Thursday, January 5, 2012

It's Time for Another Brain Dump


So I came to bed the other night.  I am laying there tossing and turning as is my usual MO, when Hubs started laughing.  I turned to make a sarcastic remark to him and saw he was dead asleep!
I have never known him to laugh in his sleep.  I was almost tempted to wake him up just to see what was so darn funny that I was missing.


I could have used a laugh after having Daughter home again for 15+ days.
Why oh why do winter college breaks have to be so loooooong?!  I don't remember mine dragging out for MORE than a MONTH!!
I love the girl but geez, she is Drama Central and High Maintenance.
Plus she and the youngest don't get along, which ramps up the negative energy around here.
I sort of got use to having some tranquility in my life the past few months.

And yes, both of my college student kids brought me Dirty Laundry for Christmas!
Fortunately, they both have working appendages and can run the washer themselves because after I told them what it was going to cost them to have ME do their stinking laundry, they made time to take care of that chore themselves.
Some day......I'll get them fully trained. ;-)



I am happy with how the whole eBay thing turned out this season.  The weirdos and stoopid buyers are good for a laugh(usually that's after the fact, NOT while I'm having to deal with them!lol).  I didn't have any buyers flake on me and not pay....this is a FIRST for the Holidays!
I sold a good deal for ok to good prices but there were some big ticket items that didn't go before Christmas.  I put the store on vacation settings about 5 days before Christmas because, from past experience, I KNOW I don't want to deal with the panicked last-minute Christmas buyers.
Ever.
Again.
I was going to wait a week or two into January to open the store back up, but a little voice instead of me said, whattheheck!....open it up the week after Christmas.
And I'm glad I did because I sold 3 of those big ticket items between Christmas and New Years!
Go me! ;-)


Hubs was home all week from work from the day before Christmas until  this past Tuesday.
I'll just say this.....
3 kids, 1 husband and 2 annoying dogs for 1 week solid can drive a person to drink.


I think this Husband Day Care is a GREAT idea!
I just remembered it's alternative name....the BAR.lol

Between my glasses of wine nerve medicine, Hubs and I got some quality couples time in and did some paperwork/filing/getting stuff together for taxes so it's not all on me to slog through.  We also sat down and went through our goals for 2012 and went through the financial stuff to see just where we are with the money at the moment.
Speaking of money, I am trying hard to ignore the fact that I have to write checks amounting to $15,000+ in the coming weeks.   It's the price we pay to keep the two oldest in college and NOT HOME!


Funny Spam Time!
I did a review of a product back during the summer of 2010.  It was a boxed supper-type product called "Good Earth"....it's from Betty Crocker or something and based on the meals they serve at Good Earth eateries, of which there are NONE around here, so I am clueless as to what they serve.
Anyway, I get a comment to moderate about 6 weeks ago.....a comment posted on that Blog Post from over a year ago.


Here is the blog post title...."Good Earth Review and GIVEAWAY TIME!"

Here is the comment......verbatim....
"okay so i have to read the good earth for school but it is soo boring every time i try to read it i doze off because it is soo boring.  HELP!"


Yes folks, she thought my product review was a review of the classic book, THE GOOD EARTH by Pearl S. Buck.
I should have directed her to the excellent old movie of the book with Paul Muni and Luise Ranier.  I believe Ms. Ranier won an Oscar for that role?(I just looked and Ms. Ranier is still alive at 101 and is having a birthday next Thursday!)
Of course, if the commenter found the book boring I kinda think she'd find the film stinko too.  Maybe an updated version starring Lucy Liu and Jet Li as poor dirt farmers in rural China would be more exciting to her?  Or maybe not......


What I DO know is that Mormons are H.O.T.
I have more keyword searches hit on my blog for this one word than any othere topic.
Maybe I need to talk about Mormons and my favorite "Plig" family more often?
Or I could just direct you over to This Blog HERE to get your fix of Those Wacky Browns.
Thanks go out to 444 Express for the heads up on that blog.
*And on a side note--don't Google Search Images for the word "Plig"....unless you are looking for lots of images of pigs.

Other keywords sending me viewers recently are.....
cat hoarding
cat hoarders(these are perennially among my tops search words....WTF?!?!)
mead xpanz 2" organizer binder, new release (huh?)
good grades in school ornament

And my most popular post last week was my BRAIN DUMP from mid November!
Really?
That train wreck of wackiness gets 144 pageviews and saving $34 THOUSAND DOLLARS in 1 year gets 20???
Even my jackwagon Sunny D and Rum(yum, yum)post got 49 hits.
I give up!
People are wacked......

And speaking of wack jobs....


There is a blog(which shall not be named here)I have off and on followed for a year or so.  It touts itself as a PF(thats "Personal Finance" to all you non-PF peeps)blog.  She isn't a prolific blogger like yours truly, but she posted a monthly networth accounting and then shortly afterwards, a spending accouting each month.  After a few months I noticed that her networth always went up yet her spending was always MORE than her income.  After seeing this consistently I commented and was "pooh-poohed" with the retort that her checkbook always balances out and any overage is covered by their savings.....though they never show this savings acct. in their accounting each month.
The numbers just didn't add up for me.

And over the year she continued to overspend their income by $1K to $2K each month(except for 1 month when it was only $250+).  They never lived within their income a single month in the last year.

And then she stopped posting her spending report this past summer and soon after her networth report.
When they bought a rental property when they had no money to do so and it needed renovations as well, and they continued to spend on frivolous crap(eating out and expensive hobbies)and had HELOC loans, credit card balances, 2 student loans still(in their 30's) each month, along with all the other bills and a mortgage, I threw up my hands.

Let's review--
Spending more each month than you make.
Buying rental property with advances on credit cards and HELOCs.
Buying rental property that needs renovating and you don't have the cash and/or the ability to do any of the work yourself.
Still paying off Student loans will into your 30's.
Eating out and spending large amounts on food each month.
Spending on non-essentials like fancy manis, hair salons, coffee, clothing.
Taking in rescue cats that have chronic conditions that need serious vet care(surgery/pills/etc.)on an ongoing basis.
Going on expensive vacations.

While she is NOT giving out financial advise, I hope people don't see this as a good example of how to handle your finances.
Of course, she is not disclosing everything so there may be money stuff coming in/going out that the blog doesn't show(and after her previous blog was brought to my attention, I honestly believe this is true), so I shouldn't judge her just from what she posts.
It's just my humble opinion folks that she has a long way to go in her money journey.  I just hate to see people make that journey to Money Valhalla even longer and more painful than is has to be.



I really need to sit down and figure out where the blog and my life by default is going in 2012.  I need to set some new goals and review old goals to see what still works for me and what I need to trash.
I also need to update/redo the blog list as it is sorely out of date.
In addition, I have to get rid of the Holiday theme and find something a tag more exciting than my green background.   Hopefully what I come up with won't hurt your eyes like a Mexican Bus....



Sluggy

12 comments:

  1. I think that's an Afghan bus...it looks like it's covered in blankets.

    And, I thought The Good Earth was a good book. It's the boxed meal that was boring.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OK, I can guess on this one "organizer binder" because I won one in a fabulous Sluggy Give-away last year!

    BTW, I now have three full pallets of stuff in the garage. Poor hubs did not realize he would need the past two years of tax returns (our W2s) for the new mortgage app. I packed them away and last night he had to dig through the whole pile to find them.

    For me, 2012 is not going to be about frugally finding things... It's gonna be about not finding things (tax returns and other important financial documents aside).

    Let's carry on the Big Purge!!!!

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  3. "I love the girl but geez, she is Drama Central and High Maintenance.
    I sort of got use to having some tranquility in my life the past few months."-I think that you and I are living the same life. Anna had a flip out at Target yesterday. I white trashed it and started yelling.
    Well, if it helps this will soon be ending and they will be headed back off to college. DJ was talking about staying home and going to a local college. Den and I talked and decided that he wants to leave the house.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I knew which blog you were speaking of instantly, Sluggy. I don't think she's giving advice though ... I think she's just reporting on her finances. I defintately don't consider her a numbnut.

    Before her current blog, she kept another blog detailing her financial life in NYC... it was actually a very real story of a couple of young Midwesterners following a dream to live and work in NYC. When they realized that they just couldn't get ahead in NYC, they set up a financial plan to move and methodically searched for a new city.

    They had a rental house on the East Coast, but sold that and their NYC property to make the move (they did make a decent profit on their NYC condo and I think they may have made a small profit on the rental). I think the plan was always for them to buy (finance) another rental property to diversify their income stream down the road. They have more of a Rich Dad, Poor Dad mindset than a Dave Ramsey mindset when it comes to real estate.

    Her DH finished grad school just before they left NYC, so I'm guessing some of the student loan debt is from his degree since it's pretty recent. The author also has a Masters in some fine art - don't remember the specifics, except that it really wasn't worth it to her financially.

    I enjoy reading yor blog, Sluggy. I just wanted to comment about this because I really enjoy the other blogger as well. Her old blog was much more informative and detailed financially ... I think knowing her history paints her current financial picture in a totally different light. I think she has made a great deal of progress over the years - click on one of her net worth charts and look at the archives and you will see that she's doubled her net worth and retirement savings since she started keeping track in 2009.

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  5. Annie--You're right about the book vs. meal thang....the bus, not so much. ;-)

    AlexM--Ah, I forgot about the binder giveaway....maybe you are right! And I am all in for the Purging to continue! The thought of pallett-ing up my life scares me. You are one brave woman! It will help make for a smooth and speedier move tho...

    SonyaAnn--Hmm, shouldn't you confine your white trash cat fights to Walmart? Target is more the soccer mom/starbucks cat fight territory, isn't it?
    I do agree that no kid should live at home while in college! Maybe we can get some sort of bill passed in Congress?

    Anonymous--would have been nice if you had posted your name hon. ;-)
    I am a bad bad person I guess. Perhaps I was too quick to judge. While she wasn't giving advise per se, I hope nobody took her journey in the last year as an example of how to proceed in life. Obviously, she is young(a lot younger than me!lol)and is at a much different place with money and her life than me. I should treat her with more grace. I take back the numbnut comment and will delete it as it was sort of harsh and bordering on mean spirited. Thank you for bringing my words to my attention.
    Having not known her in her previous blog I'll just take your word that she has something worthwhile to add to the conversation. But I still think if she continues on her current path(as the numbers on the blog show), she headed for some hard times.
    But what do I know, right? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. My little college monster leaves in 16 days so I totally understand. Like to see her come home..love to see her go back!

    Did you miss me? Did Mark behave? Did Sonya really do the white trash thing in Targe? I told her only walmart and dollar tree for that?

    Oh well I am off to do more laundry! I missed you guys!

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  7. hehehe you said numbnut heheheheheh

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  8. Oh my, I'm glad I waited to comment until today. Nothing turns me on more than two girls fighting. Okay, so you're really not fight. As it is, you're actually having a civilized conversation. But a boy can dream, can't he?
    Anyway, I don't think that college student is going to do very well in life if she thought your Good Earth post was about the Classic. I mean, if she can't even read your post, she's not going to make it through an entire book.
    And, I told you before that I love this red. Please keep your change in this color choice.
    m.

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  9. Judy--I guess you will sign our Congress petition about outlawing college breaks then?lol

    And I removed the numbnut comment....it was a tad mean spirited. I am trying to be a kinder and gentler Sluggy in 2012, even if it KILLS me! ;-)

    Mark--The Good Earth gal didn't say if she was a college student...I was hoping she was a high schooler and even that still gives me no hope for the up and coming generations.lol

    We will keep your love of red in mind when we go about the redesign. I'm more of a purple and green gal myself....

    PS-Who doesn't like a good girl cat fight?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Slugmama, you ALWAYS make me laugh. The laundry and college tuition brought back memories. My youngest son would bring home at least a month's worth of laundry every time he came home. I was so glad when we were done paying college tuition. I could have purchased 5 cars for what it cost me to send the youngest to private college. But one of memories of that era that used to really tick me off was when the parking tickets he would get on campus because he didn't park in the right place,showed up on my tuition bills. ARGH!

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  11. I love your dumps. Hmmm...that sounds weird. I am with Mark...I love the red. It is my favorite color.

    Someday the kids won't come home for extended stays anymore. And it is wonderful! (I know I am a bad mom.)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I like the red. You could leave the Christmas thing up all year. Or, change it to hot pink. Why would anyone blog about their worsening finances without saying things are getting worse? It seems that person would just want to say--I can be foolish and still survive. Do I need to hear that? NO!

    People who take in rescue anything and cannot afford to live themselves are nut looking for praise, in my opinion. I get out of their company as fast as I can.

    Blogs where people chronicle their downward spiral with posts full of excuses why they need these upgrades to house/car/wardrobe/toys and suggest others can do it too are dangerous to themselves and readers. No suggestion or comment is welcome unless it it is praise or pity. They will cut you off at the ankles if you suggest another way to live without spending. Not my problem, thankfully...lol.

    That's funny about the laundry.

    ReplyDelete

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