My Personal Finance Tipping Point

Tipping point: The point at which a slow gradual change becomes irreversible and then proceeds with gathering pace.
I was in my mid-twenties when I graduated from law school. I had a lot of student loan debt, which didn't really sink in until I looked at the monthly payment amounts. Goodness, that was a lot of money each month!

That realization was my personal finance tipping point, the moment when I realized that I needed to learn about personal finance and change my financial situation. Fortunately for me, I had been dating Marc for a while and we had decided to move in together with the understanding that we'd be getting married soon. So at about the same time I had to start paying back my student loans, I also had someone to share living expenses with.

Also at about that time, I discovered The Dollar Stretcher. I learned about living within (and preferably below) my means, how to match coupons with sales, and how to cut expenses. I learned to track my expenses, make a budget, and take control of my finances. I was never irresponsible about my money, but for the first time, I actually felt in control.

Since graduating from law school, managing my family's finances has become my favorite hobby. I am always looking for ways to minimize our expenses while maximizing our lifestyle, build up our savings, and invest for the future.

But as far as I've come, I still have a lot to learn, which is one of the great things about personal finance. I am educating myself more about investing so that when my student loans are paid off (which should be fairly soon!), I can invest more of our money as wisely as possible.

What was your personal finance tipping point?

This post is part of Free From Broke's personal finance tipping point contest. Check it out to learn how you can win a $25 Amazon gift certificate.

What silly things do you do to stay motivated?

Story Girl wrote that she was feeling frustrated because the "extra" money she expected to have each month kept disappearing - this month it went to her husband's car, which needed new tires. I wanted to encourage her, so I left her a comment, part of which I thought you might find amusing:

Once in a while, I'll log into my 401(k) account just to see the balance and put a smile on my face. I've been invested for long enough (and am diversified enough) that even with the decline in the market, I have a net gain. So I look at the number I've invested over the years (it's listed as the amount I can take out as a loan), and then the total balance, and I can see how much I've made just by contributing every month. It's pretty satisfying.

I feel silly admitting this, but it really is something I do sometimes.

Are there any other confessions?

We'll be buying that new car soon (and financing it)

So much for my goal of paying cash for a new car later this year. However, we think we've made a good decision to go ahead and buy a new car now (or in the next month or so). The biggest factor is that our 1997 Honda Accord needs some work if we're going to drive it for the rest of the year. So rather than spend $1,000 on a car that we're only keeping for a few more months, we've decided that it makes sense to just trade it in and buy a new car now.

As I've mentioned before, we've had a hard time deciding what car to buy. Nothing has strongly appealed to us, though we eliminated SUVs and minivans from consideration due to their higher fuel consumption. We're happy with our 2003 Nissan Altima, so we're going to test drive a 2008 model and if we like it, we'll end up with a second Altima in our garage. Fortunately, the 2008 model looks a little different from the 2003, so it's not like we're buying the exact same car. Marc took a look at the hybrid version of the Altima but discovered that it has half the trunk space, which would be a problem for us.

I've been studying the tips in the car-buying series at Gather Little by Little, and at his recommendation, went to Edmunds.com. I priced out a V-6 model with no bells and whistles - it comes to $23,211, which includes a $1,000 cash back rebate with dealer financing at 3.9%. I plan to finance $19,000, which will give us a monthly payment of about $350 for 5 years. Then I'll put the money that we had saved up for the car purchase and make a large payment toward the principal on my remaining student loan (the interest on that loan is higher than 3.9%). We'll still have both loans paid off within two years, at which point we'll be debt-free except for our mortgage.

As a side note, I asked Marc about getting a 2007 Altima, since it would come with 1.9% dealer financing. But he pointed out that the car would have been sitting around for at least a year, and quite possibly baking in the sun (the first dealership we plan to go to has at least two storage lots where the cars are parked outside, and the Southern California summer sun is intense). Plus the difference in total interest paid would be negligible, particularly in light of the fact that the loan will be paid off within two years. So we'll go with the 2008 model.

Image credit: Edmunds.com.

Today's Reading: February 22, 2008

I apologize for the lack of Today's Reading posts lately. I've been so busy that it just isn't possible to take the time to pick out the stellar posts from my Google Reader. Hopefully all of the business will ease up soon! In the meantime, here's the list for today:

• The Secret to Raising Smart Kids - Here's more proof that it's more important to praise your kids for their effort, not for their intelligence. Via DaddyTypes.
• Treat Your Emergency Fund Like an Insurance Policy at Money Crashers - I really like the question, "How am I going to treat my emergency fund?" In fact, I might have to post more about this issue myself soon because I think it's an interesting topic, but in the meantime, go read this post.
• Teach Your Kids About Money With Only 4 Quarters at Frugal Dad - I really like this easy, visual way of explaining how basic personal finance works.
• Baby Steps Series: The Art of Stockpiling at The Mother Load - Amy offers a great how-to that applies not just to grocery shopping, but anything that you have to buy regularly (like toiletries and paper goods).

Follow-up to my interview with Meredith

I've unfortunately been too busy to listen to the entire podcast of my interview with Meredith of Like Merchant Ships and expand on what Meredith and I talked about, and I know there were many things I wanted to add! But rather than make you wait, I'll offer some thoughts now from memory, and later I'll give you some of the finer points that have escaped me for the moment.

On balancing work & family
This is the hardest part of my life, and I'm actually quite lucky in that I have a well-paying job that still gives me a pretty decent quality of life. In fact, I probably have the best quality of life of any attorney I know, although I've limited my opportunities for career advancement in exchange. I do think it's important to not try to have it all. Five years ago, I wouldn't have been able to imagine that I wouldn't care that much about my career. The turning point for me came when I had two miscarriages and put having a child ahead of work. I realized that I didn't miss the importance of work and have been happy about my priorities ever since.

On grocery shopping & budgeting
I mentioned in the interview that I shop off a list at the market but that I could save more money if I considered what I have on hand before making my weekly menu. Part of the reason I shop the way I do is that we are frugal but money isn't particularly tight, i.e., I don't have to watch every penny. If I did, I would plan out my shopping in much greater detail. Instead, I budget primarily to meet a savings goal. However, I did learn in January that I can probably increase my monthly savings amount by controlling my impulse spending.

On being a part of an online community
We only briefly touched on the subject of the support we get from our online friends, but I think it's safe to say that both Meredith and I really enjoy being a part of an online community. Personally, I can't say enough about how much I've learned from my readers and other bloggers, and how much I enjoy sharing my own knowledge in return. And especially because I blog about money, which is a sensitive topic for most people, I have greatly enjoyed forming online friendships with people who share similar values. I think it's one of the very best things about blogging!

Today's Reading: February 15, 2008

• Homeless: Can you build a life from $25? - I really enjoyed this proof that the American Dream is alive and well, with lots of hard work. Via Money Musings.
• Try Reducing Instead of Eliminating A Trimmable at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity - Jim offers some practical advice on reducing spending.
• How to get a great deal on a new car - Part II at Gather Little By Little - Glblguy is putting together a great series on buying a new car (even though he recommends buying used). I'll be using his tips when we buy our new car later this year. You can find Part I of the series here.
• 10 Handy Numbers to Save in Your Mobile Phone at Marc and Angel - I have four of the suggested numbers in my cell and plan on adding the remaining numbers. Via Lifehacker.

How much discretionary spending do you plan for each month?

So I mentioned previously that we spent about $500 less than we usually do by not buying things just because they're a great deal. And I know that can seem like a crazy number for impulse purchases, so I wanted to explain that this includes things like diapers on sale and stocking up on things we already have plenty of at home.

I was shocked to see how those numbers add up. After all, my "impulse" purchases are often for practical things. Yet I talked myself out of buying clothes for the boys. I talked myself out of buying things on clearance that I might be able to use, including toys that might have been good birthday gifts. I didn't buy things that caught my eye just because "it would be nice to have them on hand." And my menu planning also helped to ensure that I didn't buy much that I wasn't going to use.

I have also made it a priority to declutter my house, and so I try not to bring in things that aren't consumable. That certainly helps keep purchases down as well. It now seems realistic that I can decrease my discretionary spending by at least $250 per month. I can certainly think of many other things to do with that $250 per month - not least of which is to add it to our new car fund!

I'm considering re-financing our mortgage

The recent rate cuts got me thinking about re-financing our mortgage (and I'm not the only one). We're a few years into our 30-year fixed rate mortgage so rates would have to drop quite low in order for us to end up paying less total interest than we would pay with our current mortgage, assuming we re-financed to a new 30-year fixed rate mortgage. A 15-year mortgage is out of the question since it would raise our monthly payment, something I'm not interested in at this time.

However, I came up with a scenario that makes re-financing quite attractive. It looks like we could save thousands over the years by refinancing now at a lower rate and then paying the same amount we pay on our current mortgage. Here's an example:

• Current mortgage payment: $1200 - Total interest paid after 30 years: $120,000; interest paid to date: $30,000
• Mortgage payment after refi: $1000 - Total interest paid after 30 years: $100,000; total interest paid if monthly payment is $1200: $80,000

Obviously, I've made up these convenient numbers, but the bottom line is that paying the basic monthly payment after a refi in this scenario would result in total interest paid of $130,000 versus $120,000 without the refi. However, continuing to pay $1200 per month after the refi results in total interest paid of only $110,000. That's basically the position we'll be in if we can get a good rate now.

The problem is that mortgage rates have been going up. And we wouldn't benefit from a refi at the current rates. But now that I'm aware of this scenario and there's a possibility that rates might go down, I'll be keeping an eye on rates and ready to pounce if they drop far enough.

Today's Reading: February 5, 2008

• Sack Lunch: A B-L-T for Winter at Serious Eats - This sandwich sounds good, but what I really liked was the suggestion for how to make it last all week as a lunch for work.
• Struggling on a Six-Figure Income at Free Money Finance - FMF offers some good guesses as to the causes of an upper middle-class family's financial woes, and emphasizes the importance of sound money management through the years.
• Starting Frugality at Frugal Upstate - Jenn points out that frugality doesn't happen overnight and has a few good suggestions on becoming a frugal person.
• What Price Are You Paying To Have It All? The Supermom Myth at The Digerati Life - SVB concludes that she's not giving up much by quitting her job.

The All Cash Spending Experiment is over (yes, already)

Well, that was short-lived. We didn't even make it through the first weekend before throwing up our arms and giving up on the All Cash Spending Experiment. The big reason the experiment failed, as Marc put it, is because spending only cash saves money by making you miserable. His sentiment actually reminded me of a comment left by Living Almost Large, who said that she was unhappy spending only cash because she was such a tightwad, spent nothing and ate the cheapest meals possible.

For us, the biggest problem wasn't that we were too cheap to spend money. The problem was that there was too much effort required to spend money at all. We almost always have one or more of the kids with us, which it makes it darn near impossible to count bills. Which meant that we quickly accumulated wads of one dollar bills and handfuls of change. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit. Marc and I both carry small wallets and found it difficult to pull out the appropriate bills in a timely fashion. And it was impossible to stuff all of the bills into my wallet. Plus we both hate carrying change in our pockets.

Another difficulty was that because I had Tyler with me when I went grocery shopping, I completely forgot to total up the cost of the items as I added them to my cart. I had a ballpark figure in my head based on what was on my list and how full my cart was, and I actually came within $2 of the amount. But the All Cash Spending Experiment didn't factor into my shopping at all, and just made paying for the groceries more complicated.

It won't be a factor since we've ended the experiment already, but one problem that arose initially is that we didn't have enough cash in our checking account to last the month. Because we pay for almost everything with a credit card and then pay the credit card balance off in full each billing cycle, we essentially get a no-interest loan from the credit card company each month. Therefore, our monthly budget is set up to pay the credit card bill and other monthly bills, and to transfer a set amount into savings each month. Well, as of February 1, we had only a fraction of the amount in our checking account that I expected us to spend for the month. I have some "extra" checks coming in later this month that I would have used to cover at least part of the difference, and I could have dipped into savings if we'd needed it. But I just thought I'd point this problem out in case anyone who's in a similar situation decides to try the All Cash Spending Experiment for him- or herself.

I'm still happy we tried the experiment, even if it was a total failure. I would have always wondered "what if" if we hadn't. And it helps a lot that I discovered in January that my resolution not to buy things just because they're on sale paid off to the tune of approximately $500. That's about how much less we spent on discretionary expenses than we normally do. It's not all me, of course. Marc is also diligently trying not to spend money on impulse purchases. So we proved to ourselves that we don't need an All Cash Spending Plan to save money.

Responsible money management is not about affordable payments

This post at I've Paid for This Twice Already on "The ‘Can We Afford The Payments' Mentality" got me thinking. Back in 2003, when Marc and I bought our first car together, we divided the responsibilities as follows: Marc did the technical research, deciding what kind of car we should get and what a reasonable price was; I handled the financing research.

I knew enough about car buying and money management to know that the most important thing was the total price of the car, not the monthly payment. So I repeatedly fended off the salesman's efforts to get me to quote an acceptable monthly payment. Even though I knew I wanted a payment of approximately $350, I never uttered that figure to him. He was so frustrated when I told him for the third or fourth time that I simply wanted to know what the total cost of the car would be that I knew most people must not hesitate to say what monthly payment they can afford.

In 2003, when we bought the car, I thought we were doing pretty well when it came to money. We got a great price on the car, our good credit got us the extremely low interest rate of 1.9% on the loan, and our monthly payment was less than $365. The thing is, it never occurred to me to buy a car without a monthly payment.

Admittedly, back in 2003, we probably couldn't have afforded to pay cash for a new car unless we saved for a couple of years (and we really needed a new car then). We didn't want to buy a used car for reasons I've discussed previously. But it never occurred to me that we could buy a new car without payments until a few months ago, when I resolved to pay cash for our next car.

I guess over the last five years, I've abandoned the payments mentality completely. I suppose the only time I might go into debt is to buy investment real estate, although I don't really see that in our future since neither Marc nor I want to take care of tenants. But otherwise, I don't think we'll be borrowing money again - ever.

The All Cash Spending Experiment is about to begin

Tomorrow is February 1, and that means it's the first day of the All Cash Spending Experiment, wherein Marc and I will spend only cash at stores and restaurants to see if having to use cash curbs our discretionary expenses. Neither of us is looking forward to it, but we are curious about the results.

I will be doing my weekly grocery shopping at Trader Joe's this weekend, and that'll be my first real "test." I'm thinking of bringing a calculator because my grocery purchases can run anywhere from $85 to $150, depending on what I've bought and how much. Now that I'm menu planning again, I won't be buying extraneous things, but my average shopping trip is still about $110 after all is said and done. (If that seems high for a family of four, keep in mind that I live in the Los Angeles area, where the cost of living is higher than average, and that I buy mostly organic produce, dairy and meat - or at least, hormone and antibiotic free.)

Although the Experiment hasn't yet begun, I can't imagine that Marc and I will want to continue using cash once it's over. But I was thinking that we can probably save a lot of money simply by being more aware of the total cost of our purchases before we hit the check-out line. I am expecting to find that keeping a running total in my head as I go through the store will cause me to buy less and therefore spend less money. And that'll be a good habit to get into.

Menu planning really saves me money

So I've been menu planning for the last three weeks and I've really been enjoying myself. I've also been saving some money because:

1. We're not eating out. I usually cook so that there are enough leftovers for Marc and I to take to work the next day for lunch. That means the one meal I make for dinner keeps us from buying dinner and the next day's lunch.
2. I'm not buying food we won't eat. When I don't know ahead of time what I'll be making, I'll just throw stuff into my cart at Trader Joe's because I might or I could make something with it. But if I don't use it - and the odds are good for that because I'm not planning ahead - it simply gets thrown out if it's a perishable. If it's not a perishable, it languishes in my pantry until I clean out my cupboards for the post office's annual food drive.

I got proof of the money-saving benefits of menu planning this past weekend, when I skipped my weekly Trader Joe's trip because of heavy rain. When the rain had let up, I headed off to the large Whole Foods in our area (there's a smaller one that's closer but its selection is hit and miss). I bought all of the items on my list, plus several different meats since I try to buy organic or hormone and antibiotic-free meat whenever possible and Trader Joe's has a very limited selection. I also made a stop at Ralphs to pick up the one item I couldn't find at Whole Foods.

Even with the extra meat I bought, my weekly total was about $100, a little less than what I usually spend each week at Trader Joe's. This may not seem impressive, but usually when I buy that much meat at Whole Foods, my total for the week is $150 to $200. So we'll probably have a slightly lower than normal grocery bill for the next couple of weeks, thanks to the meat that's now stocked in the freezer.

We are also eating healthier, since I plan for a vegetable side dish when I plan out my meals ahead of time. When we get take out or fast food, we rarely eat vegetables (french fries don't count!). But since I started making dinner every night, we are eating vegetables with each meal. Well, Marc and I are, and sometimes Tyler. Alex invariably ignores the veggies I put on his plate. I guess I can't win ‘em all.

Epilogue: Alas, the best laid plans ... well, you know how that goes. I had turkey sloppy joes in the slow cooker for dinner tonight, only to come home and discover that I had left the cooker on "warm" instead of "low." Marc had the brilliant idea of making almond butter and banana french toast, so that's what we had, along with some ham. While it's not ideal, paying for lunch tomorrow isn't bothering me nearly as much as thinking about all the food that I wasted!

What will you do with a tax rebate?

In case you missed it, President Bush says he wants to give a tax cut in the form of an $800 cash rebate to individual taxpayers this year ($1600 to taxpayers filing jointly). If the tax rebate comes to fruition, what would you do with it? This is a question that many personal finance bloggers have been discussing - most pf bloggers have prudent plans for their rebate, such as beefing up their emergency fund or paying off debt.

I think such plans are admirable, and (assuming we weren't outside the income limits for receiving a rebate) my first inclination would be to add our tax rebate to our car payment fund. However, it seems to me that simply saving the money would be rather unpatriotic. After all, the rebate is part of an "economic stimulus package" that's supposed to help revitalize the economy. And I'm nothing if not a patriot. I love my country. I want us to thrive, prosper and succeed as a nation.

So I've been thinking. If the rebate comes toward the end of the year, when we'll be buying our new car, I'll be all set. The money will go toward the car. But if the money comes months before (or after) that, we could spend it on something that we've been wanting but have been putting off for some reason or another. Like a washer, if we still need a new one. Or new blinds (I would love to replace all of the blinds in our house). Part of the money could go toward a Scooba. I think I'll make a list of things that I would like to spend money on if we had more money to spend. And then, if we happen to get that rebate, I'll have a lot of ideas on how to spend it.

February: Month of the All-Cash Spending Experiment

I mentioned to Marc that I was thinking about doing an all-cash experiment, and he said he would be okay with it, so that was the deciding factor for me. Neither of us is thrilled at the prospect of using an all-cash system, but we are both interested in seeing if it really does save us money. So, we've agreed that February will be the month of the All-Cash Spending Experiment.

I think it's important to note that the purpose of the all-cash experiment isn't to reduce our monthly expenses, per se. And I'm not going to drag myself and one or both kids to AT&T, Verizon, or LA DWP to pay my bills in person. Instead, I keep thinking about a point Meredith made, that the fear of not having enough money at the cash register will curtail impulse purchases. So that's the purpose of this experiment: to see if going to an all-cash system curtails discretionary spending by 10% or more.

We'll be following a couple of guidelines to help us stick with the experiment:

• When it comes to paying for gas, we'll still use our credit card. It's just not practical to pay with cash, since you have to pre-pay, yet you don't know exactly how much you'll need for a full tank. And there's usually at least one kid in the car, which would mean we'd have to take him out of his car seat, take him inside, then strap him back in. I can't think of anything that would derail the All-Cash Experiment faster than something that requires this much effort. So we'll be paying for gas with a credit card.
• Bills will continue to get paid the way they normally do, whether by online banking or credit cards or checks. As I mentioned previously, I'm not going out of my way to pay bills with cash. I suppose there would be some psychological effect to walking into my mortgage lender's office with my mortgage payment all in cash, but I'm just not at the point where that's something I want to do. The one place that I could do it without any real extra effort is the boys' daycare, since I have to go there anyway, but I don't want to put off the director by showing up with that much cash.
• I also reserve the right to do some shopping online, which naturally requires a credit card. Or a debit card, I suppose, but I never use my debit card and I like the extra consumer protection I get from using a credit card. But I don't expect any online shopping to have much effect on our end-of-month tally – I've been sticking to my second financial resolution for the year and haven't been buying much.

So basically, most if not all of the cash we spend in February will be brick-and-mortar store and restaurant purchases. Places like Trader Joe's and Target, Coffee Bean and Jamba Juice. I'm actually kind of excited to see the results. And of course, I'll keep you updated once we enter the month of February and the experiment begins.

Today's Reading: January 18, 2008

• Five Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires at Get Rich Slowly - I love anecdotes and stories about people getting rich from doing practical things that anyone can do because they're so inspiring.
• Make a week's worth of school lunches at Parent Hacks - Anything that makes packing lunches easier is a good thing.
• The Art of Turboing at MacWhiz Technologies - This is an excellent article on when and how to escalate an on-going customer service problem, including very specific tips. Via The Consumerist.
• Personal Finance Users Guide at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity - Jim offers a very useful guide. I already have something like this but I'm going to tweak it with some of Jim's ideas.
• Bacon wrapped tofu at Just Hungry - This might sound weird, but it also sounds delicious! It's going on my menu for next week.

Why and how I budget

Flexo at Consumerism Commentary wrote an interesting post about budgeting the other day, which I highlighted in my daily roundup. But I've been thinking about it since, especially as I come across other posts on budgeting, most notably FMF's post yesterday about how he budgets.

Flexo's post suggested that stringent budgets that account for every penny are a useful tool in certain situations - for example, when money is so tight it's hard to make ends meet or when trying to get out from a mountain of debt. Flexo further suggested that when a person/family has a comfortable income and doesn't need to track every penny, budgets can be "looser" but still helpful. In fact, Flexo created a budget for himself for 2008. FMF's budgeting post caught my attention because his description of how he budgets was similar to what Flexo suggested.

Flexo and FMF got me thinking about how I budget. Maybe this is because I've been thinking that I need to update our budget in Quicken. I usually re-visit our budget when there is a significant change, such as a raise or a new (or eliminated) expense. It's important to me to update our budget at such times because what I use my budget for is to figure out how much I can direct to savings and debt repayment each month.

Basically, I enter all of our expenses into Quicken. Whatever's left can go toward savings and debt repayment. If I'm not happy with those figures, I take a closer look at our discretionary expenses and see where I can make cuts. These days, our discretionary spending is about as low as it's going to get, at least in the budget. But that's okay, because I'm pretty happy with our savings and debt repayment plans. I'm not as diligent as I probably should be about tracking expenses, but every so often I do get caught up and then I can check to see if our spending is in line with what I'd planned for. If I'm lucky, I'll see that I over-budgeted in a category and that we can increase our savings and/or debt repayment, although more often than not, over-budgets and under-budgets cancel each other out. The most important thing? Our budget works for us.

Today's Reading: January 17, 2008

• How to Earn Extra Money in 2008 at Money Smart Life - Tina offers some good tips, but my favorite was this: "why leave home to work a second job after putting in a full day at work?"
• Why I'm Skittish Around Automatic Billing: Dreamhost's Big Screwup at Mrs. Micah - I'd read about Dreamhost's big blunder yesterday at The Consumerist, but it wasn't until I read Mrs. Micah's post that I realized the implications. It's a good example of why I've been hesitant to set up automatic billing.
• 21 phrases to use to help you FIGHT RIGHT with your sweetheart at The Happiness Project - This is an excellent of things you should say in the heat of the moment.
• The 401k Debit Card: Probably One of the Worst Ideas Ever at Generation X Finance - Jeremy's right, this sounds like a terrible idea.

Today's Reading: January 15, 2008

• Question of the Day - Kids and Cellphones at All Financial Matters - JLP wants to know what age you think is appropriate for a first cell phone. I'm just glad I don't have to think about this one for quite a few years.
• Advice changes for preventing baby allergies: No good evidence for strategies other than breast-feeding - This is great news for moms who worry about whether what they ate or didn't eat while pregnant and/or breastfeeding caused harm to their children. Via Parent Dish.
• Why people believe weird things about money - This is an interesting LA Times article about choosing status over money. Via The Consumerist.
• Importance of Budgeting Relates to Financial Condition and Habits at Consumerism Commentary - Flexo advocates not having a stringent budget (at least for some people).
• Bought a Diamond in the Last 14 Years? Get Tons of Money From Class Action Settlement at Punny Money - "Tons" might be overstating it a smidge, but I am happy that my engagement ring will get us part of this settlement.
• German apple pancake at How about orange - This looks amazing and I think Marc will love it. (Incidentally, the pasta with cauliflower, raisins and pinenuts was a hit with everyone.)
• Top 12 Uses for Plastic Container Lids at Curbly - I especially like #5.

Today's Reading: January 11, 2008

• 6 Easy Ways To Simplify Your Finances at Moolanomy - Automating payments is a frequent "simplifying" tip so Pinyo's got me considering it again, but I'm afraid that I'll be overcharged (for utility bills and such) and that would be a nightmare to fix.
• The Worst That Can Happen Is They Say No at I've Paid For This Twice Already - This is an excellent post about taking that first step and asking for something.
• Dinner Tonight: Spaghetti with Sautéed Cauliflower, Raisins, and Pine Nuts at Serious Eats - Marc's asked me to make this recipe for dinner tonight, and it's my pleasure.