I Applied

Posted by Forest on July 31, 2008

The posting for my old job finally went up today!  So tonight I submitted my application and the waiting process starts all over again.

Consolidating Accounts

Posted by Forest on

I use to split my savings between a money market account with Capital One and an ING account.  For the last several months, the interest rates have been pretty much the same on these two accounts so I decided in an effort to simplify I would consolidate the accounts.  I closed my Capital One account and moved all the money to ING.  I find ING easier to use and their transfers are much faster than Capital One’s, that’s how they won all my savings.  Congratulations to them.

No Job Posting Yet

Posted by Forest on July 30, 2008

So my former boss told me that they would be posting my previous position on Monday.  I had planned on reapplying and getting my old job back.  Problem is, Monday has come and gone and it has not been posted.  I wrote to my boss on Tuesday to inquire about the posting just to make sure I wasn’t missing it.  She said there seems to be a delay with HR and she didn’t know why it wasn’t up yet but hopefully it would be soon.  Well, now it’s Wednesday and still no posting.  I’m patient and I can wait, but I’ve really psyched myself up for the chance to go back to my old job and now the wait is a little bit harder!

Did I Get a Raise?

Posted by Forest on

Last Friday when I checked my paycheck, I noticed that there was more money on it than usual.  I really had no idea where this extra money came from.  Upon further investigation, it looks like this was the money that was taken from my previous paycheck for the ESPP.  So it looks like my opt-out worked after all.  That’s nice because I really didn’t want to have to keep track of another account especially since I wasn’t planning on contributing any more to it.

Haircut

Posted by Forest on July 27, 2008

Yesterday morning, I paid for a haircut for the first time in about 10 years.  Through high school and college, I didn’t really care much about how my hair looked so I had friends cut it or I cut it myself.  It’s actually not that hard and I didn’t think it looked that bad.  I’m sure a professional could do better, but it didn’t look that bad.

Well, lately, I’ve still been having a friend cut it, but she lives far away now and it’s quite a production to schedule some time with her.  And I realize it would be very easy just to drop in and get it cut somewhere, but really, paying 15 bucks or so to get my haircut every 3 or 4 weeks, that just doesn’t jive with my frugality.

But now HB has invited me to a friend’s wedding next weekend and my hair was in need of a cut and I didn’t think I could schedule with my haircutting friend.  And while I could have tried it myself, it is noticeably a poorer cut when I do that.  And there’s the matter of HB herself these days and the fact that I desire to look a little more presentable for her sake.  All this leads me to paying for a haircut yesterday.  A coupon had arrived in the mail the other day so I used that as my justification.

So I went and it was okay, but I don’t ever want to pay for another haircut again.  The cut looks fine, but it doesn’t look THAT much better than when a friend cuts it.  And I hate having to make the small talk with the stylist. And I hate having to pay for something that I could get for free.

So with coupon, including tip: I paid $13 for my haircut.

Exchanges at Express

Posted by Forest on July 26, 2008

This morning I’m off to the mall to exchange two pairs of jeans at Express. HB thinks I’m crazy because I don’t try on clothes when I buy them. I just don’t. Usually it works out for me. This time, it didn’t. I bought two pairs and neither of them fit. Needless to say, I’ll be trying on the new pairs as I attempt to exchange these.

While I’m at the mall, I may window shop, but I don’t think I’ll have to fight many temptations. There isn’t much I want to buy. I might stop at Dick’s and look at sleeping bags because I’m taking a trip to the Boundary Waters in September and I’d really like a new sleeping bag. I don’t necessarily NEED one, but my old one is a very old hand-me-down and it would be really nice to have a new, higher quality one that is probably lighter and more compact yet warmer. I’ll be sure to let you know how my trip to the mall goes.

Potential Renter says Thanks, but No Thanks

Posted by Forest on July 25, 2008

We got an email today from the woman we showed the house to on Monday.  She said she was going to pass because she has decided to search for something closer to her work.

I’m actually kind of relieved because I think we were getting ourselves in a little over our heads.  I’m not prepared to be a landlord.  The roommate and I have talked it over and we’ve decided not to pursue any more renters at this point.  The house will remain up for sale, but we’re not getting very much action there either.  I think we might just have to suck it up and ride out this market because we just can’t afford to lower the price any more.