Why Single Girls Have Cats....

Well, I have finally realized why. Because of the unconditional love, that's why. I didn't realize that until just now. And I have been taking care of a stray for over a year now. I haven't fully accepted that he's MINE, mine. I always feel like I am an interim owner, waiting for the real owner to show up and repossess him any day now. Because in no real way would I ever willingly fall into pet ownership... this just happened to me...

I think that day the owner shows up isn't going to come.

After a long, long international vacation, I was actually excited to come home and see the cat. How weird is that?

And, even better, he was beyond thrilled to see me. He found the penthouse all on his own, just after he got off the elevator... more than two weeks away and he still remembered the door that was his without any help (I swear!).

And he's been in my lap or near me for the last few days... It's nice to be missed.

I finally get the single girl cat thing...

Travel Expenses...

Ever find before you leave for a trip that you need new everything? I am leaving for a little vacation and have found myself obsessively cleaning and organizing pretty much everything. I am knee-deep in organizing my bathroom drawers. What that has to do with preparing for vacation, I have no idea. However, it feels very necessary to go through all this junk and organize -- RIGHT NOW.

Moreover, all my clothes aren't right. I need new lingerie. I want a new iPod because I won't make it through the flight without one. And that hairbrush... circa 1998, with the missing bristles and broken handle you STILL use? Perhaps, perhaps we should replace that?

And SHOES.... Travelling with shoes. How other people do it is a mystery to me... I have ginormous sled size feet... How big? Same size as the Soldier Boy BF. Yep... SAME SIZE. I need about 4 pairs, really, I swear. High heels, sandals, running shoes, slip-ons... I could pack more, but I would have to sit on my suitcase to shut it.

And the pre-travel beauty regimen... waxing, painting, shaving, coloring and on and on... And I swear I am not that high-maintenance of a girl. I pride myself that in a real crunch I can go from dirty to clean and made-up in 20 minutes. Including the shower... Okay, honestly more like 35! But, beauty is pain and it's worth waiting for, right?

I guess it must stem from wanting to present the best version of yourself on vacation. I really like to pretend I am organized and all my things are ironed and my hair always magically looks this good.

Yep, I like to pretend I have it all together... Who doesn't?

Anyone else fall into the trap of buying, updating and unnecessary organizing before you leave on vacation?

One of my better financial tricks...

To be completely honest, I have fallen off the financial bandwagon. Not so into saving these days. Or scrimping. Or working an extra job. I dropped the extra job almost two years ago (it conflicted with my professional schedule) and subsequently dropped all financial planning along with it... more on this self-inflicted mess later.

Anyway, I stumbled upon a great saving technique that actually saved my rear in a small pinch... Over-paying my bills. I got in the habit of over-paying by just small bit on accident -- I was paying my monthly bills online and switched two numbers. So, instead of paying $45, I paid $54. I liked having the extra in my account... in case the time came that I needed to pay bills and didn't have any money. The little cushion in each account would be there.

Case in point... The BlackBerry.

I had a very nice Blackberry Pearl for a little over a year (just past the one-year manufacturer's warranty... charming) and all of the sudden it stopped having any signal at all. No bars, no reception. No incoming or outgoing calls, emails or texts. This was stressful! I had no idea how heavily I depended on my phone until it croaked on me! I made numerous calls and trips to various stores who all told me different things... So, I stopped by the mother-ship store of my cell provider.

They pointed out that I was past the warranty and that this phone was toast. They didn't even want it, it was so broke!

I was very luck to get an awesome customer service person... she argued on my behalf and managed to get me a pretty decent deal... New BlackBerry Curve and contract for the next 2 years... to the tune of $158. Ouch.

I am trying to save my pennies for a trip abroad and a new cell phone wasn't in the mix! And that is where my little trick came in handy... I had about $125 in credit, I had been overpaying that bill for about a year, which made suffering this phone debacle a little less financially painful.

I do this with all my bills, especially the ones that fluctuate with the seasons, like heating and electricity. Eases the pain of being an adult just a little bit and its nice to have a bit of a cushion in a pinch!

Labor Day Weekend!

Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend! I hope you have lots of fun plans... or none at all, if that's your fancy. A few girlfriends of mine are visiting through the weekend... which is so fun, I haven't seen a lot of them in quite awhile!

Baby Boomer In-Laws...

So, as most of my girlfriends are getting married left and right I have had the opportunity to hear them vent about all things in-law related. It's interesting, creating new families out of existing ones. Personalities mesh and clash... especially over money, as you can imagine.

One interesting trend that I have heard about on more than one occasion: in-laws that need support from their 20/30 something children... or are dependent on their depression-era parents for income. Now, let me be clear, I am only speaking about a few baby boomer in-laws that I have heard about. I am generalizing, there are a lot of baby-boomers that are responsible folks and will enjoy retirement just fine, love life, and maybe leave their kids and their favorite charity a few dollars.

The people I am curious about need money... and badly from their kids and their parents -- and I am not talking about help paying for the second home or swanky vacations. I am talking about the basics. As in "help me pay my mortgage, medical bills, expensive toys I think I need, but don't." A few of them are realizing at 60 "I can't retire, but I want to!"

Have you heard of this, too?

My first question is, where in the h-e-double hockey sticks is personal responsibility? Do they, as parents who has raised children to adulthood, feel entitled to some sort of return on investment? Children are the ultimate retirement plan?

I am not a cold-hearted witch, I swear. If my parents plans all fell through, I would have them come and live with me in a heartbeat. They, however, have saved for retirement, paid off their house, done the responsible things to try to not be a burden on their children.

It seems to me though, that there is a lot of financial ignorance out there, especially among the baby-boomers. Somehow, their parents tight-fisted save-save-save mentality skipped a few of them. A few mentioned they were surprised they can't retire.

What do you do?

Supplement their income? Hope their social security will be enough? (Which it won't be.) Let them fend for themselves? Tell them to get a job when they physically can't or aren't educated enough to do so?

I can't imagine the burden that some grown children do have in supporting their parents. Or maybe I am looking at this from the wrong angle... I have heard that Granny-Flats are making a comeback... Perhaps having Mom and Dad living with you is a great way to have free child care that you trust.

I know that my Grandmother's grandmother lived with her family. It was just done. Old folks homes were for people who didn't have families that cared for them, your aged parents lived with you... I wonder if that will return to some extent?

Anyone out there experiencing this first hand? Care to shed some light or a personal opinion?