I'm Always the Brokest the Day Before Payday

Only this week, I've gotten an early start!! How is it that 15 years ago, I made half what I do now, and managed a car payment, a higher mortgage payment, and still did just fine? Fast forward to present times, and the mortgage is lower, the car is paid for (thank God), but...hmmm....where does all my money go?? Money talks, allright. Mine is always saying "bye bye." I noticed my sneaky trash pickup service raised their quarterly rate by almost $7 this billing cycle! Didn't bother to tell anyone, either. Maybe they thought I wouldn't notice. Trust me, I track every penny. I'm online every day balancing my checkbook and searching for any bank errors in my favor.

Then there's the wonderful health insurance. I now pay $246.00 a month. Less than two years ago I paid $168.00 and griped about it. It's never good when you get those official-looking letters from your insurance company or cable company. They always start with, "As you know the cost of providing our services to you in these economic times....bla bla bla." Stop reading  and save the time. That's their way of trying to soften the blow of another price increase.

You know one way companies could save a LOT of money, and pass those savings along to you and me?? I do all my banking online. Why do they waste trees, postage, ink and printing costs to mail me those stupid flyers every month or so telling me that they respect my privacy?? I freakin' hope so!! You shouldn't feel the need to reassure me of that all the time. I just see that as more corporate waste that I'm getting to pay for. Yet these same companies moan and whine about their expenses. Big corporations waste thousands of dollars a year on printing stuff that everyone throws away without reading. What happened to common sense? You have these people with fancy job titles making big money thinking of stupid ways to spend the company's money that ends up costing us consumers in the end. I have a keen eye for corporate waste and excess, and I see it every day when I go into a business or store. Look around your work place. Do you see things they could save money on, without cutting your pay or not giving you yearly raises? I bet you do.

Saving on Electricity

Check this out for tons of ideas on how to not faint when the power bill comes: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/

I've just glanced over it, but looks like there is a lot of good advice there. I remember when I was a kid, my aunt would complain about her outrageous power bill. I think it was all of $16 back then. You can't even run a refrigerator for a month on that. I cringe at work when people talk about power bills that run more than my house payment! If that happened to me, I'd be living naked under the bridge near work. That's a scary thought!!

Free Books!!!

This is so cool! Paperback Swap (see link on left) lets you list your unwanted books and swap for ones you want. I've only been on there a few days and have already ordered a book and sent one out. The books are free;  you just pay shipping by media mail, which is much less than the cost of a paperback. Great way to save money, save trees and do the "green thing." Check it out!

The Help....Another Must Read

I've wanted to read this book, but now I want to read it even more. There was a great interview yesterday in the Birmingham News with a lady from Montgomery who is slated to play in the movie. Her mother was a real-life housekeeper to white people in the 70's and 80's. Even as late as the 1980's, the discrimination she faced was unreal. I felt like I was reading something from 100 years ago as I read how some of her employers treated her. Back then, the African-Americans who were hired help to the whites couldn't exactly easily file a discrimination lawsuit. How would they prove it? The interview just whetted my desire to read the book and see the movie even more. Hopefully Friday's payday will see a few things on my Amazon wish list come off the wish list and land in my shopping cart!! If anyone has read it yet, let me know what you think.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

OK, I'm convinced Mother Nature has screwed up her calendar! I'm not this old.....why, just yesterday my family was amazed by the invention of the Polaroid camera. It actually developed the picture while you looked at it. Of course, it was always way too dark, but still....instant pics, just like magic. I have many high school friends and others my age who have grandkids. How can they?? We're not that old.


Every year on my birthday, I follow the same ritual (which began when I was about 30-something). I run straight to the mirror, and spend a good 10 minutes examining my face for signs of aging. Is there a slight crease there that wasn't there yesterday? Did I sprout a mustache overnight? Hmmm....that wrinkle looks a little deeper today than it did last week. Uh-oh, my crow's feet look more like ostrich footprints. Is that a new freckle from using those wonderful shiny silver tanning blankets back when I was in high school? Complete with the baby oil/betadine combo to assure a deep, dark tropical tan.

So after you hit 30....then 40....things slow down. Every day you get up and another body part seems to have fallen off or malfunctioned. You know where every clean restroom is for a 50-mile radius. Your list of doctors has their own section in your cell phone. You start counting down till you can claim that "you're 50 and you're old so we give you a discount" that some stores offer. You wondered why granny always complained about her back hurting, or her knees, or the arthritis in her gnarled hands. Now you know. A child has no perception at all of what pain is. You just can't fathom foot pain until you've had it. If you want to find out what it's like, I highly recommend a career in nursing. Just a few short years of 12+ hour shifts on your feet, and you will have it, along with a bonus of swollen feet and those funny little spider veins. Your feet will look like a roadmap of Los Angeles. But it is excellent bladder training. You learn to hold it until you sit down (for the first time) at 4:00 to eat lunch. You also learn to eat when you're not hungry, just because it's convenient. Now you know why nurses wear elastic waist scrubs. It's a growing profession in more ways than one.

Time to go to bed. Yes, I'm a year older....but it sure does beat the alternative!!