the difference

the fourth book i've read by jean chatzky in the past 5 days. the difference is about what sets the wealthy and the financially comfortable apart from others. "the difference" is twenty traits - attitudes, behaviors, goals, and characteristics - that, if you exhibit more than ten of, you can make your way into financial comfort. and with more, you can become wealthy.
some traits are a little weird, like being married, but marriage gives a goal outside of yourself. it compels you to provide for two people not just one. others are almost obvious, like being educated. the more educated you are the more wealth you can accumulate. mostly because you make more money each year, allowing you to invest more money.
i think that if i had a job. and had an income, i might fall into the financially comfortable category. i know enough (especially after reading many of jean chatzky's books) to put as much as i can into a 401(k). and to hire a financial planner as soon as possible.
what really got me going in this book were two things: my family and a chance conversation will a classmate. i have to explain about my family. my father is a self-investor. he has an account with e-trade, or whoever, and he buys and sells stocks as he sees fit. this sort of scares me (and always has) but more on that later. my mother is a saver. she constantly talks about how she has no money and is totally budgeted out. i know this isn't the case. she just doesn't have any cash, which is a completely different thing. i know that she's richer than she lets on because as a child we periodically had to stop by her financial planner's office to pick up or drop off paperwork. now having a financial planner doesn't mean your wealthy but when you're also a saver, it means you're an investor. then there's my grandparents (on my mom's side). they are ridiculously well off and have been for as long as i remember. i know that being wealthy is possible. my close family have put themselves onto the path of wealth, so i know i can too.
the other thing was the convo with a classmate. i had learned earlier in the semester that this girl's father had died, somewhat recently. she mentioned it in passing so i got no further details. until the other day when i told her what i was reading. fairly out of nowhere she stated that her father had committed suicide because of lost investments. half a million dollars! but in this market a lot of people had the same experience. he had just sold his business, in order to slow down, and had invested the profit into the stock market. then it crashed. i didn't know what to say. she seemed pretty okay with talking about it, so i just reassured her that she should learn from the situation. constantly jean chatzky talks about how volatile the market can be and protecting yourself against it. that's all i could think of. and if my dad took a similar hit. obviously not, he still seems to be in good shape, but it would be nice to know if he has protected himself from such damaging blows.

arizona in july

now the true topic of this post is my idiot cousin. so this is the full scenario...
some time last year my cousin and his long-time girlfriend decide to get married. that's fine and dandy. everyone should find that special someone to spend the rest of their lives with, but what followed was anything but happiness for everyone else involved.
they got married. in a civil ceremony, not at a full church ceremony as expected. (also could be dealt with, but it came back to bite everyone in the butt.) after the civil wedding, they made it clear that they still intended to have a church ceremony with reception. the whole enchilada. again, fine; that's their buck. but so for about a year now, they have been searching high and low for a church that would marry them again. no one would. many felt that if they couldn't do it right the first time, no point on the second. apparently some churches won't marry you again ever, even for a renewing of the vows for 50th wedding anniversary. but anyways, they finally came across one. and decided upon the weekend of july 4th to have the wedding. july 4th!!! in arizona!!! who does that?!? i actually might want to go to this wedding. it is the first out of my generation of family, but arizona... in july! i don't even go there at christmas, when it's nice. no one in my family, i'm told, is happy about it. my mom's pinching pennies and doesn't want to spend her pennies on the plane ticket. i can't even afford to go. my brother, apparently, does a yearly trip to joshua tree for the 4th. and my cousin, the groom's older brother, also does a trip, but to san diego, a much nicer place on the 4th. and honestly, i'd like to spend my 4th hanging out on a lake (not really lake michigan) watching the fireworks across the water, wherever that might be. but so now we're all roped into going to arizona of all places for the 4th of july. god bless this wedding! oh and the whole reason they got married a year ago, all rush and no planning, the bride's father wanted to give them the down payment for a house for their wedding, and he wanted to do it right then.
now the topic i really wanted to gab about... i found this lovely sundress at old navy that, with a short sweater, would be perfect for the wedding. it's on the expensive side. i definitely can't afford it right now. or at all unless i get a job. except i recently stumbled on a form of payment. citibank's thank you program gives me points for using my credit card (which i've been doing in spades). with those points i can get any of the items on the thank you website. and one of the options is a gift card at old navy. which i could use for groceries, at a higher point cost per dollar. but will probably in the long run go towards my cute sundress and sweater for my cousin's wedding. the upside: i can wear it all summer! and the sweater i could probably rock most of the year. go me!
also there better be some sort of open bar at the wedding. i'll need a drink. i'm sure my mother actually agrees.

pay it down!

ok you're going to kill me. i finished another one. i know, i know... i finished pay it down! in one night. well... first off, it isn't that large of a book. literally. it's 9in x 6in. max. and there's only so much text per page. second, it's mostly how to calculate your daily savings on items like credit card interest, coffee from a cafe, or using coupons or discounts.
i don't know if this book spoke to me. i love jean chatzky's style. it's very forthright and easy to understand. she even includes a dialogue for when you want to call your credit card company to get a reduction in interest rate. but i don't know if this is really applicable to my life. yeah, as stated before, i am in debt, but a) i'm broke and i've cut my expenses as far as they go and b) it's mostly in student loans which are much easier to pay off then credit cards where the interest can make your payments ridiculous.
probably the most applicable thing in the book is the section about knowing your credit score. i can imagine that they have been explained in greater detail mostly just to confuse the reader further. but jean chatzky does an amazing job explaining such a complex concept. and how you can improve yours. she tells you how to get your credit report. you are now allowed to request one credit report on yourself each year for free. which makes keeping track of it easier. and you are also able to fix mistakes on your credit report online or by mail using one of their downloadable forms. i am definitely going to keep track of mine from now on.

you don't have to be rich

read another one! i know i'm just flying through these books. but hey! a) they aren't that deep or dense. jean chatzky writes in as everyday language as possible. and b) honestly, only part of the books apply to me at this stage in my life. not that i've completely breezed through the other parts. i know i'll need them some day. it's just that i make note of them and keep going; whereas when i come across something i need to know or can use, i slowly digest the information. and sometimes i even head to my computer to do a little research.
anyways... you don't have to be rich is more about america's attachment to the happiness money is supposed to bring us. we work so hard to get our paychecks in order to pay for the things we buy to bring us happiness. for this book she had the roper organization poll a bunch of people in america to find out not only our feelings about money, but also how we use our money. the poll is included so you can compare your answers to america's.
this one was a little harder to get something out of. i know i have issues with spending. when i am making money i'd find it isn't as important to budget; whereas when i'm broke i become a budget nazi. the key, it seems, is to get into a groove and stay there. she talks again about setting goals and how to reach them, in a little more depth in this book. i think that would help me in the long run. i do like to have something i'm trying to reach towards. currently my short-term goals are to find a job, pay off my credit card debit, figure out the best way to pay off my student loans, and lastly save for the future (namely a rainy day or the next time i lose my job).
oh and living within your means. apparently most of america doesn't know what that means anymore. they think that if you can pay off the minimum payment on your credit cards (not paying the whole debt) qualifies as living within your means. but living within your means involves being able to pay off your entire credit card each month and not putting a whole bunch back on it. i'm not totally crazy about credit card purchases, and i know my boyfriend hates seeing me pull it out to pay for something, but since i've been so short on cash lately, it's been the only way to go. i can only imagine what it'll be like to pull myself out of it.
but i'm onto the next book: pay it down! from debt to wealth on $10 a day. i think that'll help. and getting a new job.

student loan planning... what???

one thing that i got from reading jean chatzky's talking money isn't some thing i gleaned from reading the book. after reading the part about money market accounts, i decided to look into one for myself. after going to the recommended website, which had a simple search function, i found a high-yield savings account that sounded like it would work for me. not exactly a mma but close enough and it gave me the yield i was looking for. but so i took the numbers that the account information provided me and created a very intricate but fairly easy to use excel spreadsheet. i figured out when would be the ideal times to take out student loans (for my grad school tuition) and how much i'd need to put into the high-yield savings in order to pay for the next two years of school. this spreadsheet allowed me to figure out the smallest amount of loans i would need to take out and when to do it. also it's adjustable. if i end up making more money than i currently expect to, i can adjust my monthly input. if i get a christmas bonus or another inheritance check from my grandparents, i can include that too. this is probably one of the most useful financial tools i'd come across. many calculators online tell you how much it'll cost you to pay off a student loan over time. or they tell you how much a monthly investment will be worth over a period of time. but nothing takes into account periodic withdrawals and monthly deposits. and periodic increases in investment. yeah me for figuring that shit out.

talking money

i've recently decided to go on a binge. i'm reading most of jean chatzky's books. i've borrowed five of them from my local library and decided to read them in chronological order. the first up was talking money.
this book was actually pretty insightful. i have read some of her writing before, namely her book making money, not excuses, so i was actually expecting a rehash of the same information. some of it was reminiscent of making money, but there was a lot of new information as well. (which bodes well for my reading the other four books.) the biggest things i got out of taking money were these three things:
1) how to set financial goals. now i have no money to start saving for my goals, but it's nice to know that i can start planning anyways. and that paying off debt can be a financial goal. the most helpful thing was the questions to ask yourself. i agree with her, that most people don't plan because they don't know where to start. and providing a short questionnaire allows the reader to formulate plans without having to start at nowhere.
2) debt relief. as i sort of hinted at earlier, i am pretty well in debt. granted little of it is credit card, most of it is in student loans. which, like mortgages, is a pretty easy debt to bear. but i have no income. that's the worst situation for anyone carrying debt on their credit cards.
3) saving safety. she talks about saving then she talks about safety. saving is something i think i'm pretty good at. i don't pinch every penny but i can pretty much tell you where 99% of my money goes. but something i had no idea about was safe was to save my money for the short term. i have no plans or thoughts about retirement, and i'll wait for a 401(k) to come my way or a serious job, before i give it real thought. but i am going to grad school and trying to pay for it. i could use short term saving methods in order to lower the amount of student loan debt i get myself into. the one thing that really stood out to me was money market accounts. essentially a savings account with limited access so you get a higher return. who would have thought? who doesn't want a larger return? and since i would only withdraw money to make a tuition payment twice a year, or at max once a money 8 months out of the year, i can totally deal with the limited access. a+ for that tip.
in addition to these three ideas, most of the rest of the book was interesting, if not helpful. though mostly for things that i'm not dealing with yet. but as a reference for the future it's definitely a place to start.

british tv

though low in visual quality, british tv makes up for it by being incredibly creative and witty. the first thing i'm always struck by when watching something for the bbc is the graininess of the picture and the horribleness of the lighting. i never really understood the greatness of hd and such until recently. a show on u.s. cable is a thing of beauty. it's vivid and bright, almost lifelike. possibly more vivid. even soap operas, which are notorious for being on the lower production level than primetime, are a feast for the eyes. then you watch the bbc. it's dull, and grainy as mentioned before. the production level is almost as bad as things filmed for the local independent channel. even pbs films their stuff at a higher level. it's pretty ridiculous.
i was set onto this realization by watching the show 'coupling' on netflix. the show is hilarious. sort of a cross between mtv's 'undressed' and 'friends'. both of which i have enjoyed, at different periods of my life. the show is racy; it speaks very openly about sex and the situations that can arise from it. it is also about a group of friends thrown together and the relationships that grow out of friendship. as witty as all british comedies apparently and a bit tasteless at times this show is a true representation of men's and women's views of relationships. but as great as the characters, story line, and dialogue are, the production value of this show was next to nil. the bad lighting, sets, and wardrobe are a very good representation of what, i think, most americans don't like about british tv. it's a bit painful on the eyes. it lacks the smooth visual quality that abounds in american tv.

love at first sight

while researching for information for a history of interior design book, i found this beautiful library. i really can't get enough books. this one is the library of the monastery at s. gallen, switzerland. enjoy!

the history of interior design

i learned nothing in my history of interior design course. and i regret that. i think as a designer you have to know the historical influences on your industry. i should know what differentiates louis xiv from louis xiii design. and i don't. i should know what design style was popular in the 1830s. and i don't. i do know some things. over the years things have stuck. but i don't have a broad understanding of the history of design.
i am trying to rectify this by reading all the books i can get my hands on about interior design history. and it has a occurred to me that there is almost no comprehensive book on that topic. which is amazing to me. there are how many schools in the us teaching interior design?!? i assume that many, if not all, of these programs teach some form of interior design history. and there's no appropriate textbook??? you have to be kidding me?!?!
so i think i'm going to start. i have nothing else to do. we'll see how this goes.

looking for a job

in interior design??? is impossible. there are no jobs. so i decided to pick up this book in hopes that it might tell me something that i don't already know. and upon finishing the book... i really think i knew all of this already. it just reminded me of some things that i had overlooked.

i especially like the intro to chapter 2, "the terms interior designer and interior decorator are often used interchangeably by both design industry professionals and laypeople, however, the difference between the two is distinct and important. an interior designer is likely to be offended if referred to as a decorator, but a decorator probably won't correct you if mistaken for a designer." so true.

one of many reasons i love chicago

everyone knows that the city switched the parking meters to a private company and they've gone around replacing the parking meters with pay boxes. walking home the other day i saw this. the meter says "meter remains as a courtesy to cyclists". they wants cyclists to still have somewhere to chain their bikes!!! hahaha with the profit from the parking put in bike racks!

some days...

some days are harder than most. and nights are the worst. slowly i start thinking about what to watch on tv, or what to make for dinner, and slowly my thoughts drift towards my economic, career, and relationship situations. tonight is one of those nights. i was doing fine. i spent most of the day making a nice curry and watching bizarre tv offerings. then BAM! i finished watching the a-team and it hit me. a sort of wall. i decided that i would love a drink. not that i have the money or urge to go to my local bar. and i always think of that bottle of gin i bought last fall. not that i'm able to mix a gin and tonic. but i had a lightbulb... esquire.com's drink database. a first pass at a search got nothing, but after looking through the gin drinks i found it. 1:2 or 1:3 ration gin to tonic. i decided on a 1:3 figuring i could always increase if the taste wasn't right. so that was how i ended up sitting in bed, writing about my depressing thoughts, and drinking a gin and tonic. oh how i feel better! i think this helped...

dance with me

is it summer?

well the wind went away, and it's beautiful here. so nice i actually have been sporting summer grab.
i've been so lost these days. mostly because i've been so organized that i'm done with everything. i have nothing to do! i've been making up things to do. and now i'm ahead of schedule! this would be a good thing if i was incredibly busy and had no time to do things, but this is not the case. i have plenty of time, lots of time. with nothing to do.
i'm still desperately searching for a job. i'm still going to school (though i'm ridiculously ahead on my homework). and life is still passing me by.
people constantly ask me what i do with my time. i always say that there's lots to do: homework, class, job searching, and this and that. i always have little projects for myself. sewing that. cleaning this. reading that. cooking this. it can go on and on. i periodically think about how i'll make a great stay-at-home mom. that i can occupy so much time with random stuff. of course, if i had a kid that would take up a bit of time. then i sometimes admire my ability to do so much in the distracting atmosphere of my home, and that would mean that i could work well from home. no real idea since i don't have kids or a job.
how do you pass the time?