Beans And Rice...Are Nice

There was a song about bean and rice that I remember from when I was young. It went...beans and rice, beans and rice...are nice. That's it. I think it was one of those public service information spots that was supposed to teach kids about nutrition. I guess it worked because I still remember it and I am eating beans and rice.

In my attempt to eat everything in my fridge and pantry I have gotten down to the canned goods. That means refried beans. And what can I eat with the beans? Yes, I have rice. I even have cheese, chips, and flour tortillas so lunch and dinner will be good for the next couple of days. I don't eat beans too often because, well, they don't really like me (you know...gas) and because it takes too long to eat a whole can. I'd say it takes 4 days of eating beans to get rid of a whole can. I just can't eat beans that many days in a row but every once in a while I will try.

Growing up (and even now) there were always bean leftovers getting green and fuzzy in my mom's fridge (sorry mom, I'm telling your deep, dark secrets). I try very hard not to let anything turn in to a science experiment at my house (ok, the freezer food-sicles I just threw away don't count!). Beans are a challenge for me but I am determined to eat them before they get green and fuzzy. If only my cat liked beans...

So, while our government is trying to figure out how to deal with the messy economy, I will save my pennies, pay down my mortgage, live below my means and eat beans and rice because that is that slow but sure way to prosper in the end.

My Jobs: The Good, Bad, And Ugly

Sallie's Niece asked me why I don't get my fun job now. Good question. Simple answer...I don't know what that job is! I think it will take some time to experiment for a while which is why I am trying to give myself some financial cushion.

Let me think back on all the jobs I've had...

Lawn mowing-dirty, hot, sweaty.
Babysitting-I'm not an entertainer.
Chicken tending-I like chickens, hope to have them again one day.
Helping my sister with her paper route-The early morning weekend thing was a challenge but riding my bike down empty streets was fun. Oh, and the fireworks we earned from selling subscriptions were soooo cool.

My first real job:
Pet store kennel cleaner-Learned about puppy mills and what happens to dogs that don't measure up (they go to the pound). Had a terrible manager and very little training. Quit after a month (with enough money to buy a leather jacket, which I still own :)
Plumbing store cashier-Learned how to count change back to a customer. Boring job.
College cafeteria-College kids do gross things to their un-eaten food.
Cleaning staff for classrooms-Learned some tricks for cleaning bathrooms. Kind of fun to roam the vacant halls and draw on the chalkboards.
Copy room clerk-Better student job. Interaction with the teachers was more interesting that cleaning toilets.
Honey-baked ham clerk(winter break job)-That foil gave me papercuts. Tried not to bleed on the hams. (That is so gross. I hope they give them gloves now.)
Bookstore cashier (summer break job)-Showing new students all the books they had to buy was quite fun.
House cleaner-Gets old really fast.
Certified Nurse's Assistant-Worst job EVER!!! I quit after 3 months and luckily didn't cause any deaths.
Office Furniture Set-up-I think they hired me because I'm a girl and they didn't want to look sexist. I wasn't a very big help.
Convoy Driver(contract job)-This one was fun. Drive around the desert in old army vehicles with other drivers and see if the army plane can target your position.
Newspaper ad inserter-Worked with some colorful characters. Learned a lot about the cycle of poverty, crime, drugs and welfare...second hand thank goodness.
Drafting-Boring but much better pay. Opened up some interesting opportunities.

I probably forgot some jobs or maybe I blacked them out of my mind. My favorite was the college bookstore job. It was fun to help bewildered students find their books. And the convoy driver was fun too. Lots of hurry up and wait, it was for the army after all. Obviously, I haven't found my dream job yet.

I have always struggled with either getting a job I like or getting a good paying job to pay for my hobbies. I've haven't found a job I love that pays well yet. Someday it will happen!

Sometimes Frugal, Sometimes Not

I was riding in the car with someone today and he had to stop to get gas. He choose to stop at a station that only accepts cash. Also, it was located in a slightly inconvenient spot, requiring a left turn to get in to it and a right turn, u-turn, left turn combination to get back in the direction we were headed. I commented that I would not have stopped there. I would have gone to the higher priced station (4 cents higher) located on the right hand side of the road that accepted credit cards. He was surprised that I wouldn't go a little out of my way to save money since I was so frugal in other areas. I have to admit, this is one area where I am willing to pay a little more for convenience. I don't stop at the highest price stations but I do stop at the stations like Circle K and Quik Mart which are not the very cheapest.

I look for other things when stopping for gas: Accessibility, safety, credit card readers that work, and the station can't be crowded. I often stop at the station near my property in the rural part of town. It is on the right hand side of the street. It has multiple entrances and exits. It is rarely crowded. The street that it is on is also rarely crowded. I fill up when my tank is only half full so that I am never close to running out of gas and I can fill up when I have the time and the opportunity.

I guess it is just one of those things I am willing to pay more for.

Good Old College Days

I had the opportunity to study in Austria for 2 semesters while I was in college. Coincidentally, my grandfather gave each of us grandkids $7,000 that year. He wanted us to have the money while he was still alive to see what we did with it. I remember my oldest sister talking about investing it in a mutual fund. I didn't know what those were and saving for the future was a very distant thought. Most of the money was spent on travel, food and gifts while I was in Europe. I did have enough left over to buy my first car for $700 after I graduated. If I had saved that money and invested it in a mutual fund at 10% interest, minus taxes, I would have $25,000 now. It would be nice to have $25,000 right now but I must admit that the memories that I have from those 2 semesters were worth even more than the money I spent. I think I got a good deal.

Remember Spiral Perms?

I found this old picture from college while looking through my boxes last weekend. Those were the days.(Over 15 years ago! I can't believe it.) I paid over $100 plus tip for that spiral perm. I can clearly remember the agony and pain of those rollers, how it ripped out my hair from the weight of them and the toxic smell of perm solution. Not to mention over 3 hours of my life I will never get back. I would never spend that kind of money on my hair today.

Let's see, I had one perm in high school and one in college. If I invested that $100 for 20 years and the other $100 for 15 years at 10% minus taxes I would have $879! Oh well, live and learn.

Now I just hack my hair off with scissors and hope for the best. My $3 hot rollers from the thrift store do a pretty good job if I want curls.

I had to take this picture to work to scan it. I was thinking about buying a scanner someday to scan in all of my old pictures. I mentioned this to a friend and he said I could borrow his scanner. He used it to scan in all of his old family photos. I have a DVD/VCR recorder that I know he would like to borrow so this is the perfect swap!

Short Term or Long Term?

I told my neighbors out at my property that I had decided not to participate in their road paving project. It would be nice to have a paved road in front of my property but I think it would not be the best use of the money. My other plan was to use the money to drill a well. This would increase the property value equal to the cost of the well. I could also invest the money in a nice index fund as long as I don’t plan to use it in the next 5 years like the experts recommend. The only reason I would need a well is if I was going to build a house out there. I have a house in town which I am trying to sell because I think it is too big and expensive for little old me. I really don’t need to be building another house unless I suddenly acquire a husband. Then if he wants a house he can build one.

So, how do I know if I am going to need my little nest egg in the next 5 years? Just because I don’t have any plans for it today doesn’t mean I won’t have plans tomorrow. I am always making new plans. It seems a shame to loose out on the extra interest I might gain just because I can’t make up my mind. My other plan, besides drilling a well, was to use the interest to supplement my income if I ever get the courage to quit my job and try to make it as an artist with only a part time job. That could still be possible since I would only be using the interest as a back-up if I couldn’t support myself with other part time work. It is just that investing seems so much riskier, like the money could disappear. It seems so safe where it is at now in its little money market fund. Money means security to me, but the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. There is a chance that it could do very well and I could finance my dream sooner than I had planned. I think I will think this over a little bit longer and research some index funds while I’m at it.

My Favorite Fourth of July Memory

Thinking back to past Fourth of July’s, the best memories I have are from my early years when I was around 10 years old. My older sister has a paper route. Every year the newspaper would award prizes to the kids who collected new subscriptions. My sister and I rode our bikes to the grocery store and asked the people as they came out if they would like a subscription. We got quite a few to sign up one year. Afterwards we rode our bikes home and looked through the prize book. Our goal was a giant collection of fireworks. There were rockets, whistlers, sparklers, ground flowers, smoking snakes, all sorts of fascinating things.

Along with the prize, we used our own money from newspaper tips and chore money to buy even more fireworks from the local stand. That Fourth of July it took hours to light all of the fireworks that we had collected. The whole family had a great time watching the show in our cul-de-sac. That was the best Fourth of July that I remember. What made it even more special was that we kids worked hard and earned the money to buy the fireworks ourselves. It gave us a great sense of accomplishment and pride and was something that we could share as a family. Even though our money was burned up in a few hours the memories will last a lifetime.