Saver in the City’s five for Friday
Squakfox blogs about 6 bad words you shouldn’t use on your resume. No, they’re not what you’re thinking although those are probably not a good idea either. And if I need to tell you that you deserve to be unemployed.
Low 30-year mortgage interest rates and falling home prices tempting you to explore the exciting world of home ownership? Be sure to read Sound Money Matter’s post on how to find and hire a real estate agent before you make the leap.
Cents to Save offers some great common sense – er, cents – tips for shopping at thrift stores. Sure, it’s not Halloween (when my annual visit usually falls) but desperate times call for smart measures.
Gather Little by Little and The Frugal Dutchess tell you how to be less trashy…at least when it comes to coffee filters and paper towel tubes.
And just because it’s Friday and slated to be 82 degrees today (sorry, at least where I live), I’ll end this post on a ray of sunshine. Over at Million Dollar Journey, Frugal Trader gives us 6 reasons why recessions are a good thing.
Filed under Career, Economy, Finances, Personal, Saving Ideas, Shopping | Comment (1)Saver in the City’s five for Friday
As the clock slooowwwly ticks toward the weekend, here’s a round-up of the articles that caught my eye or taught me something new this week. Because really, who works on Friday?
Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity reminds us what to do if you’re ever in a car accident. Seriously, write this stuff down and keep it in your glove box…
In the “I learned something new this week” category, apparently human flesh can freeze in 10 minutes when temps hit -40 degrees. So, in case you’re in one of the areas affected by this week’s arctic freeze, prevent yourself from becoming a human popsicle with Ashley’s easy (and cheap!) recipe for Baked Potato Soup at Wide Open Wallet.
Hmm, after reading Fabulously Broke in the City’s ideas for things to do when you’re stuck inside, I’m actually excited about all the cold weather headed to Texas.
In these rocky economy times, building an emergency fund has never been more important, or more daunting. Simply Saving makes it look, well, simple, with her post about 21 ways to create an Emergency Fund.
Finally, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard 2009 could be the year buying a new car trumps buying used. Deep discounts, incentives and lower financing options abound, but before you buy be sure to read Negotiation Training Info’s tips on buying a new car.
Just say Yes
I went to the movies last night with a friend and while we’d originally wanted to see Bride Wars, it wasn’t playing at a convenient time so we settled for Jim Carrey’s new movie Yes Man.
One of my all-time favorite movies is Dumb and Dumber (which is a little odd since the other is Gone with the Wind) but I haven’t really liked Jim Carrey in recent movies because he seems to always play the same campy, slapsticky character just with a different name.
So I wasn’t expecting too much of Yes Man…which is always a good indicator I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Sure enough, I really liked this movie, both Jim Carrey’s acting and the premise, which in a nutshell is to say yes to life.
I don’t want to give too much away - especially because I highly recommend you go see it – but the movie begins with Jim Carrey’s character, Carl, turning down invitations and trying to find excuses for not committing to do anything out of his routine.
After attending a seminar about living life more fully, Carl’s arm-twisted into agreeing to say yes to everything that’s asked of him. Some of the scenes that result are hilarious, some sad and one in particular absolutely disgusting – trust me, you’ll know which one when you see the movie - but all of them expose him to new situations and opportunities.
I was so intrigued by the movie I looked it up on IMDB today and according to the trivia, it’s based on a biographical book by British writer Danny Wallace who spent six months saying “yes” to any given question or proposal and recording the results.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see a little bit of Carl’s pre-epiphany character in me. Which got me thinking, what if I said yes to every invitation that came my way?
Just for a week, mind you, not a lifetime and only for social invitations not every single question like in the movie. But seriously, what would happen and would it enrich and expand my life?
Would I meet new and interesting people I normally wouldn’t even talk to because I felt they were too different? Would I learn a hobby, find a new hangout, go on a spontaneous trip? Or on the potential downside, end up in jail or on a date with a creepy guy?
I’m still mulling over whether or not to actually do this as an experiment, but no worries, if I do you’ll be the first to know!
Filed under Personal, Random | Comment (1)To Facebook or not to Facebook?
That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in my mind to suffer the taunts and ridicule of insistent friends or to take arms against a sea of Facebook fans and by opposing, silence them?
My apologies to Bill Shakespeare forthe hatchet job on his Hamlet soliloquy…
For those of you who slid by high school English with Cliffsnotes, the short version is my friends are determined to get me to join Facebook and I don’t want to. The way they tell it, I’m the last 20-something on Earth still not using the popular social media site.
I just haven’t been able to muster up the enthusiasm or energy to create a profile and I’ve remained unconvinced of its merits despite arm-twisting, badgering, rolling of eyes and even offers to create a Facebook page for me from numerous friends.
But yesterday I started to see a glimmer of reason in their newest argument. One of my cleverer friends casually mentioned that my 2009 resolution to be more social would be a lot easier if I was on Facebook. Don’t you hate it when you’re determined to be stubborn and someone says something to make you reconsider?
Apparently, Facebook is the main hub where our group posts pictures, event invitations and other random pieces of information to keep everyone in the know. I could see her point since I’ve been left out of impromptu happy hours and meet-ups before only to hear, “Oh sorry, we posted the invitation on Facebook.”
I’m still not enthusiastic about it, but I’m now at least willing to look at the pluses and minuses to determine if it really is worth the time and effort.
On the plus side, it probably will make me more social with friends – both in-person and online – simply because I’ll be visible. I have the tendency to disappear sometimes and friends have admitted they forget to ask me to join them when they haven’t seen me for a while. Just being online and active on Facebook will probably up my invitations and potentially improve the quality of my friendships.
Another positive is the opportunity to catch up with people with whom I’ve lost touch. Of course, I did the same thing with Myspace and a year later I don’t talk to any of these old acquaintances. So maybe this one is actually a wash…
One of my main motivators would be the ability to see photos on Facebook. In the last two weeks, I’ve heard so many times that a “cute picture” of me is posted on a friend’s Facebook page but I can’t log on to see it.
Some say that Facebook is also a great place for networking, which is something I am very interested in right now. But that said, I’m not really a fan of potential employers or professional contacts reading about my relationship status, seeing my latest party photos or knowing “I’m feeling grouchy today.” So this one would be a wash as well.
Which brings me to the negatives. The big one: I already spend an inordinate amount of time online – literally 9-10 hours at work and then another 3 hours at home. I remember when I first joined Myspace I checked my page almost compulsively and quite honestly I don’t want to become addicted to another social media site.
Speaking of Myspace, it took me forever to get my page looking the way I wanted and now, less than a year later, I can’t even tell you the last time I logged on. I’m also a little worried that as soon as I sign up and spend time on it, everyone will have moved on to the next social craze.
Next, despite writing this blog I’m actually a pretty private person (thus the anonymity) and I’m not sure I want even my friends/ acquaintances knowing the minute I upload a photo or change my relationship status. I tell my friends exactly as much as I’m willing to share based on our relationship, but you can’t really designate that on Facebook.
Lastly, look how creepy their ad is…and people are surprised social media sites are associated with stalkers and pedophiles??? What’s that you say, I can’t hold it against Facebook that their ad guys are imbeciles? Oh fine.
So there are all my arguments. What do you think, should I join Facebook? Since I know you would never lead me astray, dear readers, I’m going to leave it up to you. Let me know what you think in the comments, and please be kind…
Filed under Personal | Comments (2)My other guilty pleasure
As if my daily Starbucks wasn’t enough, the other guilty pleasure I can’t live without is ABC’s The Bachelor. It’s decidedly less expensive than my Starbucks habit but equally as indulgent, especially when some of the bachelorettes turn out to be real crazies.
If you didn’t know, last night was the premiere of the newest season of The Bachelor, featuring heartthrob Jason who was dumped at the altar – literally as he was down on one knee – by DeAnna Pappas in the previous season.
Jason seems like quite the catch (at least the TV persona we see) and I would be all over that if he lived in Texas or California. I mean, look at that picture…
Sorry, got a little distracted there. Anyway, the premise is Jason meets 25 ladies and after a series of dates he narrows it down to one who presumably will become his bride. I say presumably because ABC’s proposal-to-wedding ratio is not that impressive and as of writing this blog, only one couple has made it to the altar.
Which is not too surprising considering some of the women ABC has unearthed over the years – psycho stalkers, drunkards, a girl who constantly wore a tiara and listed her profession as “socialite,” etc. In Jason’s case, though, I think there are a few women who might actually be normal.
For the record, I’m listing my top 3 choices so that when he finally proposes (word on the street is he’s engaged) I can look back and say I told you so…or more likely, admit I have no idea what guys are thinking when it comes to relationships.
Nikki, 29 years old, administrative assistant
Jillian, 29 years old, interior designer
Lauren, 27 years old, teacher
Apparently we’re also in for a twist since the previews for next week show the evil-incarnate DeAnna, the one who left him at the altar, coming back to say she made a mistake and ask for another chance. What?!? Sorry, you only get one chance to break my Jason’s heart…
P.S. It’s times like these I’m glad this blog is anonymous :-)
Filed under Dating, Personal | Comments (2)