Give Him A Little Credit

Faithful readers, a little advice is needed...

I have a close friend who is having a little trouble. He's in his late 20's, and he doesn't have a credit rating. It's not that he has bad credit, it's just that he has no credit. No student loans, no major credit cards of his own, always had co-signers on a lease. And apparently having paid his utilities and having checking and savings accounts for years aren't enough.

And... since now we're in a big national credit crunch and the "Would you like a VISA with those fries?" heady days of yore are over, he's starting to have some real problems over this. He has been denied for his first major credit card application, even from his own bank. and the top cable company denied him service.

So.... my advice to him is that he should get some low-credit-threshold store cards, like from Best Buy or something, and just make small purchases and pay off the bill every month.

What else can he do? Does anyone else have advice on how to build good credit? The advice would be greatly appreciated...

Technology is So Yesterday*

Wouldn't you think that every time you upgrade to a new piece of personal electronics, it would actually be an improvement on the old model? Well, caveat emptor.

I just went through the kinda fun process of realizing that I have long since qualified for Verizon's new-every-2, and replaced my 3-year-old Motorola with the dying battery with a new purpley-blue Samsung model. I'm typically a very late adopter when it comes to technology, so I don't need lots of new-fangled stuff. My criteria for a new phone? It can make calls and send texts. That's it, that's all I wanted. The Samsung model I found online seemed pretty decent - fitting both of those criteria - and even though I didn't really care about getting a camera phone, they just about all come that way now so I was ready to accept it.

I got the new phone about 2 weeks ago now and have been getting to know it (no time wasted reading a manual, of course!). And, sadly, I'm finding out that even while it does perform the basic functions I need, this Samsung baby is missing a few of the features I really liked about the Motorola oldie-but-goodie.

The new one doesn't have "Get It Now!" capabilities, which AS warned me about but I didn't really know what that meant. Turns out, that's the way you can download cool ringtones. This phone? No cool ringtones. I'm stuck with the horrible, tinny, Casiotone-esque choices that come with the phone - like Bell 2 or Melody 5. Ick. What happened to a plain old ringer style, if nothing else? So, the new phone is permanently on vibrate. I *so* don't want to be that person with the obnoxious ring on the bus.

And... the latest downgrade I discovered this week? While the new phone is adequate in its texting capabilities, I suffered a great loss as I realized while clicking through the punctuation options for the #1 key...and clicking through....and clicking through... no parentheses! What?!? How can they have gotten rid of the parentheses? No more smiley-faces for me? But that's a huge part of my texting charm! :-) Alas, I must now always resort to sticking my tongue out- :-p How sad.

On another matter... does anyone have any luck with buying external CD/DVD drives? My trusty laptop stopped recognizing or working with blank CDs months ago - long after the 2-year warranty ran out. So while I can still play CDs and DVDs, I can no longer write to CDs. That means I haven't backed up my hard drive - with its growing iTunes library - in more than a year. A little scary. My choices right now are either: (1) pay for the laptop to be fixed, for who knows how much money and who knows how long a time without it; (2) upgrade to a new laptop - always tempting, though this doesn't really seem to justify it; or (3) spend about 100 bucks on an external drive. Option 3 seems to be the easiest bet. Any thoughts?

* I can't take credit for this great post title - that belongs to Joyous, who uttered this great line in the midst of one of our emoticon-free texts this week!

I Did It!

Have you seen that new commercial for Jenny Craig, where Valerie Bertinelli gets all teary-eyed? She says she's so excited to wake up on New Year's morning this year, because for the first time ever she won't have to make a resolution of losing weight. Well, I am just as darn excited as Ms. Bertinelli.... because although I'll still have to make that particular resolution this year, I can finally cross another one off my list!

Every year on January 1, I bang my head against the wall (metaphorically) and say "This year, I will FINALLY get my finances in order." And, ta dah! 2007 was actually the year I did it!

With this week's paycheck, I have now completely paid off my credit cards. That's $7,000 in one year, folks. Hooray!

I'm not the most spendy person in the world - usually my biggest expenses are restaurant meals, short weekend trips, and boxes from Amazon.com. But, this is an expensive city to live in (ahem, RENT!), and over the last 5 years I'd racked up the aforementioned debt. Even selling my car back in 2004, for which I got almost $4k, wasn't enough to put a major dent in it.

But, finally, thanks to a nice Christmas bonus, a fat tax refund, some strategy in maximizing balance transfers and interest rates, some self-discipline in planning travel and curbing online impulse buys, and - most importantly - reaching that blissful point in my life where my INCOME is greater than my EXPENSES (took me 'til I was 32!), I've actually kept my resolution!

What a feeling of relief. Happy debt-free dance of joy!

And, the best part is.... I'm NOT actually thinking about where to start spending money next! :-)

The Tipping Point

I am so traumatized.

I was just sitting here, checking my scores on my NCAA tourney challenge entry and watching Keith Olbermann. When suddenly, trusty cat Cleo started to freak out. She was running around in the far corner of the living room, jumping and seeming to attack something.

Then she turned and ran across the room and I could see that she had something in her mouth.

Something with a tail.

A tail that was wiggling.

HOLY FREAKING MOTHER CRAP DAMN HELL WHAT?!?!?!?

She had a live mouse in her mouth!

I started screaming. Seriously, screaming "oh my god! oh my god! what do I do? what do I do?"

I chased her down and she dropped the mouse, which was clearly damaged and couldn't run away. It was grotesquely squirming around. I dropped a paper plate on top of it.

I seriously didn't know what to do. I live on a 5th floor apartment. No outside access. I did not know what to do with this mouse. And Cleo was pawing at the paper plate trying to get the mouse. FREAK OUT. FREAK FREAK FREAK.

I grabbed another paper plate and - still yelling and basically having a meltdown - I sorta shuffled the still grossly squirming mouse in between the two plates. I still DID NOT KNOW what to do with it, so I did the first thing that came to mind.

I flushed the poor hurt squirming but still alive mouse down the toilet. I was shaking and yelling "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the whole time. And Cleo was banging against my legs trying to get to out.

Oh my God. I had a mouse in my apartment. And I'm afraid to say that I think this is actually at least the 2nd mouse in my apartment recently, since I had to throw away my old computer printer earlier this week cuz it suddenly smelled like something had crawled inside it and died. I did NOT want to investigate.

Okay, this is a whole new ballgame. Roaches, yes, I've learned to deal with them. But MICE????

I can not deal with that. I am going to reevaluate my finances and figure out what my possibilities might be. I have been really torn over the years about staying in an apartment that I don't love -- while I love the location and convenience -- but it may be time to revisit the whole scenario. But is there any other mid-priced city apartment out there that doesn't have some kind of "urban" problem -- whether it's noise, or critters, or crime, or garbage, or something? This is unacceptable, but I'm not hearing a lot of good things about any other apartments in the vicinity. Of course, If I won the lottery........ If I actually played.....

And, the worst part? Now, when I look at the cute, smiley, fuzzy, furry face of my beloved trusty cat Cleo... I also see the face of a killer. What the hell kind of Animal Kingdom is going on in my apartment?!?!?

Financial Advice, Please

How long would you wait to stop payment on a check?

Consider this scenario:

You write a relatively big check to your credit card company. You have a really good history with this card and you always pay on time. You send the check more than 2 weeks before the payment is due, and you mail it out along with several other bills. By a week later, all of those other checks have been cashed. The payment due date is approaching, but your credit company hasn't posted the check yet. Three days before the payment due date, you send another check, but you worry there still won't be enough time for the payment to be processed before the due date. So you call the credit card company hoping for a little guidance and understanding. Alas, no offer of an extended grade period or anything, but they tell you you can make an online payment of just the minimum balance to make sure your payment is in on time before the due date. So you do that. But, still..... that first check hasn't been received. And now it's been nearly 3 weeks since you mailed that original check.

What would you do? Wait longer?

My boss said she believes companies sometimes hold on to checks before processing them in order to jack up late fees - she's tracked her own mortgage company doing just that. Meanwhile, I've now got TWO checks out there that I'm waiting for them to process. Maybe this is an argument for online bill paying always in the future.

But for now - what about that original check? Is it too soon to stop payment? What happens if I stop payment and then they do receive it and try to cash it? Will I get huge fees for it bouncing?

Calling All Pet Lovers

I am openly soliciting discussion and advice on a topic I know very little about:

Pet Insurance.

Is it a scam? Or is it a worthwhile investment in the healthy future of a beloved member of the family?

Trusty cat Cleo has always been a very healthy girl, but she is rapidly approaching her 10th birthday. As she gets to be a middle-aged kitty, I've been thinking about whether I need to do more to plan for her future.

I was brought up to be a firm believer in the quality of life as a major factor in determining any long-term care decisions, for people as well as pets. I do think there is a tipping point between keeping a loved one alive for themselves versus for the family, whatever the reasons you might have for not wanting to let go. So I know that when Cleo's time comes, as painful as it may be for me, the last thing I would ever want is to force her to linger if she's suffering.

All of that being said, there are quite possibly many good, healthy years left for her - there better be! - and there is an infinite variety of things that just may happen that would require veterinary care. And the last thing I would ever want to have to face is being torn between making a decision on a procedure or a treatment that would help her, but that I can't afford. I mean, heck, even a simple, routine teeth cleaning sets you back a few hundred dollars! (Though with my vet, it's almost worth the price to see the ridiculous logo-printed bandanna they dress her in while they have her asleep...I giggled for hours at her indignity!)

So that's what brings me back to the question of pet insurance. Does anyone out there have a pet policy? Or have any advice about the good, the bad, and the ugly associated with the idea of pet insurance?

I mean, come on, just look at this face.... wouldn't you want to take care of her, too? :-)

Speedy Delivery!

I have entered into a whole new world of ease and convenience through online shopping. Today, I had groceries delivered! Woohoo! I love the Internets!

Being carless, I usually can't buy a lot of groceries at one time. I have to use the basket, and I only get as much as I can carry. That means I can never get any of the bigger or heavier stuff, and I can never buy in bulk. I usually only get enough stuff for about 5 days at a time, which means I don't ever stock up on staples. So I end up buying heavy stuff like cat litter downstairs in the convenience store in my basement, which has jacked up prices. I've never really minded because it does makes things easy, but if I can get things cheaper through delivery then I can change my ways...

Last year, I used Zipcar a few times to drive out to a huge, gleaming superstore in MD. I would get about $150 worth of stuff, which would be great, but I'd also have to pay about $30 for the time with the car. And I eventually stopped doing that because I didn't want to have to pay all that extra $$$.

Now, with Safeway's home delivery, I can point and click my way to a full kitchen in no time! Check out how awesomely full my fridge is:

I can still get about $150 worth of things I really need, delivered to my door, without having to pay for a car rental on top of it. Oh, this is potentially dangerous! I think I have to limit myself to about once a month, max, but it's just so darn much fun to add new items to my cart. The only thing missing from shopping in a real store is bad muzak on the radio.....

Now I have some cooking to do! :-)

Summertime Is Catching Up With Me

Aaaargh, the finances are not looking so great. This is to be expected, as summer is always the season when I spend the most money. I'm a lot more social in summer, meeting folks for happy hour and dinner and going to wineries and ballgames and the like. This does happen every year. But it still hurts to see those low balances in my Quicken accounts!

It's a good thing that the fall tv season is starting this week, cuz that then gives me a reason to be happy about just staying in at night... and that means spending less money! And when the weather starts to turn, then I'm not as interested in going out for lunch... and that means spending less money!

I had an interesting conversation with a friend a few days ago (over lunch where I spent way too much, natch!) about how we socialize. She and I were in total agreement that we both prefer to catch up with friends *in person* and we're not big phone talkers or emailers. It's a lot more fun to see your friends face-to-face and that's really the best way to stay involved in each other's lives. While that is all still true, I think I need to push (myself) for more phone and email time with my friends, cuz all this socializing is getting darn expensive! So who's in for keeping the cell phones charged??? :-)

While I'm not quite to the Little Women stage of selling my hair, I'm also trying to figure out how to simplify my material life and thus rein in the finances. I think I'm sitting on a potential gold mine of hundreds of used books, in very good condition. Anyone know of Metro-accessible places that will trade cash for books?

Bed, Bath & Beware

When I sold my car 2 1/2 years ago, there were several things that I had to learn to live without because I no longer had the wheels to make them possible.

One of those things was my routine of heading to Target about twice a month for fun shopping trips. You know how those trips would go - you'd have 2-3 things in mind that you really needed, but you'd still end up spending over 100 bucks and buying candles, and a book or a CD, and some new shampoo that smelled good, etc.

Honestly, even though I missed the fun of these trips once I was carless, I knew it was good for my budget to not be spending all that $$$ on random stuff each month. And I was amazed at how quickly I was able to adapt and learn that I didn't actually *need* 3 different scents of candles at a time, etc. Anything I really needed could be found at the grocery store or CVS, or in a pinch I could order something online and just pay for the shipping. That's still cheaper than paying the usual car ownership costs, or even paying the $10/hour to rent a Zipcar to make the 3-hour round trip to the nearest Target.

So, for the past 2 1/2 years, I've been living without those random household decor / gadget shopping trips and feeling fine with it, and probably a little bit richer for it. Until lately.... when I have discovered the wonder and the joy of the new Bed, Bath & Beyond on 7th Street!

I'd never been to a BB&B before, so I had NO IDEA that they had so much amazing stuff! How is it possible that one store can stock so many fun things? Housewares, bedding, furniture, fun new beauty products to try! It's like a cross between Target and IKEA, and it's just a few blocks from work! Happy happy joy joy! It's also just a few blocks from my bus line, or even if I want to buy a ton of stuff and take a cab home, it's still 1/3 the cost of a Zipcar trip!

Okay, yeah, so all that stoic stuff about having adapted and not needing random fun household stuff? I never realized how much I missed it! Yesterday, I ventured in just wanting to buy a new pillow, and I ended up spending 100 bucks on kitchen gadgets like these cool Oneida tongs I'd been eyeing online and a new mattress pad, plus that pillow I wanted. Would you believe I spent $50 on a new pillow? Sure, for people who are used to spending real money on their household things, that's not a lot of money. But I'm cheap! So 50 bucks is a lot, but my oh my that pillow is so comfy. :-)

Really, the only reason I didn't spend more money yesterday was because the store was packed with college freshmen and their parents buying everything on the college shopping list to outfit their dorm rooms. I wanted to get out of their way, cuz it was overwhelming even to me to see their 2 & 3 cart caravans of stuff. But I was so happy cabbing home in Ernesto with my new goodies!

Yeah, it could be a real problem for my wallet to have such a great store so close and accessible. I could really use a new blackberry candle......