How Far Will 100 Bucks Stretch For You?

Len Penzo found a fascinating graphic -- it tells you how far a hundred bucks goes in each state of the U.S. 

(Actually, it's from the Tax Foundation -- thank you!)

It contains a sad truth we knew already -- Colorado, our home state, has a crappy record compared to practically everyone except a few eastern states, Alaska, Hawaii...and that paragon of spendiness, California.


How does your state measure up?

Dog Truths For the Average Owner

Hey, but we love them anyways...

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Florence Foster Jenkins

We just got back from seeing the Meryl Streep/Hugh Grant movie, Florence Foster Jenkins, about the high soprano who sang all over...but couldn't hit a straight note to save her life.

    
Apparently the movie was reasonably true to the real Florence and her life.

    I'm still not sure if Jenkins ever realized how truly bad her singing was. At the least, she had people who were genuinely fond of her -- and that says a lot. One thing's for sure: they didn't hang around because they enjoyed her singing. Jenkins' high point, if you can call it that, was a paid-for performance at Carnegie Hall, when she was 76. Five days later, she had a heart attack, and within a month, she was dead. 
    Our friend Mary has been here for a few days, and came to the movie with us. Afterwards, she stopped short in the lobby. "You know, I've sung at Carnegie Hall," she said. And she has -- as part of a backup choir for Sandy Patti last November.
    Except Mary has a lovely low alto voice. She can sing around here any day.


    Florence, courtesy of Wikipedia


Eight credit cards for people with excellent credit.

Millionaires who are frugal -- even though they don't have to be. (Maybe it's why they're millionaires in the first place!)

Ten people who risked their lives in wartime...to help enemies.  (From Listverse)

Eight ways to save in Hawaii.  (From Brad's Deals) While you're thinking about it, he's also featuring:

Twenty ways to save in Europe, too.  

Is fall right around the corner? Diary of A Stay At Home Mom thinks so.

A mother cheers as her four-year-old is thrown off the bridge. No, I am NOT making this up. Hopefully, she loses custody.

The grocery store purchase that can rock your world.  (From Apartment Therapy)

17 people who were briefly famous...and what's happened to them now. (From Cracked)

A baby, a dog and cat...and a perfect moment. Until the baby poops in her diaper, that is...

Kate Bruce, one of the shining stars, painterly-speaking, at Spode.  (From the Spode history blog)

The color of the year for 2017?  At least according to some paint companies. I dunno...two of these look more neutral than anything. Does that reflect on life in general for next year? (From Apartment Therapy)

How to make people happy all the time. If you're self-employed, working for a jerk or stuck in a 'me-me-me' business environment, this one's perfect for you. (From Financial Samurai) I also enjoyed his post:

Are you smart enough to act dumb enough to get ahead?



Have a great week. Sing pretty.

Gotta Clear Photo of Sasquatch?

Are you tired of the multitude of fuzzy, blurry and just plain weird Bigfoot photos and videos out there?

Ya got a point, Bizarro -- but I still believe.

Frugal Hits and Misses: The August Report

I've committed to clocking up our successes (and misses) for you every month. Here goes for August.

Found some incredible fruit sales. Our peaches from the Palisade trip not only were fresh, but cheap -- about 65 cents a pound, versus the 'cheapest' price right now: about a buck a pound on sale in stores. (Normally, they're $2-4/lb.) We gave some to friends, and the girlies each got a box.  Now, nearly two weeks later, what's left is stashed in the refrigerator. I promised the Brick a peach pie, and want to make some peach dumplings, as well. As usual, I wish we'd bought one more box! This season just doesn't last long enough.
     Also, our local Safeway (Fred Meyer, to you East Coasters) has frozen blueberries on sale -- a 3/lb bag for $3.99. That's way cheaper than what I can get them fresh. Since I usually freeze some anyways, Safeway can do it for me this time. One bag's in the freezer -- at least two more are needed.

We did okay on groceries, too.  Fifty pounds of onions -- for $5. (Onions are normally a buck a pound around here.) Forty pounds of chicken wings -- $20. (These from the Fri/Sat store.) A bagful of zucchini and squash from neighbors. Our dogsitting people have been covering some of our food, too. Nice.
     Combine that with 77-cent 8 oz. packages of Swiss (I looove this cheese), half-priced bottles of black cherry juice (essential to keep gout at bay for the Brick), and some other clearance items snagged. I've been a happy camper in this area.

The beans are producing! And they're wonderful. We're finally getting more rain, too. The sad part: weather's cooler. They won't keep on much more.
     The tomato plants look great -- lots of blossoms. Just in time for cold weather. (sigh) I'll put our old greenhouse cover on the plants, but have little hope that they'll produce.

The chickens are fine...though we lost one of our old girls. They're barely producing enough eggs to fill the weekly 3-dozen order. I really wish they'd get back to work. Fortunately, Safeway's had eggs on sale. (99 cents a dozen)



Building up the savings fund again. Thankfully. The Cheyenne trip helped, but we're also dogsitting an elderly but feisty golden lab named Nitro. It means staying overnight at Nitro's house...but fortunately, it's only little more than a block away. The Brick stays at our house, and practices for our friends' wedding. (Ana and Jerred are marrying Saturday night -- and the Brick and I are playing and singing for it.) He comes over for meals and sleep. I stay with Nitro and company, work on appraisals...and try not to feel too lonesome.

Nitro in the flesh

Lessons learned from dogsitting: 
     *I enjoy it. Nitro's a good-natured 'ol boy, which helps. But he's 15, stiff on his legs -- and a reminder of where Abby, who's 11, could go in the future. I think I'll try for more jobs like this.
     *Regular messaging helps. Every day, I send a few photos of Nitro and a text on how he is and what we've been doing. It reminds Nitro's mom and dad that he's fat and happy...and he misses them. (Doesn't hurt me, either.)
     *Our decision not to have cable was a good one. Nitro's owners have cable, which we've been watching. How can hundreds of channels have so little to offer? Reruns, sales of stupid stuff and a few good movies and shows sprinkled in. Is this really worth $50 or so every month? (Although I have enjoyed catching up on Judge Judy, Law and Order and Naked and Afraid.)
     *Living in two houses is zany. Take a shower -- oops, your deoderant's at the other house. Where's the can opener? Call the Brick, and ask him to bring it over. Charley and Abs look funny at me -- why are we sleeping here, Mom?
    Meanwhile, there are dirty dishes and clothes at both houses. I need to tidy things up everywhere.

Dawn Patrol -- they kicked up a rabbit. Guess who got away easily?

No more birthdays. Okay, mine -- but I'm going to advocate for steaks grilled at home. We covered two meals out, which, along with several small expenses, effectively cancelled out the extra funds I thought were going to beef up the savings.

We messed up on bank fees -- and got nailed for it. My failure to transfer money meant that a long line of checks bounced. Fortunately, the credit union was persuaded to refund all but one. $30 down the tube.
     We also deposited an older check I'd missed earlier. The 60-day limit was noted on the check -- but I didn't think it was a big deal, because we were only a week off. Got a second $30 penalty for that one -- and we sure didn't get to keep the money, either.  (Did you know you can't do this, even if the money is in the holder's account?)

I didn't accomplish any of the goals I'd set.  I did keep us reasonably fed, in clean clothes, and with some income coming in. We also didn't spend much, if you don't count birthday meals and a doctor's visit for Charley. (Allergies were making him miserable, poor puppy.) Piles are everywhere, though, and we have lovely doghair drifts in the hallway. Next week means catching up on all that. (Oops, just got an e-mail...a friend is coming to visit this weekend. Maybe I can vacuum up the doghair -- quick -- before the rehearsal dinner.)

Meanwhile, there are appraisals to finish, clothes to wash and a dishwasher to load. 
    
     We'll go back to regular life next week. I hope. 

Co-Signing On a Loan or Credit Card: Should You?

Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it.

A recent survey from CreditCards.com of about 2,000 adults found the following:

     Money gone:   38% of co-signers ended up paying some or all of the loan or credit card bills -- because the person they helped out... didn't.
      Credit scores down:  28% had their credit scores affected negatively because the person they co-signed for didn't pay...or was late.
     Relationships affected:  26% said their relationship with the person they co-signed for was no longer as good.

Twice, we've been asked to co-sign for a loan. The first time, we did it -- because the person was young, a relative, and needed our help with school loans.  The second time, we didn't. That person was a casual friend I worked with. I liked her so much, but hadn't known her that long. She asked me to co-sign for a car loan; I regretfully said no. Soon after, she disappeared from my life. (Would that have happened if I HAD agreed to co-sign?)

And the school loan we did co-sign for?

We regularly were forced to ante up loan payments now and then when our much-loved person didn't pay. (The loan people immediately called us next when the payment date passed.) Brief periods happened when she was back in school, and the loan went on temporary hiatus...but the loan people were soon back on our doorstep with the next 'break' from college. 
    Finally, all was quiet. Our loanee assured us that she'd taken care of things, and all was well. Then we got a notice: our credit scores had dropped nearly 100 points for non-payment on the loan. It was past-due three months.
    Every month, for the past two+ years, our bank account gets docked $50: the price for our credit scores not taking another hit. (They were near-perfect before that.) 
     The loan will be paid off next March. I am hoping that when it's gone, our credit scores will go back up to what they once were. They've only recovered a little from the initial hit.

And if our young person came and asked us to co-sign again?

What do you think?

Our experience was with school loans -- something parents go through a LOT with their children. Like this poor lady.

It happens with co-signed credit cards, too.  In fact, the columnist mentioned here has posts crammed with people who co-signed, or allowed friends, partners and family to be 'authorized users' on their accounts -- and now regret it.

Sure, it may be ok. The person you've just entrusted your credit and reputation to actually makes the payments regularly. They may do this. It happens. 
    If you really want to help without endangering yourself, take the real risk -- and loan them the money directly. We've made loans to relatives and a friend -- and we got the money back. Reluctantly, as it turns out, in two cases...we had to ask for it, but we got it. In a third case, the money was paid promptly and on time, without asking. I'd loan money again in a flash, any time, to that third person.
     We've also borrowed money from both sets of parents, as well as our daughter -- and paid back every cent on time, plus interest. 
     You may not have the funds to spare. In that case, the answer is clear: Don't do it.
     But if you do have the cash..

     Worst case scenario: you don't get your money back.  Lesson learned: don't loan any more than you're prepared to lose -- permanently.

The person may have the best intentions. (Then again, they may not.)
They may be someone you love dearly.
    But if something goes wrong -- they change their mind, lose their job or have serious medical bills -- you're the one on the hook for that debt. No matter what.

After all this, do you still want to help? Then loan them the money. That way, if they don't or can't pay, you won't ruin your own credit, and end up paying the bill for years, as well. It's not a fun feeling.


Trust me -- we know.

Brackman's doing a Giveaway!

Quick -- sprint over to Barbara Brackman's website and enter her contest.

Some really nice fabric packs, cuts and more.

You only have today to do it...I think. (She said something about taking the post down after today.)

So quick -- GO!!