Since other bloggers have clever things like Wordless Wednesdays and Link-Love Fridays, I've decided to make Thursday List Days. Maybe it'll catch on :p
(1) So all the PF bloggers have been chirping about the latest MP Dunleavey MSN column which points out that bad financial news always comes in 3s. This has definitely happened to me in the past.
- When we were in bumfuckville, right after I had Loo, we had to face a financial triple whammy: the delivery cost (more than we expected), replacing the muffler in my car after it was dislodged when I drove through a pool of water after a flash flood, and paying for some significant work on the outside of our house caused by termite damage. Even though J was working, I hadn't graduated yet, so had school bills and no income. All of those costs were covered by credit.
- When we finally moved back east, we had the triple whammy of moving costs, the cost of selling our house in bfv (we sold at a slight loss because we were only there for a few years, and the market had started to cool off, especially in the small town where our home was), and paying COBRA, since J was unemployed at that point. All the equity we pulled out of the house was basically spent on the costs of moving back to the east coast (and the subsequent birth of Kali).
Dunleavy suggests that one way to cope with these situations is to see that they are really more predictable than not. For example, she points out that for many people, costs associated with home or car repairs, or equipment replacement (e.g. replacing computers) are only unpredictable in terms of timing. These are expenses that will eventually come up, we just don't know when.
This is certainly true in my two example. The first of my recent financial snafus involved those two big money pits: our car and our house. The second, we always knew the terminating date of J's contract, and we had a good inkling for at least a year that the academic market was soft. J was lucky in that he actually managed to find another position within a year, but we definitely could have planned better.
So with that in mind, I'm trying to project out what I think are some "predictable" expenses that will come up this year, and therefore, start to budget accordingly so that these don't get funded by our small (but slowly growing) emergency fund (which should be for actual emergencies).
- a new portable computer for me - $1500 (est). My Dell is three years old. It's actually still going strong, but I've never had a computer last more than five years. Most die out at somewhere in the three-four year mark. I am craving a MacBook Air, but it's ridiculously expensive and not compatible with my work computer.
- we have three pretty substantial trips that we have to make this year. One to Texas, which we've already paid the plane tickets for, one to China in the summer, and one to Seattle in the fall. The impetus for all three trips are for weddings (what am I? 25? I really thought I was over the whole wedding thing), but we're also going places where family and friends live, so we'll be taking the kids for visits. About $6000 (Hey, plane tickets to asia ain't cheap. And this is assuming that we have places we can crash for free.)
- New furniture for the girls - Kal is going to be out of the crib at some point this year, and Loo has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor (seriously). We need to get some real beds: maybe a bunk bed. About $700.
That's all I can come up with for the year. Luckily, we no longer own a home, and our little prius just recently got its battery replaced and a hood to wheel servicing.
(2) The stoopid flu that everyone and their mother got that causes prolonged puking and then months of coughing - I feel like we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, the girls have picked up some interesting expressions:
- When Kali (oh she of ever flowing snot) gets some of her snot on the shirt or someone that's either carrying her or that she hugs, she points at the snot and says, "yuck... yuck." Thanks for sharing Kal.
- Loo had a bit of scratchy throat over the weekend, so she told her dad that she couldn't talk so good.
- Loo went around all day yesterday telling the nanny that she was sick because she had lots of flemon in her throat. Nanny was perplexed all day, but we did manage to figure out later that evening that what she had was lots of phlegm in her throat.
(3) As I've mentioned before, I'm not as skivved out by McCain as some of my fellow momocrats. But this discussion of his environmental record has me perplexed. I'll have to do a bit more digging.
(4) Colbert's interview of Robert Reich last night... Priceless.
Finally! A sane person. You’re careful with your money, but never cheap. You know that what goes around comes around and that a thank-you goes a long way.