You Are What you Spend

So I haven’t posted this week…This week at work has kicked my butt. Early mornings, late nights. And the only time I tried, blogspot deleted my post accidentally and I got demoralized. Anyways. Last Sunday I saw this great article in the Times about true currency – the amount of time you have to spend at work to gain the right amount of purchasing power. The argument that the article makes is that income isn’t the right metric to compare level of financial wealth – instead, household consumption is a better metric. As international imports have driven COGS down, economists argue, people have greater purchasing power, so the gap between the wealthy and the poor is only 4 to 1 instead of 18 to 1 based on income. I don’t know if it’s entirely encouraging, considering the level of debt that we’re facing as a nation due to this purchasing power. But at least the stratification seems less dire.

You are what you spend. If that’s true, I’m a bottle of wine. I’m supposed to be watching what I spend this month, and for the most part I’ve done pretty well, except for alcohol. The only truly nonessential thing I’ve bought besides drinking/socializing with friends was a $20 purse at Target. Considering how long I carry bags, a really great investment! Again, I think the questions are around priorities. I’m not going to stop socializing with friends, but I think my biggest opportunity is to minimize the bar tab when I’m already out. One drink only challenge?

Credit Score Surprises

When I finally got my credit report (which looked good, although I didn’t opt to pay the $9.95 or whatever it was for my actual credit score) there were only two surprises: apparently I still have my American Eagle credit card open from when I was oh, sixteen (balance-less, thankfully). And, two, I am still recorded as an authorized user of one of my parent’s credit cards. I forgot I had it, but I do have it buried in a drawer at my place – my parents wanted me to have it as a last-ditch safety net of sorts. In case of emergencies. However, I started wondering if this affects my credit rating in any way, and started investigating. Not that I necessarily think my credit rating is better than theirs, but now I’m curious. The answer I found: up until now, yes – you were associated with the credit of the actual user. So you have the perks of their line of credit, but also have all of their credit flaws attached to your record as well (late payments, etc.).

But according to WikiAnswers, this will be changing this year, and the use of authorized user accounts will no longer be involved in the computation of the FICO score, and there will probably be a negative impact as a result:

The '08 version of the FICO scoring software, available in September 2007, will completely bypass any accounts listed as Authorized User. Fair Isaac expects that about 30% of consumers will see a drop in their FICO score as a result of this.

These two sources also paint the other side of the picture – the “guilt by association” effect of being an authorized user... we shall see when this takes effect.
BCS Alliance
Bankrate

Awesome Site for Frugal Food: CookThink.com

Ever since English Major’s Money blogged about batch cooking, I've been wanting to give it a shot. I'm thinking it will hopefully help with my compulsion impulses – when something is in front of me, I want to consume it immediately. So while it saves on planning and money, I'm hoping it might help with the calories too.

Before I got started I found this website: that helps out with inspiration. You can select your “mood” and CookThink spits out recipe ideas that match how you’re feeling. Everything from “grassy” to “spontaneous” to “elegant.” The more interesting way it works when it comes to frugal cooking: you can search based on ingredient, so you can figure out what you can make for dinner with what you already have in your pantry. Here’s what I tried:

• Spicy Penne with Shrimp and Mint
• Chicken Kebabs with Broccoli & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

YUM!

Romance Under $5

Amazing - at my caucus location last night, only 58 people were there at the last election. This year, around 400 people voted!

Now that the politics are over, it's time for love. This year my Valentine's Day plan with the Guy is simple: I'm going to Whitecastle. For those not in the know, on 2/14 they dress up the place to a white tablecloth style restaurant and you can eat sliders with knife and fork if you like. I've actually never been, so I'm excited for the cute kitsch of it all. Even more excited to not have to spend oodles on a romantic dinner. Romance is not about spending dollars.

More ideas for cheap romance:
Visit an Architectural Salvage store / Long Drive to find a Star Gazing Spot / Bake Cookies Together / People Watching at a Coffee Shop / Play Board Games or Card Games together / Create a “Theme Night” Ex. Paris: Baguette, cheese, French wine

Any other good ideas out there?

Super Tuesday

Woohoo, super Tuesday. Regardless of the results [go obama!], I will be most excited to see the record turnout of people participating in govt at the primary level.

(And if you happen to live in my fine state of MN, here's your caucus locations!)

Plus... Feb Goals & Beyond.

Feb:
- File taxes
- Ban on elevators. I'm going to take the stairs whenever there is an option to do so
- Minimize "nonessential" spending; set "weekend" budgets

& Beyond:
- My new goal is to pay down ALL credit card debt by my birthday, April 8th! What better birthday present! I can't wait to get onto my other goals... :o)

Questions to Ask Yourself

Over the weekend, I came across the show The Millionaire Inside, and started watching "debt confessions" on late-night TV... in my near slumber-stupor, the moderator of the program seemed unreasonably harsh. They kept posing these impossible questions: "What is more important to you - your home or your business? What is more important to you - changing jobs to something you love or getting married?" Insane!

Glad I'm not at the point where I need to be answering such questions. However, it does raise the all important question of choices and priorities in my own financial life. It's nice to phrase this as a tradeoff. Too often I make choices by assuming that I have to do something, because it's part of me. For instance, I'm not going to stop all of my weekend social activity to save money, because I'm in my early twenties. It would be foolish for me to be a hermit until I have reached 100% of my financial goals, because then I'll be in my early forties... and it's less fun to dance on the bar then.

However, I can start posing the priorities/choices question: what is more important to me now? Having 3 more drinks? Or being able to pay off $30 more of my credit card? Taking cabs all over town? Or being a little closer to having my emergency fund whole? Or even questions among questions: going out to a concert or being able to eat out once more this month? I think I'm going to focus on making better choices within my priorities (being social, but practicing some good cost avoidance while I'm out there!)