Death and Taxes

One of the things I've become interested in lately is local real estate.  While perusing RE listings for areas near me I've increasingly wondered why taxes are so high outside of New York City; especially in towns where there is obvious urban blight and the schools are easily as bad as or worse than some just south of the Westchester border. Here is an excellent, if dated discussion:

Why Are Our Taxes So #%*! High? - Westchester Magazine - June 2010 - Westchester, NY

Reading List

I recently borrowed these books from the public library and read them (well, all of one and most of the other two). These notes are for my future reference.

Psych Yourself Rich

Get the Mindset and Discipline You Need to Build your Financial Life

By Farnoosh Torabi

This book was pretty good but I couldn't quite finish reading it. Honestly, the writing style wasn't quite for me. However, the anecdotes the author provided from her stint on a financial makeover-style show were quite interesting. Yet I felt like this book is for someone who is just beginning their financial life. 

The Smart Cookies' Guide to Making More Dough

How Five Young Women Got Smart, Formed A Money Club, and Took Control of Their Finances

With Jennifer Barrett

Although the cover of this book turned me off, I decided to try and read it. It was very good. Because the book was written from the perspective of five different women, there was someone most women can relate to. One person was a divorcee, another had ended a long-term relationship, while yet another was embarking upon marriage. They were all women who had made some blunders and wanted to get clean up the mess and create success. I confess I skipped over one of the chapters but I felt I got some really good stuff from this book. One good thing I took away was the idea that you should invest in yourself. One individual increased her salary by 20K just by beginning a MSW degree. I'm not in that field but it encouraged me to think about ways I can increase my value.

The Five Lessons A Millionaire Taught Me for Women

By Paul Richard Evans

Most unique idea: buying silver coins instead of bags and shoes as a way of satisfying the hunger to shop, yet still purchasing something that can be considered an investment. (caveat: As investments go, I guess this is alright provided our world economy doesn't collapse or we don't have a large-scale natural disaster. In that case, as Dave Ramsey would say, a pair of clean blue jeans, a gallon of gas, or clean drinking water will get you more in trade.)

I would read this book again. I felt the lessons were well-illustrated with examples. I also liked the author's philosophy and writing style. This book got me to pause and take stock again of what I'm doing and where I want to go. It also encouraged me to think about the types of investments I would like to have in my portfolio (not just my stock portfolio).

pop

New York City Mayor Bloomberg's so-called soda ban has made headlines over the last year or so, and came to a head this week when a judge dropped the kibosh on the new law.

In reality the legislation is not actually a ban on soda, it is a ban on the size of the beverage container. Certain stores and restaurants may not sell a sugary beverage that is 16 ounces or larger. The issue is really about how much sugar is in each ounce of the beverage. When you look at what is recommended for our diets, vs. what is in an 8 ounce soda, it is a wonder people can drink 16 ounces of soda and still live. The average soda in the average deli has 40 grams of sugar in one serving. That is already double the recommended daily amount of added sugar, per day for an adult female (20 grams or 5 teaspoons). For men it is slightly more (9 teaspoons, or 36 grams) . So if an 8 ounce can of soda puts you over your limit for two days, a 16 ounce soda is enough added sugar to last you most of the week. Drink one of these a few times a week and you're already on your way to moving the needle on the scale.

A lot of opinions have been given on whether this ban is good for New Yorkers, ineffective for controlling obesity, bad for businesses, or just plain overstepping boundaries. News outlets have looked at this issue from different perspectives. I've even seen beverage delivery trucks with signs painted on suggesting that our freedom is being encroached upon.

However, for me, this is a none-issue. As someone who is trying to be frugal, I generally make an effort not to buy beverages at all! With my lunch, if I'm thirsty I drink water. At home we do purchase bottled juice from the supermarket but try to stick with the cheapest ones. And then I water them down for myself as they are bit too sweet for me. At restaurants, mostly we stick to water. This is good for my wallet, and good for my waistline. Oh yes, and my kidneys too!

 

Yes Takeout!

Well, actually, still no takeout. But now we can eat out! And we did. . .and it wasn't that great.

Last weekend I finished a 28 day challenge of no prepared foods from outside our home. It was difficult and I was often frustrated. However, now that it's over, I don't really want to stop. We would like to go out to eat for special occasions or for a date night. However, we will not be just ordering food because we don't feel like cooking.

On Saturday night we had the pleasure of attending an amateur production of a mystery play at a really progressive church in Manhattan. We had an awesome time. Afterward we went to J0e's Shanghai on 56th street. The food was reasonable. The price was not. I understand it is the city and rents are high. However, the food was no better than (maybe not even as good as) the food from the takeout place around our neighborhood with just two tables and four chairs and a flypaper hanging from the ceiling! Maybe it's our fault and we should have tried something we never had before. I had chow mei fun and my husband had sweet and sour chicken. Both tasted okay. But just okay. Okay like I could have made this if I bothered to buy all the ingredients and worked at it while listening to the Knicks game on the radio. No offense Joe. It wasn't bad. It was okay.

Last night we resisted ordering Chinese. Instead I made pancakes, turkey bacon, and eggs. We put it away in front of a movie from the library. Such a delicious penny pinching moment!

No Takeout--3 weeks

Three weeks into no takeout I have discovered some things about myself, my life, my eating habits, and my home. I would definitely recommend this exercise to anyone, and definitely during the month of February.

I feel I have saved a good chunk of money. I've also discovered some "recipes" for lunch that I might not ordinarily have tried. The fact my husband and I are trying to stay away from "lunchmeat" has something to do with some of the new foods we are coming up with. Suffice it to say, there are definitely pros and cons to not eating out or ordering in.

Something I've discovered is that I'm a decent cook. I've perfected my chili. I've also made a mean turkey b/l/t and a not half half-bad egg salad. Incidentally we thought my husband hated tuna salad. Turns out he hates restaurant tuna salad that's been left to get weird and soggy. My tuna salad is a big hit!

Something I've taken away from this exercise is that food is very expensive. If you can somehow manage to find coupons and discounts, you're ahead of the game. If you cook your own meals, you're also saving. But overall, you will spend if you want to eat tasty, somewhat varied food. If you don't mind repetition it can be easy and cheap. I don't mean to say that inexpensive, easily prepared foods are categorically boring. It's just the ones that I make so happen to be.

Another thing I've discovered is that having to buy groceries cook nearly all the meals is a full-time job. If you don't want to open containers and dump things in a pot; if you want to marinate, season, chop, and blend; if you want your meals to be at least as good as the local diner, then you'll have to work at it.

harder than it looks

Even though the month of February is the shortest month, if you are not doing something which you are in the habit of doing, then it will be the longest month in your entire life.

Some observations from my fast from takeout and dine-in:

• Coffee in a paper cup from the deli looks like it tastes better than free top-brand coffee from your employer's hot beverage machine
• Chinese takeout sounds like the healthiest thing in the world at 6:02 PM
  
• Old habits don't die. . . they weaken and crawl under a rock to rest up so they can attack you when you are defenseless
• Only the deli man really knows how to toast a bagel (even though he has always gotten your order wrong!)
  

We did go out to eat last night, for my husband's birthday. It only happens once a year. We ate modestly and still spent $42. That is slightly over half what we have spent on groceries for the month thus far. It really doesn't pay to pay someone else to cook my flippin food. They did a good job with the burger but I could have done it just as well. Luckily my birthday won't roll around for eight more months.

Now for the extra 1K, I did sign up to work for the upcoming holiday. I won't make anything near 1K. Ha! But, it's a step in the right direction.

No Takeout Challenge and $1K

I've heard it put something like this by another blogger: February is a good month to try a challenge because it's the shortest month!

I've often seen challenges on various blogs. On one, the author challenged the readers to make/save an extra $1,000 that month. On another the blogger challenged herself and her readers to take their lunch every day for that month.

The 1K challenge is something I'd like to consider but I'm not sure it would be possible to complete in just one month. I'm thinking of making it a February-March challenge. However, the no takeout challenge is something I think I should have gotten around to by now.

I have a tendency to get tired and frustrated and just kind of fall into ordering Chinese Food delivery for dinner when I don't feel like cooking, or I'm having the week from hell.  I'll also buy my lunch from time to time. That's horrible because I work in Manhattan and the prices are often about 2-3 dollars more than what you would expect to pay outside of Manhattan. I know February is not the greatest month for me to be doing this personally, as my husband's birthday, and Valentine's day both fall in this month. I think I'll excuse myself for his birthday but for Valentine's Day there will be no restaurant food. I'll be putting my Crockpot to the test and stretching my imagination. Before the month begins I'll be referring to a month-long menu I've planned out but haven't gotten around to using. I don't expect to save a whole lot because I don't make it a serious habit to order in. But I do expect to come out of it with a little more discipline.

As for the 1K challenge, I have the opportunity on occasion to do overtime on the job.President's day is coming up in February and perhaps I can choose to work overtime on that day. I also sell books from time to time by listing them on half.com. I have one or two items in my closet I think I can list on Craigslist. Let's see how close to 1K I can get!