Bored!

Ladies and gents, I'm suffering from a case of blog boredom. My life has changed quite a bit from when I started this blog and now I'm not sure which direction I should proceed. I don't have debt to payoff, my mortgage acceleration goal is on hold and there is no additional money going towards investments or other long term savings. Since branching out into entrepreneurship full time everything financial is on hold. I'm in maintenance mode right now.

So here's the scoop - I'll either take a break or blog about other random things that may or may not have much to do with finances. If any of you have questions that you'd like me to answer via the blog or topics you'd like me to discuss definitely let me know, I could use the inspiration.

Matching Careers With Personalities ... Or Not

Why is it that I'm always an easy target for the countless career and personality tests floating around the universe? Truthfully I'm not convinced that they are reliable, but they always seem to be more accurate than not with my results. Case in point, MY RESULTS ...

Personality type: "Determined Realist"
Practical, traditional and organized. Likely to be athletic. Not interested in theory or abstraction unless they see the practical application. Have clear visions of the way things should be. Loyal and hard-working. Like to be in charge. Exceptionally capable in organizing and running activities. 'Good citizens' who value security and peaceful living.

Careers that could fit you include:
Military, business administrators, managers, police/detective work, judges, financial officers, teachers, sales representatives, government workers, insurance agents, underwriters, nursing administrators, trade and technical teachers.

If you are interested in taking a career/personality test, click here; it's quick and easy. Don't forget to let us know how accurate - or not - the test results are for you.

BTW .... Merry Christmas and Happy early New Year;-).

My Dear Romeo

Romeo,

I miss you already buddy. You were the sweetest, smartest dog ever. Although I only knew you for a short time, you carved out an eternal impression in my heart. It's so amazing how you managed to steal my affection and cause some folks to refer to me as "delusional" because I'd go around calling you "my dog." (inside joke, i needed that laugh). You were my dog. You were everything I ever wanted in a dog. Your communication skills were grade A, your friendship was unconditional and your personality was almost human-like. I'm gonna miss sending you care packages filled with your favorite treats, peanut butter snacks, doggie biscuits, and of course, all things chicken. I really wished you would have hung on a few more days so that I could see you once more. Well, maybe it was best that I wasn't there when you decided to go to doggie heaven. Unashamedly I gotta tell you, I have a lump in throat that won't clear, and yes, I've shed a few tears too.

Bye bye my doggie brother. There's not another jack russell terrier, or any other dog that can replace you.

If ... Then

Today has been one of those days where I find myself having random thoughts, about nothing in particular. Here's a sneak peak of my randomness:

IF soap is supposed to be a cleaning agent, THEN why is the residue (i.e., soap scum) hard to clean?

IF the "red" onion is really purple, THEN why is it called a red onion?

IF Washington is so great at fiscal policy, THEN why can't they balance their books?

IF Christmas is December 25 every year, THEN why the mad rush in December as if it's a surprise ... and why the crazy charging as if it's an emergency?

IF I can get shrimp & fish from the coast of Savannah and the Gulf Coast, THEN why is it cheaper to purchase shrimp & fish that are shipped over from China, Thailand and Vietnam.

See random. Do you have any IF ... Then's that you'd like to share?

Summer Goal Update 2

If at first you don't succeed, try again, and again, and once more. Yep, that's what I'm going to do. I set a goal to run 100 miles by the end of August. It can be argued that I failed miserably. Seriously, from the looks of it I wonder if I even tried?! Oh well, I'm lacing up the running shoes and striving to accomplish the goal again through the end of September. Even though I didn't come close to my goal, I did better than the sidebar reflects. Somewhere along the way I stopped updating my tracking sheet, thinking to myself "I'll remember how many miles I ran and update it later." Yeah, NOT! So here I go once again, 75 miles to run by September 30th. Can I do it, yes; will I do it, hmm, we'll see. Here is the infamous crossroad that often eludes many, the intersection of desire and discipline. We often have desires for a preferred end but lack the discipline or stamina to see it through. The way I see it, desire is the vehicle and discipline is the gasoline, you can only run on fumes for so long. Someone once told me to never let my car get below 1/4 of a tank of gas because garbage can get into your fuel line which will eventually cause your car to run badly. The same is true with our goals, when we become less and less disciplined, "garbage" begins to fill the gap and before you know it, we're off course and heading towards a different destination - the repair shop to get retooled and refocused, if possible. Now that I'm refocused, let's see if I can keep the tank at or close to full.

Summer Goal - Update 1

The summer goal ticker has been updated to show my progress through yesterday. I didn't make as much progress as I wanted to because my car was out of commission for several days and the weather has been hellish hot - meaning I couldn't go to the gym AND I was not about to run outside in all of that hotness. On the one hand I'm pleased with the results thus far but, on the other hand, 87 miles remaining seems like an awful lot for a chic who doesn't like to run much. As of today, I have exactly 7 weeks and three days left, let's see if I make it.

Another Fabulous Interruption

I interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you this message .....

WHAT IN THE (BEEP) IS GOING ON?! I'M SO (BEEP) FRUSTRATED WITH ALL OF THESE (BEEP BEEP) FINANCIAL INTERRUPTIONS. ONE (BEEP) THING AFTER ANOTHER. ******SCREAMING INSIDE*****

What's the deal you ask? Well, my car's thermometer went all the way to high on Friday. Yes, Friday before the 4th of July holiday, leaving me stranded for the weekend nonetheless. I called Honda and was told that Tuesday would be the earliest that they could get me in due to the holiday. Okay, no big deal, I have some items in The Playbook that I need to work on anyway. No biggie, I'll just take this lemon and make some lemonade.

Fast forward 5 days later to today at approximately 11:30 am EST, I get a call from Honda and am told that my head gasket is blown. After 45 seconds of silence, I asked this question in a very soft, firm and deliberate voice "what does that mean?" The service guy replies "thedhlas eioghe ghlsgehs jetighwl atighaldt llkthaydat cozithlzight and that will be $1,278, added to the other stuff that you wanted us to take care of, your total cost is $1,752." Huh!

Okay, now that I've gotten that off of my chest, I feel so much better. Thank you for letting me vent . Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated;-).

beep translation: What in the heck is going on? I'm so daggum frustrated with all of these cotton pickin financial interruptions. One freakin' thing after another. I used the "beeps" because I thought they repped (i.e. represented) more for my true feelings;-).

Random Updates

Aah, nothing like a little time off to recharge. Although it was only a few days, the time off was desperately needed. A friend and I met up in Philly and can I just say that Philly gets 2 thumbs up from me. The food was absolutely delicious and there was so much to see and do. I'm certain we'll visit again soon.

My budget, or shall I say non budget, is taking on a life of its own right now. I've basically blown it and honestly, I don't care. I'm thinking that I'll just consider this my little hiatus from frugality for the summer months. What does this mean? This means that once all of the necessities are taken care of (i.e. savings, bills, etc), the rest is fair game...to be spent on whatsoever my little heart desires...budgeted or not. Yeah, that's what I'm going to do.

New years resolutions. Remember them? Well I typically don't create any because my follow through is terrible. I wouldn't call it a new years resolution but I did have a goal to read one book a month this year. How many have I read, uhm, 2 I think. I've since started 2 more and just purchased another one today that I plan on starting July 1. Hmm, I'll see how this goes. If my interest level is any indication, I will surely finish the new book.

Friends. I love them, they are great. Females who say that they don't get along with other females are missing out. My friends are awesome, just awesome. Everyone should have at least one friend, don't you think?

Gym (rolling my eyes). Okay, I must get back to it. At some point I'd gotten a little over zealous on the treadmill, which resulted in a painful toe injury ... including the removal of my entire toe nail! For several months I couldn't wear my running shoes but now I can. No more excuses, these buns of potato chips, Mexican food, Cuban bread, and hibachi fried rice must find themselves back on the treadmill and back to light weight lifting.

All of this random posting is making me feel a little A.D.Dish so I'll end here;-). How is your summer going?

Life After Debt

Geez, it's been an entire week since my last post. I never intend for so much time to pass in-between posts. My weeks are running together so much that sometimes when I say yesterday, I really mean last week. When will it slow down? Hmph.

Okay, life after debt.

So, last week I was chatting with some friends/co-workers. During our conversation one of them mentioned something about it being payday. Lifting my head and raising my eyebrows, I said "payday? when, today?" What do you know, it was payday and I didn't even realize it. What a blessing that I can go almost the entire day and not even realize that my wages have been paid. Honestly, since I paid off all of consumer, car and student loan debts, life after debt has been kind of ... uh ... boring. My finances are pretty much on auto pilot. I don't even balance my checkbook anymore. The same expenses go out every month at the same time, not much changes from month to month.

When I was in the trenches of paying off debt there was always something exciting on the horizon. It seemed like every couple of months brought about a new accomplishment - the Visa, the MasterCard, the store credit card, the car loan, the student loan, the 1 month e-fund, the 3 month e-fund, the 6 month e-fund, etc. Now that I've done all of that, it takes much longer to get to an accomplishment. The next item on my list is to pay off the mortgage. If my aggressive target is met, I'll do so in 3 years. If I get close, 5 years, and worst case 7 - 10 years. Trust me, I'm not whining or complaining at all. I'm very thankful for what I've learned and how I was able to apply it to my life. It's just that I spent so much time getting out of debt that now I'm kind of bored, I need some new goals, a new focus. Does that make any sense at all? Although I've never been in this situation I think it's probably similar to what some parents feel when they initially become empty nesters. You put all of your energy and time into something (i.e. the kids) and now that they're gone, you have to reinvent or rediscover who you are and what you want to do.

Some of the things I thought I wanted to do when I no longer had debt, I don't want to do anymore. Funny how much I wanted certain things when I couldn't afford them and now that I can I have no desire to obtain them. So that I don't mislead you, I do have some things that I'm working towards (i.e, basically switching careers) so I'm not totally without any focus. However, it's not the same. I'm goal oriented by nature so it's only a matter of time before I come up with something. Maybe I should train for a 1/2 marathon. Naa, it's too hot in G.A. right now! Okay, I'll find something. Any suggestions?

Gift Giving Rules, What Are they?

This post has more questions than content. I'm sincerely seeking some answers here.

1. What are the rules on giving gifts when you've been invited to an event but are unable to attend?

• Weddings


• Bridal Showers


• Graduations


• Baby Showers


• Birthday Parties


• Baptisms

Are you expected to send a gift at all times?

2. What are the rules on baby showers for the same parents? For example, you are are invited (over the years of course) to several baby showers born to the same parents.

3. If you're invited to multiple bridal showers because you and the bride share multiple circles of friends, are you expected to give a gift each time?

In case you're wondering why all the questions, they're basically because I'm curious to hear what others think. I wonder if I'm too giving or not giving enough.