I've been having sciatic nerve pain throughout my pregnancy, and as a result, I started seeing a chiropractor. I'm a little skeptical of chiropractors, it has definitely helped me, and I like this guy. Just a little background information to explain the situation.
In the course of idle chitchat, he asked me what I was planning to do for maternity leave. I don't actually know yet, but currently I am thinking that I will take 8 weeks off, and then return to work 3 days a week. He said his wife wanted to stay home and is still at home. Then he said, "From everything I've read about child psychology, staying home is really best for the child." I mumbled something like, "Well, that's not going to work for me."
I walked out feeling criticized and judged. Is he saying I'm not doing the best best thing for my child? How dare he! I told DH about this, and he said it sounded like the guy wishes his wife would go back to work. So maybe I am being oversensitive . . .
Sigh. One thing I've noticed about pregnancy -- everyone has an opinion.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Looking for ways to cut costs
My budget exercise revealed that we are spending more than I thought. So I'm looking for ways to cut costs. Here are some of the most obvious and hopefully easy ones:
#1 - Cut off our phone service. This isn't as drastic as it sounds, we both use our cell phones anyway and have for years. The only reason I even got it is because there was some kind of special deal when we moved if we got cable, internet and phone in one package. I never give out the number, and have only used it a handful of times.
#2 - Save on work lunches. Now that I'm pregnant, I find I am happiest if I eat small meals every few hours. So although I eat breakfast at home, I get "second breakfast" around 9:30-10, lunch around 12 and a snack in the afternoon. It's just lazy to buy a yogurt parfait for $3.50 at the rip-off cafe in the lobby and go out to lunch every day. Afternoon snack is usually fruit. Anyway, I easily spend $15 a day on all this food, which is $75/week or $300/month! Planning ahead and bringing food should save me at least 1/2 this amount, which is substantial.
#3 - I've declared a moratorium on clothes shopping until May. I can honestly say that I don't really need anything at the moment, and it's just stupid to buy things when I change sizes every week. I actually have a $100 store credit at the Gap right now, which I can use in case of "emergency" for maternity tights, nursing bras, or baby clothes (which I figure gifts will get me started anyway).
I've got the day off today for the MLK holiday, and I am working on cancelling the phone. Cablevision does not make it easy! I pay my bills online and tried to find a way to make a change online. No way, Jose. There are plenty of links to upgrades, however. Finally, I called, after a search for a phone number on the website. I talked to the someone pretty quickly who took my account number and basic info. But to cancel my phone, she had to transfer me to the "disconnect department" and said I may be put on hold for the next available operator. It's been 30 minutes! Not sure if I should hang up or if this is just how they "get you" -- make it so hard to cancel that people give up. It IS a holiday, but the message says they are available 7 days a week, so would they really be shut down today? Oh well, I'll keep holding for now; I'm surfing the Internet anyway.
#1 - Cut off our phone service. This isn't as drastic as it sounds, we both use our cell phones anyway and have for years. The only reason I even got it is because there was some kind of special deal when we moved if we got cable, internet and phone in one package. I never give out the number, and have only used it a handful of times.
#2 - Save on work lunches. Now that I'm pregnant, I find I am happiest if I eat small meals every few hours. So although I eat breakfast at home, I get "second breakfast" around 9:30-10, lunch around 12 and a snack in the afternoon. It's just lazy to buy a yogurt parfait for $3.50 at the rip-off cafe in the lobby and go out to lunch every day. Afternoon snack is usually fruit. Anyway, I easily spend $15 a day on all this food, which is $75/week or $300/month! Planning ahead and bringing food should save me at least 1/2 this amount, which is substantial.
#3 - I've declared a moratorium on clothes shopping until May. I can honestly say that I don't really need anything at the moment, and it's just stupid to buy things when I change sizes every week. I actually have a $100 store credit at the Gap right now, which I can use in case of "emergency" for maternity tights, nursing bras, or baby clothes (which I figure gifts will get me started anyway).
I've got the day off today for the MLK holiday, and I am working on cancelling the phone. Cablevision does not make it easy! I pay my bills online and tried to find a way to make a change online. No way, Jose. There are plenty of links to upgrades, however. Finally, I called, after a search for a phone number on the website. I talked to the someone pretty quickly who took my account number and basic info. But to cancel my phone, she had to transfer me to the "disconnect department" and said I may be put on hold for the next available operator. It's been 30 minutes! Not sure if I should hang up or if this is just how they "get you" -- make it so hard to cancel that people give up. It IS a holiday, but the message says they are available 7 days a week, so would they really be shut down today? Oh well, I'll keep holding for now; I'm surfing the Internet anyway.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Where does the money go? - Part I
I haven't really done a budget in about 10 years. Back then, I was 24, single, living in an expensive place (NYC), making no money (in the $30K range), and being crushed by student loans and massive CC debt. I owed more on credit cards than I made in a year, and would lie awake at night, worrying. I finally went to a Credit Counseling service, who helped me consolidate bills, put me on a plan to pay them down, and create a real live budget. It did actually help me, but I soon realized that they did nothing I couldn't have done myself, and working with them actually HURT my credit score. I was able to pay off my debts and get off the program pretty quickly (within a few years), mainly because I changed jobs (um, a few times) and started making a lot more money. Which I think is the easiest answer for a lot of young people, btw. You just need to ask for a raise or find a new job. But I digress ...
DH and I have been married 3 years. We have done fine because we (1) paid ourselves first by saving, (2) both maxed out 401K contributions or close to it, and (3) both like have a cash cushion emergency fund. We aren't big spenders (by NYC standards, anyway) and we live below our means. So we both have made good money and been fairly smart and disciplined about our finances, but also lucky.
Fast forward to the present. We're having a baby! Suddenly I find myself worrying about money incessantly. How much is daycare going to cost? Can I even get baby into one of the good ones? Should I get a nanny instead? Doesn't that cost, like, a million dollars? I can't see myself becoming a SAHM (and believe me, DH REALLY can't see it), but what if, what if, what if?
Although we've been doing ok, even well, have we missed out but simply not really paying attention? If 2008 turns out to be a good time to buy a place in Brooklyn, will we be ready financially? There are many questions.
So I started trying to find answers. I pulled my annual statements (green card and blue) from Amex. I was shocked to see that my interest charges on the blue card were nearly $900. Yeah, I don't look at my monthly statements very closely. Then I pulled our joint card activity. And all our banking bill pay activity. And so on. I am a spreadsheet master, so pulling everything together takes a little time, but is pretty efficient and seems easier than trying to load everything into Quicken or similar.
My plan is to figure out what we spent in 2007 and divide that by 12 to get some semblance of a monthly budget. Then I'll track our actual spending on a monthly basis to see what we actually do. It's crazy, but it just might work!
2007 was kind of a strange year - I changed jobs and had some time off in between. We spent a lot of money on new things - a house, home improvements, moving, new clothes (new job is all about suits and last was business casual) and maternity clothes (which are frustratingly expensive yet at the same time, cheaply made). But of course 2008 will look very different too - new baby and medical expenses which I really don't know how to account for yet. So it will be interesting.
To start the New Year off right, I paid off most off our (and my) credit card debt. I took this money from savings, but did not wipe it out, so I think this was the right thing to do. January cash flow will look strange, though, because of the extra thousands that went out.
Finally, I have some observations on 2007:
- I spent a ton of money on clothes. A new job, and a conveniently located Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and Motherhood Maternity were my downfall. Must ... stop ... Seriously, I have enough maternity clothes to get by now. I'm in the 7th month, so it's not worth buying more. Hopefully the other stuff will fit when I go back to work! 2008 should see a significant reduction here, although DH bought virtually nothing in 2007, and probably needs some things. Good men's stuff is actually more expensive, but at least it lasts longer.
- Our "back of the napkin" estimates on how much we spend every month have been low. Around 50% low. Especially when it comes to restaurants, alcohol, groceries, drugstore items, clothing, etc. Basically all your variable expenses. A common mistake, I know. I guess this is why maybe we need a budget. Sigh.
That's it for now, but I think I am off to a good start. Will report back when January is totally accounted for.
DH and I have been married 3 years. We have done fine because we (1) paid ourselves first by saving, (2) both maxed out 401K contributions or close to it, and (3) both like have a cash cushion emergency fund. We aren't big spenders (by NYC standards, anyway) and we live below our means. So we both have made good money and been fairly smart and disciplined about our finances, but also lucky.
Fast forward to the present. We're having a baby! Suddenly I find myself worrying about money incessantly. How much is daycare going to cost? Can I even get baby into one of the good ones? Should I get a nanny instead? Doesn't that cost, like, a million dollars? I can't see myself becoming a SAHM (and believe me, DH REALLY can't see it), but what if, what if, what if?
Although we've been doing ok, even well, have we missed out but simply not really paying attention? If 2008 turns out to be a good time to buy a place in Brooklyn, will we be ready financially? There are many questions.
So I started trying to find answers. I pulled my annual statements (green card and blue) from Amex. I was shocked to see that my interest charges on the blue card were nearly $900. Yeah, I don't look at my monthly statements very closely. Then I pulled our joint card activity. And all our banking bill pay activity. And so on. I am a spreadsheet master, so pulling everything together takes a little time, but is pretty efficient and seems easier than trying to load everything into Quicken or similar.
My plan is to figure out what we spent in 2007 and divide that by 12 to get some semblance of a monthly budget. Then I'll track our actual spending on a monthly basis to see what we actually do. It's crazy, but it just might work!
2007 was kind of a strange year - I changed jobs and had some time off in between. We spent a lot of money on new things - a house, home improvements, moving, new clothes (new job is all about suits and last was business casual) and maternity clothes (which are frustratingly expensive yet at the same time, cheaply made). But of course 2008 will look very different too - new baby and medical expenses which I really don't know how to account for yet. So it will be interesting.
To start the New Year off right, I paid off most off our (and my) credit card debt. I took this money from savings, but did not wipe it out, so I think this was the right thing to do. January cash flow will look strange, though, because of the extra thousands that went out.
Finally, I have some observations on 2007:
- I spent a ton of money on clothes. A new job, and a conveniently located Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and Motherhood Maternity were my downfall. Must ... stop ... Seriously, I have enough maternity clothes to get by now. I'm in the 7th month, so it's not worth buying more. Hopefully the other stuff will fit when I go back to work! 2008 should see a significant reduction here, although DH bought virtually nothing in 2007, and probably needs some things. Good men's stuff is actually more expensive, but at least it lasts longer.
- Our "back of the napkin" estimates on how much we spend every month have been low. Around 50% low. Especially when it comes to restaurants, alcohol, groceries, drugstore items, clothing, etc. Basically all your variable expenses. A common mistake, I know. I guess this is why maybe we need a budget. Sigh.
That's it for now, but I think I am off to a good start. Will report back when January is totally accounted for.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Personal Finance Reading
I've added a goal for 2008 -- I'm going to start reading 1 personal finance book per month. First up: Expecting Money - The Essential Financial Plan for New and Growing Families.
I'm wondering if this may be too basic for me - I picked up some other books at the B&N that were more about investing, but the time is certainly now for the theme. I think I'll write a review when I finish.
In other news, I had a good workout at the gym today. 26 weeks and feeling good!
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