Fabulous Financials

I received a post card in the mail about the ING Electric Orange checking account.  If you’re looking for an online checking account that pays interest, this might be of interest to you:

$25 Bonus!

Open your account by 30 September 2008.

Just go to ingdirect.com/electric.

Don’t forget to enter reference code EL535 to register for your bonus.

$25 will be placed into your account 50 days after the account is opened.  Just use your debit card to make 3 *signature transactions in the first 45 days.

Electric Rates:

1.75% for balance up to $50k

3.20% for balances between $50k and $100k

**3.40% for balances $100k or more

*I have no idea what constitutes a “signature” transaction.  Sounds like a special kind of transaction, so read the fine print or call customer service to be sure.

** Never have a single account with more than 100k in any one bank.  If the bank fails, FDIC only insures $100k.

photo credit: thoth92

Tipping is an expense that is often overlooked or poorly planned for when on vacation. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I’ve been guilty of forgetting to include this expense in my vacation budget. When this happens, I either 1) forget to get cash out of the ATM, 2) have cash but it runs out too soon, 3) attempt to track my expenses but can’t account for $xx, or 4) tip poorly.

I’d like to think I’m a pretty decent tipper and a decent trip planner, but I’ve already made the mistake on my previous trip and I have at least 3 more planned before the end of summer. So this time, I want to make sure tips are properly accounted for in the planned vacation budget.

Here are a few service providers that I tip in cash:

Taxi Driver

My closest airport does not have metro access nor do I live near a metro station. So I either have to drive to the airport and pay $9/day for airport parking, rely on a friend to drop me off and pick me up (on time), call a car service, or take a taxi. Unless I’m traveling on business, I prefer the latter. It’s the cheapest and most convenient of all options.

Depending on locale, it is standard to tip the greater of 15% or $2 - plus $1 for each bag if he helps take them out the car.

Skycap

This is the person who helps with your luggage at the airport. Depending on the length of time away from home, I may have a carry-on only, but most of the time, I need to check a 2nd bag. When I don’t have time to stand in line, I play nice with the skycap.

If you check-in curbside, it is standard to tip $1-2 per bag, which shouldn’t be confused with the new $2 fee for curbside service.

Airport Shuttle Driver

Some hotels provide complimentary shuttle service from the airport and there are many companies who set up shop at the airport to provide the needed service. With the cost of gas these days, it will be interesting to watch the price creep.

Depending on the distance to your hotel, it is standard to tip $1-2 each way.

Hotel Bellhop

This is the person at the hotel who may carry your bags, show you to your room, open the blinds, and show you how to operate things in your room. You don’t have to use the bellhop to carry your bags, but if you do, s/he deserves a tip.

It is standard to tip the greater of $5 or $1 per bag. Upon check out, if you call the bellhop, it is standard to tip $2 per bag.

Hotel Concierge

This is the person at the hotel who gives you the 411. Sometimes it’s general information about the hotel amenities or directions to a tourist destination. Other than providing the basics, if they do anything special for you (i.e. make reservations, get better seats, discounts, exclusive entry, upgrades, etc.), you should thank them with some green.

It is standard to tip $2-5 each time you get a hook up.

Hotel Maid Service

The hotel maid should be tipped everyday. Some people leave a tip when they check out, but here’s the problem. What if the person who cleans your room on the last day is not the same person who cleaned your room all the previous days? Show appreciation for the “daily” service.

Depending on the type of hotel, it is standard to tip $1-5/day - the higher end for fancier hotels and adjusted up/down based on your level of satisfaction. Clearly label the tip “maid service” to ensure they don’t make a mistake and take something that belongs to you.

Bartender

If you run a tab, 15%. If not, it is standard to tip $1 for each alcoholic beverage.

Pet Sitter

I can either board Precious in a kennel, take her to doggy daycare, or have a pet sitter come to my home. I prefer that she stays at home because it is somewhat cheaper and the familiar environment reduces her separation anxiety. Therefore, I hire a sitter to feed and walk her twice a day.

This service has a fee per visit, but I tip based on the service provided above and beyond my expectations because I’m very anal. Not only do I require a written report (we have a standard form) of her behavior and eating habits, I also carefully observe my Precious and inspect my home when I return. Did the sitter have to give her a bath? She’s winter white, so it’s very easy to tell. Did the sitter only walk her or did she stay awhile and play with her too? Based on her demeanor when I return, I can if she’s been neglected. Did the sitter have to administer meds? Is her eating area (and paws) clean?

If everything is kosher, I tip the greater of 15% or $5/day. If I’m feeling really generous, I may bring the sitter a souvenir from my trip. After all, I trust this person with the keys to my home and the care of a loved family member.

Others

Depending on the vacation destination, I may also tip the tour guide, instructor, hostess, aesthetician, etc. $1-3 per activity.

This list isn’t all inclusive, but these are the main services providers I like to tip when I’m on vacation. So it looks like I need to budget a minimum of $50 for tips. Ooooh, and I need to remember to make an ATM run before I go. Yea, that’s kind of important.

Fun Fact: “The word “tip” originated in England and was an acronym for “to insure promptness”
- Source

Have you ever had so much going on in your life all at once that you decide to do nothing and just be still? That’s where I am right now. I’ve decided to place myself in a holding pattern.

CAREER

For nearly 7 years, my professional career has been on overdrive, full speed ahead. I began my current career as an Intern with an annual salary of $33,000. Since then, I’ve been promoted, entrusted with progressively complex projects, empowered with limited authority to carry out my responsibilities, and earned a salary increase of more than $10,000 every single year for the past 7 years. Currently, my salary exceeds six figures, my authority is unlimited, and I oversee a staff that manages multi-million dollar projects. Some may think this is amazing progress, but it hasn’t been an easy feat. I’ve worked hard - I mean HARD. I’ve hustled. I’ve networked. I’ve established my professional reputation. On the grind everyday, day after day, non-stop.

But now…I’m tired.

I’ve pushed myself so hard and my career has moved so fast, I can’t continue to live up to the performance that others have come to expect. No, scratch that. I can live up to it, I don’t know if I’m “willing” to live up to it. If I were, I’ve positioned myself perfectly to earn another promotion within a year. It’s so close, I can almost taste it. But I’ve decided that I’m not willing to put in the leg work to make it happen. It’s time to slow down. The salary and responsibilities at the next level are gift wrapped with an inordinate amount of demands that will place a burden on my personal life. As a single mom of a teenager who’s breaking out of her baby shell, I’m not ready to make the necessary sacrifice. However, I will continue to deliver the same quality results where ever my name is associated and I will continue to help my subordinates develop the necessary skills to advance their careers. But for me - just for now - I am going to be still and place my own career in a holding pattern.

PERSONAL FINANCES

I’ve had an interest in personal finance all of my adult life, but I’ve only been blogging about it for 2.5 years. In that short amount of time, I’ve made significant changes/improvements in my own personal finances. I am now non-mortgage debt free. I max out my annual 401k contributions. I max out my annual IRA contributions. I have a fully funded emergency fund. And I’ve recently begun to focus on non-retirement investments. All of my basic financial goals have been met and my saving/investing contributions are on auto pilot.

There’s so much more I can push myself to accomplish, but I am content. I’m quickly learning that owning rental property introduces many financial risks if one is not postured to handle the worst case scenario. So I’ve decided, it’s time to focus on the one thing that could potentially threaten my comfortable financial life. I will continue to make automatic saving and investing contributions, but all excess cash flow will go into the rental property. Which means - just for now - I’m going to be still and place my personal finances in a holding pattern.

BabyGirl & Mr Eye Candy

Since many of you have inquired, I’ve decided to throw in a tidbit about two of the most important people in my life. Sometimes the relationships I have with them seem too good to be true. If I wrote a book, it may be classified as a fairytale. Then, there are other times when we face challenges that make our bed of roses feel like thorns. I’m thankful those times are few and far between, but based on experience, overcoming those challenges have strengthened our bond.

Currently, I’m in a weird place with both of them. Although I’m usually a “fix it” person, I’ve come to realize that everything doesn’t have to be perfect all the time. All relationships have dips in the valley and it’s ok to let the natural process run its course. I will continue to nurture the relationships with the same tender loving care. But I’ve decided - just for now - I’m going to be still and place my two most important personal relationships in a holding pattern.

Lesson Learned

There’s a time for everything. Sometimes it’s YOUR time, sometimes it isn’t. If things seem too difficult, too much to bear, or you can sense a storm on the horizon - hold tight. Try your best to prepare for what’s coming, but don’t take on more than you can handle and get ready to face the inevitable. If you’re lucky, you may avoid it temporarily. But if the challenge was meant to occur, it WILL come full circle again. Sometimes, the best way to manage is to slow down, be still, and place yourself in a holding pattern. This is when the most valuable lessons are learned.

I know this is an unusual post with cryptic details sprinkled throughout, but the intent of the message is from the heart. Take full advantage of your growth period but also recognize and accept when you need to be in a holding pattern.

Image Credit: The Chronicle

Lots of random thoughts, so I’ll do a random update post:

Unexpected Money

When I filed my taxes this year, I had to claim the relocation benefits I received from my last employer as income, but I couldn’t write off the relocation expenses as deductions. Weird, I know, employer requirement, hard to explain. Anyhoo, because of this, I had to file a separate form with my employer and they have a process to evaluate what my tax liability would have been without the extra income. Any excess between what I paid and what I should have paid is sent to me via a refund from the employer, not Uncle Sam. Long story, short. I received the unexpected refund this week. Over $1,200.

Emergency Fund

As of today, I made the final transfer to meet my $20k e-fund goal! Because of the unexpected refund above, the balance now sits at $20.7k. I also set up a $100 bi-weekly payroll allotment for the e-fund. All extra above $20k will be earmarked for “non-retirement investing.” When it reaches $3k, I will open that long awaited Vanguard account, then redirect all extra money to to the new account.

Payday

My payroll problems were finally corrected. Benefits, tax exemptions, allotments, 401k match, retro payments/refunds, etc. - everything is kosher now. Thank da lawd! July has 3 pay periods and I plan to spend the extra cash on my rental property.

Medical Expenses

As of yesterday, the braces are completely off. BabyGirl was given two sets of retainers plus a night guard. I also made the final $250 payment, a total of ~$4,000 for 2 years of orthodontia care. Her teeth are beautiful, but with all the back and forth visits, I’m glad it’s over!

Precious’ vet bill this year was $248.69, which is $65+ more than previous years ($185 in 2007 and $177 in 2006). I’ve never had an annual vet bill more than $200, so I asked for a line by line itemized report of this year and last year. Although the secretary tried to explain the difference, I had to see for myself. About 10% was due to regular inflation that occurs every year, but one procedure was an additional $40 by itself. WTF! The reason? They send the culture to an outside lab for testing/examination and they have to pay extra for shipping/transportation expenses. In other words = FUEL!! I tell ya, this fuel crisis is hurting everything!

Car Insurance

Due to pure laziness, I didn’t research for better rates. My new 6 month (Jul-Dec) premium is $409.10 and it’s due next week. I thought this was a savings from the $468 that I used to pay, but I forgot it was reduced to $406.30 last December when I increased my deductible from $500 to $1,000. So in essence, this 6 month premium increased by $2.80. Not a lot of money, but it definitely shouldn’t be going in the wrong direction. That’s what I get for being lazy. I’m going to pay the premium in full this time, instead of the monthly payment plan. Other than saving the $1 processing fee, I just want one less bill to worry about every month.

Rental Property

My tenants are moving out this month and I’m meeting two potential tenants tomorrow morning for a scheduled tour. One is coming at 10 and the other at 11. It’s a 2 hour drive and I’m not looking forward to it. After the last tour, I’m meeting a girlfriend for lunch. She’s offered to show the property for me in the future, so I won’t have to drive down there again. But if the property isn’t rented by the end of this month, I’m turning it over to a property management company.

Edit to Add: Thank you all for bringing the blog problem to my attention. I appreciate all of the emails. I don’t know what happened to the rest of the post or why it was cut off HOURS after I published. In the original post, I provided a few updates about my summer vacation plans and my feelings about BabyGirl’s summer away, but it’s gone now and I don’t know how to fix it.

While I’m on the subject, I haven’t been blogging regularly because I’ve had quite a few computer issues lately. I don’t know if I have a computer virus or if my blog has been hacked - maybe both. So much for the Norton All-in-One Computer Protection, huh? My spreadsheets are damaged, which means all of my expense tracking and net worth details for the entire year are GONE. I’ve tried to do a system restore and file recovery, to no avail. I also keep getting “404 errors” when I publish or update posts on my blog. And some evenings, I can’t get online at all or the “high speed” connection is extremely slow. The latter may be attributed to the terrible weather we’ve had in the past few days, but trying to get online or attempting to write a blog post is challenging.

It’ll take weeks to get my spreadsheets back in order and I’ll need help with the blog issue, but everything will be fixed - eventually. If it aint one thing, it’s another. But eh, so is life. *shrug*

Blog wit’cha soon.

Almost half the year is gone and I feel like I haven’t accomplished a thing. With the state of our economy, stock market swings, a lateral career move (bad for advancement but good for my sanity), and a crisis that turned my personal life upside down - my finances have been on cruise control and managing themselves. Since the half way mark is upon us, I figured it’s about time for me to jump back in and dust off the cob webs.

Let’s see what I’m working with…

Emergency Fund

I bumped the ceiling from $15k to $20k. Thanks to the months with 3 pay periods, I only have another $1,040 to go. If all goes well, that should be a wrap by the mid-summer.

BabyGirl’s College Savings

I’ve been living in VA for over a year, so I’ve had more than enough time to decide if/how/when I should rollover her 529 account to one of the VA plans. Last year, I was still able to take advantage of the $2.5k MD tax deduction because I still had MD taxable income. But this year, the MD plan won’t benefit me at all. Although it is considered one of the best 529 college savings plans, with regards to funds options and expense ratios, this VA 529 also gets kudos. I think it’s about time for me to rollover. The question is when.

Can we say Master Procrastinator?!?! But it gets worse…

Non-Retirement Investing

I need to get serious about investing outside of my retirement accounts. I set a $5k goal for the year and haven’t done much of anything yet. When it comes to my money, I’m not usually one to say I’m going to do something, then don’t follow through. I’m disappointed in myself. But you know what, disappointments are motivating. After I finish with my emergency fund, I’m going to save $3k to open a Vanguard account. Wait, is that just another reason to procrastinate? Yea, I know. Shyt or get off the pot!

I will in a minute, but I have something I want to complain about first…LOL

Economic Impact

Groceries: why are they so damn expensive? During my last 3 trips to the grocery store, I spent $90+ each. Buying the same kind of food as usual, but the total bill is at least 20% more. Da hell is that all about?

Gas: with regular unleaded hovering $4.00, I pay ~$50 to fill up. Typing that seems unreal. Just two years ago, I freaked out when it cost me over “$30″ to fill up. Ha! That’s pretty funny now.

Digital TV: don’t forget, your television signal is converting from analog to digital in February 2009. Remember those $40 digital converter coupons from the government? I received mine in the mail and it expires June 10^th. I completely forgot they were only valid for 90 days. The converters are estimated to cost between $50-$70. Guess I better scrape up $10 and go find me one. Less than 30 days left.

Economic Stimulus Rebate: when I consider how much my expenses are increasing, I think I should ask Dubya for another $900. Imagine my phone call to the White House. “Hey what’up mayne. You know that first check you sent me? Yea, let’s consider that one back pay. Now lemme hold suttin for real. Huh? What? Dafuggouttahere! If I bend over anymore, I might feel the economy stimulating ME!!”

I may have donated over 1/2 of my stimulus check, but let’s see how I’m really stimulating the economy…

Nonrecurring Expenses (current through July)

• $700 - Vacation(s) spending money
• $500 - Orthodontist
• $410 - Car insurance premium
• $200 - BabyGirl’s birthday
• $150 - Annual vet appt
• $100+ - Auto registration renewal
• $100 - Brother’s birthday
• $100 - Friend(s) birthdays
• $60 - Annual checkups
• $55 - Rental Ads

That’s almost $2,500!! Now how the heck am I supposed to pay for all of that? Oh yea, that funny thing called a pay check…

Pay Day

My first payday on the new j-o-b had me seeing fireworks. One. The amount was wrong. And Two. I can see my money but can’t touch it. Now aint that about a b!tch! The CSS is blaming USAA and USAA is blaming the CSS. Yo, check it. They got 24 hours or Single Ma is going to S.N.A.P. Didn’t y’all tell ‘em? NEVER…I mean never EVER ever…fugg with a black woman’s money!! *WOOOSSSAAAAHHH* LOL!

Ok, back to bidness…

Wait, did I tell y’all Starbucks is right next door to my new job? I’ve spent $33 already and the month isn’t over yet. Lawd, aint nuttin but the debil! Y’all pray for me while I revise my spend plan for the month. Which reminds me, I needz my money. I’m about to make another call to HR.

*putting on my sweet talk voice*

What? You aint know? This my money we talkin’bout. LOL

I’ll holla!