won't have as much of a buffer to hand out large loans. Yes, I'll still have loads in ING, but everything there is earmarked, and transferring money in and out constantly is not the most convenient of tasks.

I guess I'm just not sure if I'm being a doormat or a good friend.

Knowing me, though, I'll probably loan him the money. I do have enough to spare currently. And I like the 'pre-writing a check' idea. Maybe I'll institute that as a future loan policy.

I hit two stores today, for the first grocery shopping trip of the month.

First, M&M Farms for produce:

- day old bread: $1.59
- buttermilk: $1.19
- bananas (7): $1.02 ($0.39/lb.)
- apples (3): $1.36 ($0.79/lb.)
- romaine (1 head): $0.99
- broccoli (2): $0.99
- onions (3 lb. bag): $0.99
- lime: $0.17
- ginger: $0.09 ($0.59/lb.)
- green beans: $0.27 ($0.99/lb.)
- bell peppers (3): $1.23 ($0.79/lb.)
- tomatoes: $2.43 ($0.99/lb.)
- spaghetti squash: $2.34 ($0.59/lb.)

Total: $14.66

Then, Costco for bulk nonperishables:

- avocadoes (5): $4.49
- diced tomatoes: ?
- crushed tomatoes: ?
- butter (4 lb.): ?

(Roommate has the receipt. I need to get it back from him.)

Total: $21.42

The spaghetti squash was a treat that I promised myself, and some of the butter is for the SO.

Total for the day was $36.08. I need to hit another store in the next few days to get eggs, tofu, mushrooms, and possibly curry paste. This can't possibly be more than $8.

If a supermarket trip is forthcoming before the end of the month, I'll be getting baby corn, barley, flour tortillas, and possibly graham crackers and pumpkin filling for a pumpkin pie. I don't necessary need any of these items, but supermarket trips are hard to come by when one is car-less and dependent on others for rides.

In any case, grocery budget is right on target. I'm trying to undershoot $60 this month to make up for last month's splurge, and it looks like I'll hit it.

I am back from Atlanta.

I came in amazingly under budget. We can be reimbursed for up to $700, $250 of which is food allowance.

Plane: $173.61
Hotel: $230
Food: $50.33
Misc: $10, but will probably end up being $50.

Since we don't need receipts to claim the food allowance, I can still claim the $250 for food, and actually pocket $200. A part of me feels like it's not right to claim money that I never spent, but considering all the overtime hours I've put in that I never got compensated for, it's hard to feel guilty.

I'll do a more complete post when it's not 3am.

On a totally unrelated topic, airport security is so incredibly ridiculous these days.

On the way there, they checked every single compartment of my bag, and confiscated my bloody peanut butter. Fine, it's a potentially explosive "gel". But any idiot can tell that it's the *nonexplosive* variety of peanut butter, DUH.

I don't understood why they took the peanut butter, but not the poster tubes that can totally be used as clubs.

But the hilarious thing is, they took my peanut butter, but totally missed the RAZOR BLADE that I forgot that I kept in my wallet. I've actually cut myself on that thing, so it *does* work.

Peanut butter vs. razor. Hmmm, I wonder which is more dangerous. Not that my stupid razor is dangerous at all, unless you're, like, a hemophiliac or something, and are dumb enough to swipe your finger across it.

On the way back, I got flagged for having an outdated passport. Oops, I didn't notice, and neither did the airport security folk on the way there.

So I get sent back to the check-in counter for a new boarding pass labelled "SSSS". All that accomplished was wasting my precious time, and separating me from the people I was traveling with. It didn't actually STOP me from getting through eventually, or anything.

But I get routed to the special "suspicious people" line. Whoo-hoo! When I realized that I was in a special line, my first thought was, "I hope this isn't the line for the gas chambers."

So I put all my stuff on the x-ray scanner, and get picked for a random security check! Probably because I have those S's on my boarding pass, and a foreign passport, those racists.

All I could think was, "Way to go, choosing the TINY PACIFICST VEGETARIAN." I don't even kill spiders.

All this hubbub caused me to MISS MY FLIGHT.

Oh, and after all that, they STILL didn't find the razor that was still in my wallet. Because part of me was morbidly curious as to whether I could get away with it a second time.

Yeah, after going through this, I can fully attest that airport security is a total crock that accomplishes absolutely nothing. I don't think they even look that carefully at the x-rays. I'm sure that if I really wanted to, I could have snuck something a lot worse than a razor onto the plane.

I'm glad I don't travel all that often. The frustration would drive me batty.

I was in a panic this morning.

Today is payday, and I didn't see a direct deposit in either of my bank accounts.

Turns out, I got a plain old check this pay period. Three weeks ago, I'd requested that direct deposit be switched from ING to Bank of America. I didn't expect it to stop altogether.

I finally decided to e-mail our business office.

I asked them about my direct deposit stopping instead of switching.

I asked them about the revision to my W-4 that I submitted on 8/8 to change my filing status from "head of house" to "single" that still hasn't taken effect.

I asked them about the revision to my CT-W4 that I submitted 9/18 that asked them to stop withholding taxes from my paycheck, since I've already overpaid my taxes this year. As of today, I was still paying taxes.

I even told them that the last item was urgent, since I needed the money.

I hate bureaucracies. Hopefully, I'll finally get these issues resolved.

BTW, I'll be scarce for the next five days (at least), since I'm leaving Saturday morning for my conference in Atlanta. I'm coming back really late Wednesday night.

I know that my hotel offers a free breakfast, so I was packing some tupperware and ziplocs in case I could sneak some food out.

I noticed that my roommate, despite thoroughly mocking me for washing and reusing ziplocs, now has his own stash of rinsed ziplocs, ready to be reused.

Ha! *smirk*

Just for fun, I crunched the numbers on my Roth IRA, which is invested in Vanguard's Target Retirement 2050 Fund.

Since 8/31, I have invested a total of $7,031.72.

As of today, my Roth is worth $7,284.21.

That's a 3.59% growth in the past 1.5 months, or a monthly growth rate of 2.39%.

Extrapolate this out to a year, and that's an annual growth rate of 28.7%.

If I calculate just by share price, the growth rate becomes 29.9%.

Is this for real??

I'm sure that the growth rate won't actually hit this obscenely high figure, and average annual growth rate will actually end up being more in line with the other Target Retirement funds at 12% to 13%.

But it's still nice to dream.

And my father has started asking me for investment advice, since his retirement fund isn't doing nearly so well (it's actually losing money). ME! And he asked me about variable annuities, and I actually told him some info on those that he didn't know before.

*scurries off to continue reading Business Week Guide to Mutual Funds*

Oy, what is the world coming to??

I'm not sure if I should feel guilty about it.

See, what happened was this.

A colleague (and friend) of mine was ordering a cell phone. She's not very good at English, so she often enlists my help in browsing websites and making phone calls.

I agreed, and we found a plan she liked that offers a free phone (including shipping) and a waived $36 activation fee. We were almost done with ordering it online (she didn't want any of the extra add-ons), when we ran into a box for "discount code".

Now, we know that this particular provider offers a special discount for our institution, and of course we wanted to redeem that.

So I decide to call them up, and ask if there's a special code that I can input. The salesperson on the other line told me that the institutional discount can only be redeemed after an order has been placed, so he couldn't give me a code, but he could give me the number to call to request the discount afterwards.

All right, sounds good.

Except he doesn't give me the number right away, but invited us to place our order through him.

Um, okay, why not, I figured. He probably got a commission on each sale, and if we can order the same (or a better) package, then what's there to lose except a little time?

So I go through, and tell him the plan and phone that we wanted. He confirms that the prices were the same, and the phone was still free.

He just had to offer every single add-on (that we'd already been through online), and I had to turn him down on each one.

Finally, I get to the activation fee. It's waived online, and I ask if it's also waived with him. He sounds confused, and says that he doesn't see this option. I told him, as nicely as I could, that we were very interested in waiving the activation fee, and if he can't get that for us, then I'll just go ahead and order everything online.

Here's where things got really weird.

I was expecting him to let me go, but instead, he started to argue with me.

No, he highly recommends ordering the phone through him, because he can personally place the order, and make sure that the phone arrives on time. If the order were placed online, it would not get immediate attention, and a mistake could be made. The phone delivery might get delayed, or not arrive at all!

Umm, let's just say that throughout this entire heartfelt speech, I was mentally calling BS on every single thing he said.

I was *positive* that he was getting a sales commission now.

But what about the activation fee, I ask again.

His reply? Not to worry! He'll give me the phone number to call for the discount, and when I'm calling, I can also ask to have the activation fee be waived. And speaking of the discount, I would need an order number to redeem it, and he can give that to me if he places my order.

Uh-huh, like the online website won't give me a confirmation number and e-mail with the same exact information.

I press him again about the activation fee. Is it guaranteed to be waived if I call the number he gives?

He waffles on the answer, something along the lines of, "If you can't get it waived, you can cancel the order without charge, and re-order it online". He obviously has no idea, and no way was I going through *that* trouble.

Finally, I gently tell him that I'll place the order online, so could he please stop holding the phone number hostage already.

He reluctantly relents, and sounds very, very peeved at me.

At this point, I've probably spent 20 to 30 minutes on the phone with this man. And I knew within the first 2 minutes that he couldn't help me with my original question (discount code).

And still, I was willing to order through him and have him earn a commission if he could get me the same deal as online. He couldn't, and he had the gall to spew BS at me, and be mad at me when I didn't bite?

Afterwards, I find out that the waived activation fee was only offered for ONLINE orders. Probably so that they don't have to pay salespeople like him to take orders.

All this trouble to save my friend $36.

I never trusted salespeople to begin with, and this certainly didn't help matters. I didn't *want* to cost him a commission, or even his job, but DAMN was that ANNOYING!

In other news, I lent this same friend $300 today, because I am apparently Ms. Moneybags. I do trust her to pay me back, but the amount is making me feel a little uncomfortable. She says she can return it by the end of the month, but I'll ask if she can return it before November 1st, since I don't know if my direct deposit will switch in time, and I want to be able to make rent without having to transfer money out of ING.

I have paid for a meal out for the first time in recent memory.

The last time I remember going out was... two years ago? For a friend's birthday dinner?

If I recall, I didn't even enjoy it that much (didn't like the cuisine), but that's besides the point.

Yeah, it's been that long.

But last week, I randomly ran into a high school friend on the street. She wanted to go out to dinner, hang out, and catch up. I agreed.

So today, I spent $8 on a dinner out with her. Afterwards, I tagged along while she went to a few other meetings/events, and got free pastries, hot chocolate, and a slice of pizza.

I think it was worth it. I don't want to make a habit out of this, but she wants to learn how to cook from me, so we may have found a cheaper alternative in the future.

In any case, $8 is worth preserving (reviving?) a friendship. I am content.

I'm in a good mood, despite having to stay really late at work (until 8pm).

There was a scientic vendor exhibition today, which offered a free pizza lunch, as well as candies and giveaways at each vendor's booth.

And those who know me will know for sure that my motto is, "If there's free food, I am THERE!"

So, on top of getting free pizza (with lemonade, a can of Coke, and cake for dessert), I also collected more chocolate munchies than one can shake a stick at. I also got a mousepad, a mini-stapler, a keychain flashlight, an envelope opener, a large plastic cup, lots of pens, and a yo-yo.

So the yo-yo is kind of random, but whatever. Everything else is really useful, and I'd never buy the candies and soda for myself, so they're a real treat when I can get them for free.

Upon getting home, I decided to raid the kitchen cabinet of the previous tenant in my apartment. She apparently left behind pasta and a large container of pasta sauce, among other goodies.

So I chopped up some veggies, and made pasta with sauce, using her stash.

Total food expenditure for today: half an onion, and half a crown of broccoli. Oh, and some olive oil.

I might make some garlic bread from my own food stores before the night is out, but all in all, not a bad deal.

10/1
- rent: $500
- credit card: $69.99
- B&N: $7.52
- cable modem: $25
- electric: $32

10/6
- $13, rount-trip Amtrak tickets
- $1.25, shuttle bus

10/9
- Ivy Noodle: $8
- $1.25, shuttle bus

10/20
- $12, round-trip Amtrak tickets
- $1.25, shuttle bus

10/23
- $1.25, shuttle bus
- $35, parking

10/25
- M&M: $14.66
- Costco: $21.42

10/28
- HK market: $7.68

Today is payday.

Funny how I always wake up insanely early to check my bank accounts for direct deposits on these days.

Good news is that my 403(b) deductions have finally started. The deposit is down $200, from $995 to $795.

Bad news is that direct deposit hasn't switched from ING to BoA yet, and they are still deducting taxes, even though I faxed in new forms instructing them not to. And I don't see the 403(b) in my Vanguard account yet.

Maybe by the next pay cycle...

*impatient*

So my grocery budget from yesterday that I killed...

Well, I killed it even deader now.

I think I just mentally gave up on it. I was just like, "Screw it, it's the end of the month, I have to go shopping, and I'm over budget anyway," and just went ahead and got everything that I wanted.

- buttermilk: $1.19
- grapes: $3.39 ($1.29/lb.)
- cucumbers (2): $0.41 ($0.69/lb.)
- daikon radish: $0.97 ($0.69/lb.)
- nappa: $1.97 ($0.69/lb.)
- onions (3 lb. bag): $1.49
- potatoes (5 lb. bag): $1.99
- broccoli (2 stalks): $1.29
- apples (3): $1.08 ($0.89/lb.)
- celery (1 stalk): $0.99
- bell peppers (2): $1.01 ($0.79/lb.)
- scallions (1 bunch): $0.69
- watermelon: $1.05 ($0.39/lb.)
- garlic (2 heads): $0.49 ($1.69/lb.)
- avocados (3): $0.99/each

Spent $20.94 on produce today. I did get a fair amount of food, and I should be set for weeks, but... d'oh.

$96.49 for the month of September. Budget allows for $60.

But! I am *not* shopping again until after my trip to Atlanta, 10/14 - 10/18. And we get an allowance of up to $50/day for food during those five days. And food is the only expense for which we do not need a receipt for reimbursement.

If I can keep my food expense down those five days but still get reimbursed for $250 total, I should be able to, erm, make up for this month's... indiscretions. And since breakfast is included with my hotel, I can load up on it and coast through the rest of the day.

Yeah...