Fiscal Fitness

I just can't seem to get ahead. I *thought* I was in good shape to have all my credit card and loan debt paid off by the end of the year. After all the money I've spent recently on vet bills and getting Henry's problems under control (and after last week's $150 car repair), I thought the laws of probability would work with me--at least til the end of the year. But NOOOOOO.

The female kitty hasn't been eating or drinking, and it's been three days, so I brought her in to the vet and she's in the hospital now getting rehydrated. That's at least $350-400 I spent on tests etc for her this morning, and if the rehydration alone doesn't do it, then tomorrow she goes off for a $450 ultrasound. Before that, I took the car in for its regular maintenance service and they told me that the inner front axle boots are broken and should be replaced before they need to start sanding the roads--so I have an appointment next week for another $325 (on top of today's $85 for oil change & tire rotation).

Then today I received the last of my part-time job paychecks, since the last class was last week. That's $840 extra a month that I'm really going to be missing.

Maybe I should start looking for a part-time job for my month off of teaching but I am SO burned out and SO don't want to.

So much for ending the year being out of debt.

Well, the goal in moving $1000 out of my ING account back into my checking account over the weekend was to pay off the credit card bill. But not quite. First there was the $150 in emergency car repairs on Friday that got added to the credit card bill. Then I forgot about last weekend's $95 gym fee...by paying $95 once up front, my monthly fee is reduced to $19 for life--something I should be able to afford regardless. Doesn't save me much the first year but is a good deal thereafter, and Gold's Gym has been around long enough that I'm not worried that they're going to fold anytime soon. Then there were my two impulse buys: $113 on two accounting textbooks for a class that is required at one school but not at another. I'm working on an accounting certificate through the community college (generally cheaper) but can take a class through the college where I work this term, so I thought I'd familiarize myself with the material from the prerequisite class at my college that's missing from the community college curriculum. The "real" impulse purchase was a pair of speakers for my mp3 player that I got on sale for $37 including S&H (retail price $99). So with all of that extra spending and the $800 payment, the credit card bill is now down to $380. I also owe my mom $1000 to be paid this month. Things will be tight but I think I can squeeze $1380 out of my Dec 20th paycheck and be out of debt (late edit: other than the mortgage) by year's end. That's the plan, anyhow.

Well, I didn't think that today would be a "no-spend" day (given that the refrigerator was empty this morning), but I didn't think it would be as costly as it turned out. Still, could have been worse. Feeling hungry this morning and facing a large stack of grading, I thought I'd go out for breakfast (being in a celebratory mood with the ending of class), then stock up the fridge and spend the rest of the day grading. It was not to be.

When I went out to my car in the frigid cold (air temp about 10, with windchill about zero), the car wouldn't start. I went in and called AAA. They sent someone out who gave me a boost and got it started and then did a load test on the battery and told me on the basis of that that I'd need a new battery...the CCF or something number should have been over 500 and mine was 178. He said he had a battery of the same brand (Interstate) as I had with him and that it cost $74 and he could install it right then for another $15, so I agreed (the battery was 5-6 years old and corroded and had been a bit sluggish as it got colder, so I knew it was indeed time for a new one). It actually took him nearly half an hour to install it--something wasn't catching right--and he worked pretty hard for that $15 out there in the frigid cold, so I gave him a $5 tip when he left.

By then it was lunch time, so I stopped off at the library and then for lunch at my favorite little Korean restaurant. While driving to the library I kept on hearing this ticking noise that had started when the battery had originally died, and when I got out of my car, I could see that the hazard lights would not switch off. I didn't want those to drain the battery again, so I drove over to the dealership. They ended up having to reset the security system and that cost another $52. I also treated myself to a latte around the corner while I was waiting.

After the car was fixed, I finally got a chance to do my grocery shopping, so that was another $90 or so out the door--plus $21 for filling up the gas tank while I was at BJ's since their gas is relatively cheap.

Now I've got a pot of minestrone cooking on the stove, a full refrigerator, and a car that starts right up....and a whole pile of papers to grade that I haven't touched yet. Oh well. I'll tackle some of those, then watch an epidosde of Northern Exposure on DVD and call it an early night and get up to grade bright and early in the morning.

I just taught my last class for the semester this afternoon. I don't have to step in front of a classroom again to lecture for over a month!!!--the new term doesn't begin until January 15th. I still have final exams to give and administer and a heck of a lot of grading in front of me (100 exams, 25 term papers, 120 lab papers, and two honors theses), but the daily grind of class prep is over for the moment. By this time next week I ought to be able to hear my own thoughts again!

(Ought to be eating decently again too....as often happens this time of term, I haven't had time to go to the grocery store or to cook and meals for the past week have been frozen dinners, fast food, and PBJ sandwiches.

I started keeping track of my net worth on NetworthIQ around the same time as I started keeping this blog. It's good to see that things are moving in a positive direction. Increases are mostly a result of increases in the estimated worth of my house (I use Zillow.com for the estimate for my house, and also Kelly blue book for an estimate on the worth of my car) and the rising value of my retirement accounts, since what with the unexpected $5000 in veterinary expenses I've had over the past few months, I've actually spent a little more than I've brought in in income during the past 5 months.

My kind of holiday. I remember vividly attending the chaos that accompanies Black Friday sales 30 years ago, and have avoided shopping malls at this time ever since. For years now, I've made it a point not to enter a shopping mall between Thanksgiving and New Years...not too difficult since I probably only stop in at a mall 2-3 times a year.


Check out the home video below and the organization that has promoted the concept for the past 9 years,

26. I worked during college as a proofreader/copy editor for a professional academic journal. The editor actually tried to hire my *mother,* who was primarily a book indexer and reference librarian. My mother said that I was the one who did all of *her* editing, so the editor gave me a test and then hired me.

27. Also during college I hired myself out as a statistical consultant to graduate students in clinical psychology who were math phobic. I had taken a year's worth of statistics as an undergrad and had taught myself SPSS and BMDP from the manuals, and I ended up doing the analyses for two dissertations. Sometimes I think about going back and getting an M.A. in statistics now.

28. When I was in high school, my school was very active in a state-wide program called "Reform in School Education" (RISE) that involved groups of faculty, administration, students and community members to come up with suggestions for improvement. I was active all through high school and my senior year was the city-wide representative for high school students for this program.

29. Later on in college I continued my involvement in educational policy: I served as the undergraduate "Research Coordinator" for the Student Educational Policy Commission at UCLA and once made a presentation in front of the faculty senate that successfully convinced them to make a policy change.

30. Three dreams that I want to pursue at the point where I need to spend less time earning money are to get involved in local history organizations (I am fortunate to live in an area where there is a lot of pre-Revolutionary War history around), to get involved in local politics, and to become much more involved in making music.

31. I've been involved for 6 years in a local voluntary simplicity support group that meets for monthly potlucks.

32. I am Jewish by birth but went through a serious Buddhist phase in my early 30s. I went on a meditation retreat the result of which was an insight that it was time for me to explore my Jewish roots, which I promptly did. I was very active in the congregation that I joined for the next five years. More recently, I have found that most of my friendships are with Quakers (via the simple living group) and my lapsed-Catholic sweetie and I have agreed that if we get married we will join the Friends meeting.

33. I have a wealthy cousin in NYC. One of my fond memories from graduate school is visiting NY, where I stayed at the YMCA and had them move my room several times until I found a floor where there were mostly students rather than down-on-their-luck men, and then going to meet my cousin for lunch at Sardi's, where he was greeted by name by the maitre-de, and for dinner at another restaurant, where his wife was telling me about how sitting on the *first* floor was de-riguer while the *second* floor seating was declasse--when who comes sweeping down from the second floor but Bernadette Peters, who was at that time starring on Broadway in "Sundays in the Park with George." The trip was a vision in contrasts.

34. Three of my favorite places in the world: a patch known as "Henry's Woods" in the local state park, where a plot of conifers stand by a stream and create a cathedral-like space; the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of art; and the 17-mile drive in northern California (though the latter is sadly developed compared with what I remember from my childhood memories).

35. I've had the honor of standing on the Supreme Court dias. An old boyfriend worked as a clerk for Justice Rehnquist back in the late 1980s and he took me on a tour of the building including the courtroom and up on to the dias when I visited him while I was in D.C. for a job interview.

36. I went to a nursery school run by a bunch of psychoanalysts since my mother was in psychodynamic therapy at the time. No wonder I turned out rather neurotic!

I've cancelled class tomorrow--from past experience I know that no more than 15-20% of students will show up the afternoon before Thanksgiving. I don't know why my school's administration insists on having classes the day before anyway--every other school I've taught at cancels classes the day before to give students the opportunity to drive safely to their destinations. Of course, students will take every opportunity to take the whole week off that they can, and that's a pain too--it's the "give them an inch and they take a yard" phenomenon.

So I have a 5-day weekend for what has been an unexpectedly hectic term. There's some grading to do and letters of recommendation to write, but I also have a little time to myself for the first time in a while anyhow. I haven't thought about anything much beyond work and Henry for a long time.

It's actually kind of scary having the mental space since I know new challenges are ahead--but at least I can avoid thinking about most of that until the end of the term in mid-December. The time I take off this weekend can be for play, not planning.

Now that the leaves are gone, I can see the sparkle of water on the river from my front porch when it's sunny and at night. It's just a glimpse, but that little view gives me the same sense of space opening up too.

I think I need to take up meditation again and practice letting the river of my thoughts run by me rather than getting as caught up in things as I have of late.

I see that while I've been busy grading and tending Henry, many of you have been posting interesting lists about yourselves. I'm still catching up on reading those. In the meantime, here's mine. Only 25 items...I'm not *that* interesting.

Twenty-five things you may not know about me

1. I was born in Hollywood.

2. I play the flute. Quite well in fact. I've played duets with the principal flutist of the Oregon Symphony and performed on stage with members of the Albany Symphony.

3. When I was a child, I lived near the abandoned set for "Hello Dolly." Although there was a "No Trespassing" sign, the gate was loosely locked and it was easy for a 10 year old to sneak inside, which I did several times that year.

4. I have a PhD in social psychology and did a post-doctoral fellowship in personality & psychopathology.

5. I am taking classes towards a post-BA certificate in accounting (all the requirements for an accounting major, minus the general BA requirements).

6. I was given a stuffed Basset Hound (Cleo for the People's Choice bassest) when I was born and got my first "live" basset at six. Henry is my third basset, or fourth if I count the dog whom I fostered for a year but did not adopt because of aggression problems.

7. I'm still good friends with the first boy I ever had a crush on.

8. I once went white-water rafting on a Class III river in Alaska (this is SO not me....this was only because of that then-boyfriend of mine).

9. I've done 3 driving trips back and forth across the country, taking a different route each time.

10. I've seen 40 of the 50 states--almost all the exceptions being in the Deep South (plus Hawaii).

11. Despite loving to travel, the only places I have been outside the USA are in Eastern Canada (Toronto, Montreal, and thereabouts).

12. I once spent 7 weeks in a hospital. I did not eat during that time (until the last day) but was fed intravenously.

13. I learned Transcendental Meditation at age 13.

14. I took tennis lessons starting at age 8. Never did master the game.

15. I was kicked out of swimming school at age 3 for calling my teacher a "bastard."

16. I took Yoga for gym class during high school.

17. I met my sweetie when he taught a class called "Creativity for Non-Artists." Nothing happened during that first year I took the class from him (my mind was on getting ready to move out of the area), but when I moved back, I learned that he still had kept two of the little sculptures I'd made in class and had them on top of his refrigerator...unusual for him. The relationship has always felt like fate.

18. I've lived for 23 years in California, 6 in Michigan, 3 in Vermont, and 14 in Pennsylvania.

19. I decided to become a social psychologist before I ever took a class in the subject, and to move to the East Coast before I'd ever been there for the first time.

20. I am also very active online on a Walking discussion board and my regular walking buddy is the former "walking editor" for a national health publication. (She provides great incentive to keep me going!)

21. I lost 95 pounds one year. Gained about half of it back, though, in the subsequent 7 years. Still much better than where I was!

22. I made my first money working as a street performer. The old Los Angeles County Museum of Art had a big plaza on which street performers gathered each Sunday. A friend of mine and I went each week and earned quite a lot of money for our efforts--probably because we were by far the youngest performers there. (Late edit: we played flute duets.)

23. I used to teach at an environmentally oriented liberal arts college, where my proudest achievement was developing a new course called "Simplicity & Sustainability."

24. More recently I taught a class called "The Psychology of Money and Happiness."

25. I firmly believe that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Thus I'm not an expert on much of what I teach; more an impassioned learner.

Yesterday was sunny, so I spent about 3 hours putting the garden away for the winter and lugging 8 leaf bags full of trimmings over to the local compost center. Then in the evening, my sweetie took me out to dinner--the first time we've seen each other in a month, since he's been so busy with web design jobs and I've been hovering over Henry.

Today it was gray and drizzly, so I've been doing indoor jobs--mostly preparing for the week ahead at work, plus doing a little cleaning. I'm having an overnight house guest on Tuesday, so I've got to make sure to do at least 2 more hours of cleaning before she arrives. Somehow it's easier to clean even inside when it's sunny.

I looked around online and found a place where I'll be able to get Henry's medications that he'll be on for life for $43/month (plus shipping & handling). That compares to $73 if bought at the local vet. I'll purchase a 6 month supply with my next paycheck.

Henry's also been put on prescription food, and that's expensive too. Looks like that will cost over $100/month. There aren't as many places that sell pet prescription food online as places that sell the prescription meds, and the places that I could find that carry his prescription food are out on the west coast, meaning the shipping cost will be high. So I don't think I'll be able to cut the cost below that. I spent about 10 days home-cooking for him and that was costing about $5/day, so the vet food is less expensive than that.

I'm greatly looking forward to getting Henry off of Prednisone--or at least, to decreasing the dose, since he's slated for a 6 month course to fully get the inflammation under control. But two more weeks and I get to cut his initial dose in half. Hopefully that will cut down on his incredible raging hunger. Unless he gets about 3000 calories a day (for a 72 pound dog--that's twice what he needs) right now, he starts whining and within half an hour builds up to outright howls, and when I'm not home, he starts pulling stuff off of the shelves...not at ALL his typical behavior. Mon-Wed-Fri I can limit myself to 4.5 hours away from the house at work, but Tues-Thurs are full days, so I've had to hire someone to come in and feed him and let him out mid-day.

I'm really praying that once I can cut the dose in half the 'roid-rage hunger and execessive drinking/peeing will subside to a reasonable level, since it will be another 5 months until he's off the prednisone altogether.

Geez, if not, he'll probably be a 92 pound rather than a 72 pound basset hound.

October was a perpetual money drain...I spent well over $6000, nearly 3 months' worth of normal expenses, in one month. That's over $4000 in veterinary expenses plus the usual household expenses.

Things are beginning to get back to normal. Henry is recovered from surgery, we have a diagnosis, and he's on meds which are beginning to help. Still awaiting the full results from his food allergy panel so I can figure out what to feed him over the long haul. It turns out that he's borderline allergic to the ingredients in the vet-prescribed food he *had* been eating, so I've been feeding him ground chicken and mashed potatoes until I get the full report from the vet. One of the meds he is on is prednisone and it is making him VERY hungry. He asks for a snack about every 90 minutes (or less) when I'm here. I give him just little bits but he's going through about 1.5 pounds of ground chicken (which cooks down to just over a pound) each day. I also decided to hire a pet sitter to come in and check on him during my two long work days each week, since he's now making mischief and getting into trouble by looking for food when I'm gone too long. The higher dose of prednisone is for a month, then we cut the dose for another 4 months and taper for the final month. I'm hoping that once we get to the lower doseage his appetite is a bit more under control! Between food and the medications he's now been put on for life, he's turning out to be an expensive pupster...but a very loved one!

I managed to pay off a big chunk of the debt that had grown on my credit card through all this...I should be out of debt by years end and then back to accumulating savings--as long as nothing else goes wrong!

It's been a while since I had one of these, I think. Most expenses have been related to the dog and his surgery, but a smaller subset (eating out/buying prepared meals and renting videos) have been devoted to keeping me together and sane while being his nursemaid and working full-time-plus.

Henry is mostly feeling back to himself, though he's still having the occasional bout of the digestive problem that led him to surgery in the first place. That was diagnosed by biopsy and on Wednesday we'll get the details and get him put on the right medications to hopefully stop the episodes altogether. I'll also be looking for the right diet to keep him on now that he's been diagnosed with a chronic digestive ailment. This means additional expense because we'll end up doing some combination of an ultra-premium food and home cooking, I suspect. My buying food in 40 pound bags and stockpiling bisquits when they went on sale means only that I have about $100 worth of food to donate to the local shelter. But anything to keep my baby healthy!

Not yet ready to do the bills and face all the damages--I'll map out a plan by the end of the month for the additional $4000+ in unplanned expenses Henry's illness has cost me.

After a week devoted mostly to my dog Henry and his surgery (and incidentally to work), I finally stopped and tallied the week's and the month's expenses. My usual monthly outflow is 2400, and that was the price of Henry's surgery, so I doubled expenses there. Then there have been ancillary costs--things like additional meds or things to keep Henry from scratching at his stitches, plus stuff for me--a bit of money eating out because between the dog and my cold, I've not been cooking; money renting DVDs since sleep has been erratic and sporadic, etc.

Henry is finally done with the post-surgical pain, but he is beginning to lick and scratch a bit at his stitches, which is a no-no. Still have yet to get the biopsy results but so far he's only had about one minute of one of his digestive "episodes" since the surgery. Since I've been sick, I stayed at home all weekend monitoring Hen, catching naps when I could, doing a bit of prep work for the week, and finishing going through the second season of Grey's Anatomy (a show I hadn't even heard of 10 days ago, which I've now seen two complete seasons of).

Life has been "abnormal" in many ways since Hen's illness (not least of which has been that I've been sleeping on the living room floor to keep an eye on him). Hoping things move back towards normal and the high level of spending normalize this week.

The surgeon called himself just now to say that things went well and that Henry (basset hound) is already awake. The biopsy results will take 3-4 days. Henry will stay overnight in the hospital and I'll be calling to check on him every few hours.

I can tell I've been stressed because I'm developing a cold. My throat has been getting scratchier thoughout the day. I was going to ask my boyfriend to stay over tonight to comfort me but I don't want to make him sick too.

I'll get to bring Henry home tomorrow after work. Praying for a quick recovery, not too much discomfort, and good news from the biopsies!

My Henry is going in for surgery this morning. He’s going to have two large bladder stones removed, biopsies done on his G.I. tract because of repeated bouts of tummy ache/nausea, and a gastropexy (tacking the stomach to the abdominal wall so that if he starts going into bloat, he won’t torsion). He’s otherwise in good health so should pull through the surgery well, but it’s a pretty big operation (10” incision). Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Hopefully the surgery will fix things but at least it will give us a better idea of what steps might be next if the initial pre-bloat symptoms continue and will prevent the symptoms from becoming life-threatening.

The surgery is costing $2400--on top of the $1300 I've already spent on diagnosis, medicines, foods and vet visits for this problem. My mom is loaning me some money (and giving me a bit) so that I don't have to put this on a credit card--which is the only real option given that I wiped out the emergency fund over the summer and have only had one paycheck from my full-time job so far, which has gone towards paying off accumulated credit card bills.

I have $3600 in debts between what remains on the credit card bills and what I'll owe to my mom that I want to wipe out by the end of the year. I was looking at a nice winter coat in the Lands End catalog, but I think that's just going to have to get put on hold. The living room rug (because the floor is cold) and a new pair of walking shoes are other expenses that I'm going to move forward with. And hopefully the surgery will mean an end to the big vet bills.

Off to go rub that wonderful belly of Henry's since he'll be too sore for belly rubs for the next couple of weeks (he's a dog who flops over for a belly rub almost as soon as he's getting attention from someone--it's funny taking a walk with a dog who spends a portion of that walk rolled over on his back on the sidewalk when he meets someone who offers a pet!)

My Henry (basset hound) has been sick and that's been taking most of my free time, so I haven't been here much. We have a surgical consult on Monday. The surgery should help but by itself won't stop the initial symptoms, which could be due to diet or pesticide exposure (not at MY house but while walking). Bills are adding up: so far have spent about $1300 on this illness; the surgery will probably double that. Also Henry woke up one morning with a bad limp--it's gone now but I also invested in a child's wagon so I can get him out to the car (it's a ways and I felt horrible making him walk it when he was in pain) and a set of portable carpeted dog steps so that he doesn't have to jump up onto the sofa and risk injuring his joints. This is SO like me: I'm generally conservative with my money and then my dog gets sick and all thoughts of thrift are out the window. So the credit card bill is back up again, and that's still before the surgery.

Kashi was kind enough to send me several coupons for Silk soy milk after I made a comment in response to one of her posts. They arrived last week and I've used two so far. There are still 4 or 5 more that expire on the 30th. I'll buy as many as my refrigerator will hold at that point, since I go through a half-gallon about once every 3-4 days, and will get through all of what I buy by the expiration date in November.

I wonder how soy milk freezes? I could use all the coupons if I knew that it would freeze well. I'll have to do some research on that. If not, I anticipate that I'll be able to make room in the fridge for at least 3 additional half-gallons by that point.

I did a bit of grocery shopping this morning (plus 23 minutes on the elliptical at the gym), then cooked in the afternoon while grading (I gave three exams last week). For the week, I made a Portuguese potato-kale soup with sausage, roasted squash/carrots/brussels sprouts, and baked apples, and a big salad. Groceries also included a nice crusty Italian bread, a loaf of pumpernickel, deli-sliced turkey and cheese for sandwiches. I also have a couple of pieces of salmon in the freezer that I'll probably cook up over the week.

Unfortunately the plastic container that I transferred the soup to started to leak and I lost about 1/3 of the broth and made a big mess in the fridge before this was discovered.

I also cleaned the floors, did the laundry, and cleared the tabletops of their clutter accumulation, plus left the kitchen cleaned up for the week ahead.

I've finished grading one exam and am now pretty wiped, so I'll go to bed shortly. The term really gets busy once grading kicks in.

To my disappointment, I didn't get to go to Rosh Hashanah services (although I did make a R.H. dinner at a friend's house on Friday night) at all because I made the grading a priority; nor did I get to go at all to the "Celtic Classic" festival going on half a mile from my house.

One of these years my life will find more balance. Until then, I muddle through as best I can. I do feel that I've been giving the social and especially the spiritual short shrift of late.

About a month ago, BJ's had a "free week visitor pass" in the paper and I went and looked around. Had to register at the desk, and could have bought things except at a 15% non-member premium, or else joined. I didn't opt to join then...so this week they sent me a pass for a 2-month free membership. Of course, as soon as I registered to get this, they tried to get me to join at a reduced ($30 as opposed to regular $45) fee. I asked how long that promotion was good for, and it's good until December, so I'll use my two free months and see if it's worth my while to join.

Between the full-time job and the part-time job, I've been a bit too busy to blog here much. Oh well, I'll continue to drop by, read others' blogs and put a short entry here occasionally.

One thing that got overshadowed yesterday by my dog's illness was the package that arrived in the mail from Amazon.com. My sister had emailed me a week ago and told me to expect a package from them--a slightly belated birthday present.

For a few years now, my sister and I have settled into a "routine" of birthday and holiday presents. For the holidays, I renew a magazine subscription for her, and for her birthday, she'll usually let me know about one or two items available on Amazon.com that I then order for her for about $40. And my sister will often buy me a decent pair of earrings, since I have pierced ears. The problem has always been to keep it down to just one pair (since she can't abide the thought of buying "cheap jewelery.")

So--the package. I've been talking for a while about wanting an MP3 player, as I've gotten hooked on listening to audio books and my library now offers ebook downloads. For me, it's been a fun kind of thing to dangle in front of myself as I got through my difficult summer without an income--I told myself that I'd buy it after the debts were paid off. Obviously I'd talked of this plan to my sister, since exactly the model I'd decided on was in that package.

It's lovely to have and I'm sure I'll get good use out of it--but I do feel a bit like the wind was taken out of my sails and a bit ambivalent that she's ramped up the spending on gifts a bit. I've checked out the price and she spent $70--a good deal more than our gifts have cost of late. I'm such an ungrateful wretch--worrying more about how much it will cost ME to buy her an equally valuable present the next time gift-giving comes around.

For my sister, giving a gift is to be something personal and symbolizing her caring for the person. I guess I'm miserly but to me presents really represent mostly obligation. Every once in a while I'll delight in buying someone a gift that is "just right"--as when, five years ago, I bought my boyfriend a nice down comforter and duvet set for the holidays because I knew how cold his bedroom gets in the winter and that the comforter would keep him much warmer than the pile of blankets he was using. I guess the problem is that finding such a "just right" gift for my sister will be difficult--and out of my price range if I find it. Her tastes are MUCH more expensive than mine.

Poor Henry, my basset hound, has had a tummy ache today. He was fine when he woke up, but his first taste of food this morning sent him running outside to start desperately eating grass. He was drooling copiously and the initial meds I tried giving him had no effect, so after 3 hours of periodic bouts of tummy upset, I canceled class and made a vet appointment.

The vet said his vital signs were good and offered me two options: give him a shot to calm his tummy and take him home, or do an x-ray and blood work to see if there was an underlying problem to deal with. Since Henry has had episodes of this type before (though not so badly), I opted to have the tests done so that I know what I'm dealing with.

The good news is that x-ray only showed gas in his digestive system and no problems. Blood work indicated that kidneys, pancreas, and liver are fine.

The x-rays also picked up two large bladder stones which have to be dealt with before they cause problems plus indicated that his hips are not in great condition (arthritis down the line). Plus he has an ear infection. So I left today with two tummy meds, two ear meds, and chewable glucosamine, plus a week's worth of special low-residue food.

Henry has been doing mostly ok since he's been home but has had two short bouts of his tummy bothering him. He's sleeping now. Nothing upsets me like my dog being sick (Bassets are vulnerable to Bloat, which is deadly, and he was displaying some of the symptoms). I'm exhausted but wired and hope that *I* sleep tonight--I really need it.

Damn, wrote out a long entry which not only didn't get posted but now there seems to be an entry in my blog which includes ALL of the prior postings, without spaces. Yikes.

Anyways, the gist of the longer post is this: considering a part-time job offer (on top of full-time work), I realized that the true value to consider was not the salary offered, but how much of that salary I would take home after taxes. Since my full-time job puts me squarely in the middle of the 25% tax bracket, that's 25% to the feds, then another 11.75% for social security, medicare, state taxes, local taxes, and state unemployment taxes. That leaves 63.25% of the offer as the value in question. Looks like a lot less, then.

Seems silly to me to tax income--decreases incentives. I'm beginning to see the wisdom of plans that suggest taxing consumption instead.

When I picked up one of my old financial planning books ("How to get what you want in life with the money you already have"), a piece of paper fell out, and on it was my budget from January 1998. Interesting to compare now and then.

My circumstances are very different: I live in a different state, have a different job, own a house rather than rent, am now in a committed relationship, and I have three pets rather than one. I'm still adjusting my budget to new circumstances since some of these changes (home & two of the pets) are fairly recent, but still, the comparison is interesting.

I make about 60% more--but that's both because I'm at a higher paying job and because I have a second part-time job in addition to the main job, which I didn't before. So taxes of course are proportionately higher. And I save more (30% more) and give more to charity (117% more), but my gift-giving has stayed about the same (I'm a notoriously bad gift-giver, alas).

Going from renting to owning makes a huge difference--my monthly housing + utility expenses have gone up from about $700 to about $1022, a 46% increase--but at least I'm building equity now. Household expenses are up, too, from $20 to $50/month as there's more to buy with a house, especially as a new owner--plus that includes repairs, which I never had to worry about before.

The other big increase is education expenses. I've gone back to school the past three summers, working very slowly on getting a certificate in accounting to add to my credentials. Mostly I take these classes at the community college, but just this year, I finally qualified to take classes for free at one school that I teach at, so that is helping hold those costs down some.

My grocery expenses are up about 24%, but eating out expenses have held steady. That increase could be accounted for by inflation--plus here in PA, I have much nicer grocery stores available to me on a weekly basis than I did when I lived in rural VT, so I buy somewhat more upscale ingredient indulgences--one of the ways I hold down the restaurant expense.

Transportation costs are up 52%--I have a newer car, but when I lived in VT, I lived literally right across the street from where I worked, so I only drove my car to do errands on the weekends and to travel. Now I commute 16 miles daily--but I also travel less. That is reflected in a nearly 80% *decrease* in my entertainment expenses (since I budgeted in travel with entertainment). Owning a home and 3 pets and having a relationship--not to mention more than one job!--I've become much more of a homebody than I was.

The other big decrease in my spending is in my "unreimbursed business expenses." As an academic, I can justify many of my nonfiction book purchases as research materials, and I used to do so quite a bit more than I do now. I still spend about $50/month on books and films for use in research and teaching--but I used to spend about three *times* that amount, so that's a big decrease.

So--lots of increases, a couple of decreases. I do miss the travel and "culture-vulturing" I used to do, and some day will have to do more of it again. The biggest increase over the past several years has been in my overall net worth, so that is satisfying.

The long drought is over! The first paycheck since May 20 (that's 112 days ago, folks) is sitting in my checking account this morning!

It's the one from my part-time teaching job, which pays on a biweekly schedule. My "real" paycheck for the full-time job arrives on the 20th--it comes monthly. Most years, I get my 9-month salary budgeted out over 12 months for me, but this year it wasn't since I was only part-time last fall and didn't go back full-time until January.

I knew I had to budget ahead for the summer, but came up about $2400 short because of tuition expenses (I took 3 courses over the summer), a major car repair, and a big vet bill. That $2400 has been sitting half on a credit card and half as a loan from my mom. Now I can begin to pay off the credit card--I'll pay it in full when the real paycheck arrives--and then, next month, begin to start putting money back into the depleted emergency savings account (Mom is expecting repayment in December; that gives me 3 months in which I can put some money towards that debt and some towards savings, and then begin to put the full amount in the emergency fund as of Janaury.

I feel quite relieved to know that the income stream is flowing again.

One thing about academia is that decisions are generally are made pretty far in advance. At the beginning of the fall term, departments finalize the teaching schedule for the spring and are well along on any job searches for the next fall. Thus it was that I arrived home to a call inviting me a teach a class next term at School Y. I currently have a full-time but temporary job at School X and this term am teaching one class part-time in the Evening College at School Y. The Evening College and the Day Division at School Y are run separately, so I very well may be asked to teach another part-time class in the evening at School Y. That would be two courses on overload at Y, on top of 3 classes plus supervising honors theses, advising, and committee work at School X. Since I have no idea what I'm doing for income after next August 20th, more money is always nice. But then I kind of have to hope that I only get one offer, not two, from Y. Doing two courses on overload will be a bear. But I hate turning offers down, since there's going to come a time--might not be next fall, but could be the fall thereafter--when I'm back fully on the adjunct, patch-together-one-course-here-and-one-course-there
path, and saying "no" means that somebody else gets rotated in.

I'll have to think about this...sitting here at 12:30 a.m. after putting in a full teaching day and spending 6 hours preparing my night class for tomorrow, my brain is all but fried.

Offers of employment are always better than not having offers of employment, and if I overload heavily in the spring, then I'll feel freer to completely forgo teaching next summer and to again concentrate on taking classes as I attempt a mid-life career change.

One other good point about an offer from School Y: it's only 1.5 miles from home. Last fall, I taught 5 classes at 3 different colleges and commuted 250 miles a week. The driving was in itself exhausting. School X is 8 miles away; even if I taught 5 days a week at X and 3 at Y, I'd be putting in less than 90 commuting miles.

Also have to take the dog's schedule into account. He had me by his side almost continually all summer and things are hard on him now that school is in session. He's over there whining for my company, so good night.

Finally sitting down to work (no holiday for me tomorrow...no college I ever taught at or went to ever had Labor Day off!) after spending the day doing chores:

swept/vaccuumed the floors

decluttered the dining room table

gave the bathrooms a good cleaning

cleaned the kitchen sink

made a crockpot dinner (ate tonight plus have 3 more portions for later this week)

pulled a bunch of weeds

mowed the lawn

bought 3 bright yellow chrysanthamum plants to replace the begonias and impatiens I bought the beginning of the summer, which are looking pretty spent

put up Redi-Shades over four more windows for more privacy along the sides/back of the house (I only put up shades in the front when I moved in 10 months ago). I'm hoping to buy some nice *real* bamboo or wood blinds for the dining room by the end of the year. I'll put up blinds (which I vastly prefer to curtains) gradually room by room. For $4 apiece, the paper Redi-Shades are a great value and actually look quite nice--my neighbor, who's only seen them from outside the house, complemented me on them once!

Also went to the gym and did a full body weight circuit and walked the dog 3 times today (total 1.75 miles, which is the furthest we've gone in a day since the weather heated up in June).

I only got five hours sleep last night. Hoping to put in a good 2-3 hours on class prep for Mon & Tues before bed.

Now that September's here and the prospect of a paycheck is in sight, some of the tension over mounting debt is loosening--maybe a bit too much. After all, I don't want the credit card bill getting too much bigger before I pay it off! I *did* find a great deal on 8 o'clock coffee and bought $10 pounds for just under $30 today. I already have about 3 pounds at home from an earlier (not quite as good sale). Coffee addict though I am, I think I'm good on coffee at least through the end of the year.

The first paycheck from my part-time job arrives Sept. 15; then a full-fledged infusion of cash comes with the first regular paycheck on Sept. 20.

I've done a little grocery shopping the past couple of days; I'm hoping I can pretty much make it to Sept. 15 without too much additional grocery spending (I know that I *will* need about $30 more for soymilk, sliced turkey, and yogurt, my basic staples.

But I've got about 6 frozen chicken breasts, 6 frozen turkey meatballs, 2 veggie burgers, 3 salmon patties--there's 10 meals right there. Just bought a big box of oatmeal so that takes care of breakfasts; also bought a loaf of bread and will bake one next week. I froze half a batch of split pea soup (about 3 meals worth) 10 days ago, and there's still 2 pounds of spaghetti and half a pound each of red lentils, brown lentils, and split peas, so it looks as though more pasta and more bean soup will tide me through the last of this really lean patch.

I know that there will be some "rebound" spending once the paycheck comes--hopefully not too much. One thing I know I'll buy once money is in the bank again is a bit of clothing--I'm in need of some new lingerie and the walking shoes I've been using since January are absolutely without spring. I'll try to let those be my "rebound splurge."

and that means that a paycheck, at long last, will not be far behind. My full-time teaching job pays monthly and I won't get that check until Sept. 20th--but the good news there is that they gave me a 3.6% raise (as a temporary faculty member, one is never sure what the raises will be). I have a part-time one-night-a-week evening job as well, and that one pays biweekly. I'm hoping the first check comes Sept. 8th--if not, it will arrive the 15th. There's just over $1000 sitting on the credit card bill right now, and groceries still to be bought, so I'm looking forward to getting cash in, paying off debts, and starting to save again after draining my liquid funds this summer.

Oh, today was a no-spend day, too.

One of my favorite grocery stores--one that I grew up with in L.A.--is Trader Joe's. But TJ's has yet to arrive in my hometown, although there are 3 stores in and around Philadelphia (55 miles south). For the past year I've been making a TJ's run once every 3-4 months--*that* was the reason I finally plugged in and started using my basement freezer. A friend who lives near TJ's offered to do a grocery run for me and bring the groceries up, since she had yet to see my new house and meet my new dog. I gave her a limited grocery order (4 packages of burritos, 4 of enchilladas, and 2 of the Two Hearts Bruschetta) and she picked up items and drove them up. I was all prepared to write her a check for them but she insisted on giving them to me as a birthday gift (since yesterday was my birthday).

DBF came over in the evening and his gift to me was edible as well: a Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate bar.

Nice to have gifts that I'll use with pleasure that don't require storage space (other than temporarily). I think that consumables make great gifts, and often (but not always) give some sort of consumbale as well--ideally something a person would like but wouldn't buy for themselves.

Even though I've grown to hate my birthdays (now that I'm middle-aged), yesterday was a pleasant one.

I've not been terribly good during this so-called no-unplanned spending week. School is about to start, which has a number of concerns (and related purchases) bubbling up. Those total about $30, plus I had a library overdue fine of $4 and had to contribute to a wedding gift for my boss for $25. So only 3 true no-spending days this week. I think this next week will go better.