Distilled Rose Personal Finance

What do you most enjoy reading about on Distilled Rose? Do you like reading about finance news, opinions, being frugal, my personal journey getting out of debt.... what do I post about that makes you happy?

Monday, September 29, 2008

Bye Bye Wachovia, and the Bailout is Rejected

Image by rednuht

Today has been a pretty crazy day in the financial world. Citi bought Wachovia today, therefore rescuing it from a messy failure. Wachovia was the next big bank on the watch list, so that will probably make things a little easier for them.

The stock markets have tanked today after it was announced that the house rejected the $700 Billion Bailout plan. I have to say, I'm a bit relieved that it was rejected, mostly because yes... it is A solution, but I don't think it is the RIGHT solution.

So basically, the financial sky is falling. Hang on to your hats because it is going to be a bumpy ride.

Here is what I'm doing. Nothing. I'm sticking to reducing my debt and building my savings. I'm keeping my money where it is. I don't have any money in the stock market because it's not my kind of thing. I feel like it's too volatile. I have my trusty ING Direct accounts, and the rest of my money is in Bank of America, which appears to be one of the more stable banks right now.

What should you do? Well, if you have a WaMu or a Wachovia account, don't worry. You should have a pretty seamless transition to either Citi or Chase. If you have money in the stock market you need to talk to a financial advisor right now to figure out if you are invested in the right stocks. Consider making adjustments to your portfolio.

My biggest piece of advice, though, is to tighten your belt a little if you can and to try and save a little more and spend a little less while we all ride this out.

They will be putting the bailout back on the table soon, I believe. Hopefully they will have come up with a solution that helps people more than institutions, but we'll see.

On a side note, it's my wonderful husband's birthday today.

Happy birthday, Andrew. You are my heart.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

The Atlanta Gas "Crisis"

Image by Cindy47452

As far as I know, this has been going on in other places in the country too.

Right now, Atlanta is out of gas. There are a few gas stations here and there that have some, and then it runs out while people are lined up.

This is a very frustrating situation for everyone because you have to drive around looking for gas, and then you have to wait in line.

Last week, we had a day where I had no gas, but he had some, so that day we took the gas can out, found gas, put it in the can, took it to my car, put it in my car, then I went and filled up the car.

Today, I was almost out, he has no gas in his car and very little in his scooter. So, we went and did the same thing again. We drove part way across town to a gas station, got in line, waited for twenty minutes, and the station ran out while we were there.

So we then went, on fumes of course, a few more miles until we found another station, waited in line again, and filled up my car all the way and the gas can too. So we have a gallon for his scooter and he'll just keep his car parked for now.

So here are my issues:

- We wasted probably a gallon of gas getting the gas

- I had to fill my car up all the way, which is very expensive and makes my car heavy

- There are hundreds of people in the city idling their cars while they wait for gas, which is bad for the environment.

- Supply is completely unreliable and there is no apparent system for distribution

- We are way too dependent on gas

It's this last one that drives me nuts. When I had my scooter, I got around on a gallon of gas every two weeks. Now with me car, I am dependent on filling up with gas every week or two. My gas consumption has increased tenfold. I wish so much that I was ready to get back on a scooter again, or that I was at least financially capable of purchasing one.

I also wish that SUV's didn't exist. I know that is harsh, and they have their uses, but I bet that most of the people that are driving them really don't need to, and they waste so much fuel with their size. I look forward to the day when there is some kind of regulation about new cars being required to get a certain mpg. I know that I will always drive small cars.

What are your thoughts? Does this situation drive you nuts, too?

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Friday, September 26, 2008

CashCrate Comes Through - My First Check

A while ago I told you about CashCrate, an online survey site that allows you to make some money by filling out offers and referring new members.

I put in about 40 minutes to an hour at the end of August with this program, and today I received my check for the work I did. I now have in my hand a check from Kingside Media for $13.39.

This means that I got paid about $15 an hour for my work from them, and I did this during some downtime I had. So, I'm definitely sticking with it and I highly recommend that if you want to make a little extra passive income, you sign up too!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

WaMu Seized by the FDIC - JP Morgan Steps In

It was announced just a short while ago that the FDIC has seized Washington Mutual's deposits and that JP Morgan is buying it.

This is the 13th bank to fail this year, a sure sign that the US is in pretty deep financial trouble.

Everyone saw that Washington Mutual was in trouble, but I think we all hoped that it would ride it out. I, for one, didn't think it would actually fold.

So if you are a Washington Mutual customer, don't worry, your money is FDIC insured if you have less than $100,000. You'll be notified probably by mail about what happens next and everything should keep working in the meantime.

The biggest sign that WaMu was in trouble for me was the rapid hike in Savings Account Interest Rates. This occurred because WaMu was trying to attract as much business as it could to get enough money to keep going. So keep an eye out for similar behavior from other banks. I doubt this will be the last failure we see this year, but I really hope nothing bigger goes under.

So what is your take on this? Could this have been avoided? Will it happen again? Should we be scared?

I know that I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on the economy and on announcements from other banks right now. I hope all of you WaMu customers have a smooth and easy transition over to JP Morgan.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

And Another One...

One of the golden rules of Personal Finance is to spend less than you earn. Because of all the various and sundry things that happened to my finances in the last year, I decided to get a second job to help me get out of debt faster. I also needed to make more money because my minimum payments were higher than what I was earning, due to having to add in a car payment.

I started my second job in July, working as a sales associate in a store. I was working there Saturdays and Sundays, but had to cut back to just Saturdays because I wasn't getting to see my husband enough.

So that left me with a very very small secondary income and when an opportunity came by to interview for another part time job, I took it. I ended up getting the job and so tomorrow I will be working from 9pm-3pm at the new job and then from 3:30pm - 9:30pm at my regular job.

My schedule is my regular job Monday - Friday with additional morning hours (6 each day) at my new job on Thursdays and Friday's, and then Saturdays at the store.

I now have three jobs. I know that it'll be financially worth it, but this is going to be really really hard. Please excuse me while I pass out.