If you're thinking about getting a Citi card because you think that "CitiCash" means cashback rewards, don't. It's not cashback. It's a craptastic program of measly "discounts" on junky stuff.
I have $1500 in CitiCash. You would think that I could get perhaps a gift card or something for free. Oh no. I could get a $50 gift card for $45 (of real money, charged to my credit card, and $5 deducted from my CitiCash balance.) Wowee Zowee!! I'm blown away by the "savings"!
I have a different Citi card that DOES have a cashback rewards program. It turned out not to be implemented very well. I don't use it often, but bought it with me on vacation earlier this year. I came home and paid off the balance. Later, I got notified that I had earned $1.67 in cashback rewards. After the credit sat on my account for a couple of months, they decided to send it to me in the form of a check. Never asked me, just did it. (And it was badly timed, too, because I happened to make a $1 charge and thought, great, my credit will cover this, I won't have to remember to make a payment! Nope, turns out Citi could sense that something was going to work out just right, and processed the refund the day before I made that $1 charge.)
You know, Citi, my bank account is linked to the Citi account for electronic withdrawl. Maybe you could have sent it me electronically? Now I get to make a special trip to the bank to deposit my $1.67. YAY!!!
And I also have to remember to log back in so I can initiate a $1 payment to cover that random little charge.
The amount of work I am doing over approximately a dollar is ridiculous.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Not cool, Target. Not cool.
I have a love/hate relationship with Target.
Good stuff, good prices
Shoppers and employees are not scary (unlike at Walmart)
I get 5% off every purchase with my Target card
Hate:
They do a poor job of clearly pricing clearance items
I spend too much money in there
They are screwing with my credit rating
Yes, the irresistible pull of Target is messing with my credit score. Not because I spend too much, or because I can't pay the bill, but because they won't raise my credit limit.
Years ago, I had a Target Visa. This was a regular Visa card you could use anywhere. I didn't use it enough, and it got shut down for inactivity.
Last year when they rolled out the "save 5% with your Redcard" program, I signed up for a new card. They don't have the Visa card anymore, just a store-only card. Fine, whatever. But they gave me a piddly $500 credit limit.
Recently we had to replace our TV (bought a cheapie flatscreen for like $150), I had to get new eyeglasses (about $250) and plus our regular household shopping.... and whoops, I have only $20 in credit remaining.
This sucks. I have essentially maxed out this card, which is BAD for your credit rating. You should keep balances under 30% on each credit line. This means that I have to keep my Target balance under $150 if I want to maintain my credit score. That's crazy talk!
I have worked very, very hard at achieving an excellent credit score after discovering in my early 20's that my mom was right... having piss-poor credit really sucks. It took me eight years of determined effort to work up to a very good credit score. It was difficult and it took soooo long, but now I am proud to have very good credit. So I take this shit seriously.
So I called Target customer service and asked them to raise my credit limit. I explained that I very much enjoy giving Target my money and pointed out that I have excellent credit and I have always paid my Target bills in full, on time. The lady said that they don't review accounts individually for credit increases. The computer sometimes reviews accounts for increases and it will happen automatically.
Every other credit card out there will raise your credit limit if you ask and you have good reason and good credit. Not Target, or whatever bank is servicing Target's accounts.
That's crazy talk!
Target, you're shooting yourself in the foot on this one. I want to spend money at your store but from now on I'm going to have to be very careful at limiting myself because I don't want to hurt my credit score.
You might ask why I don't just use another card, like a cashback card such as Discover. Yeah, I have those. But I like getting 5% off the top at the register with the RedCard.
Come on, Target. Get with it. Don't punish your best customers.
Also, the quality of your bras really needs an upgrade.
Jack of all trades, master of T-rexes
I like differentiation, and list-making. I like compartmentalization. That's why I have a credit card for each kind of expense (gas, food, discretionary purchases, business stuff). It's why we have something like 9 different bank accounts. It's also why I used to try to maintain five different journals (dreams, writing notes, personal, fitness, and equine activities) and several different blogs (writing, finance, horses, art.)
But you know, at some point, this system that supposed to make things easier begins to implode under its own weight. It becomes an entirely new and Herculean task to manage all of these different things. So, screw that. I'm one person and so I'm going to have one blog. A mishmashed, no-point blog. So without further ado, here's last night's dream:
I had another T-rex dream. Ever since I saw Jurassic Park when I was about 13, I have had re-occurring dreams where I'm being chased or hunted by a T-rex. Although it's extremely silly, because obviously T-rexes are not something you need to worry about in your daily life, but the dreams themselves are quite terrifying. I have no idea what they mean, or what the T-rex represents. My other re-occurring dreams include but are not limited to: tornados, levitation, and winning fistfights with street hobos.
Last night I dreamnt that this one T-rex had been hanging around my house for quite some time and for some reason was particularly interested in me and not other people. I was safe in the house, but couldn't really venture outside because he would come out of nowhere and go after me. Since he didn't really bother other people, it wasn't much of a concern to anyone except me. Most people didn't believe me that the T-rex would come for me if I went outside. They thought I was exaggerating about how he was gunning for me. (Kind of like how people don't believe that bees are always out to get me even though THEY TOTALLY ARE.)
I was persuaded into going outside by my fiance, and was quite far out into the backyard when, lo and behold, the T-rex appears from behind from trees. He's stealthy and quiet, that one. So I start running for the safety of the house. It was wintertime, and my fiance was scooping up snowballs and throwing them, to distract the T-rex. Apparently that had worked in the past, but the T-rex had gotten wise to it. So he ignored the snowballs completely and was focused on me. He caught up to me and was opening his jaws wide to eat me and I knew it was now or never. I managed to get one skillful jab into his eye and he cried and lurched backwards. It bought me just enough time to get in the house and slam the door in his face.
The end.
But you know, at some point, this system that supposed to make things easier begins to implode under its own weight. It becomes an entirely new and Herculean task to manage all of these different things. So, screw that. I'm one person and so I'm going to have one blog. A mishmashed, no-point blog. So without further ado, here's last night's dream:
I had another T-rex dream. Ever since I saw Jurassic Park when I was about 13, I have had re-occurring dreams where I'm being chased or hunted by a T-rex. Although it's extremely silly, because obviously T-rexes are not something you need to worry about in your daily life, but the dreams themselves are quite terrifying. I have no idea what they mean, or what the T-rex represents. My other re-occurring dreams include but are not limited to: tornados, levitation, and winning fistfights with street hobos.
Last night I dreamnt that this one T-rex had been hanging around my house for quite some time and for some reason was particularly interested in me and not other people. I was safe in the house, but couldn't really venture outside because he would come out of nowhere and go after me. Since he didn't really bother other people, it wasn't much of a concern to anyone except me. Most people didn't believe me that the T-rex would come for me if I went outside. They thought I was exaggerating about how he was gunning for me. (Kind of like how people don't believe that bees are always out to get me even though THEY TOTALLY ARE.)
I was persuaded into going outside by my fiance, and was quite far out into the backyard when, lo and behold, the T-rex appears from behind from trees. He's stealthy and quiet, that one. So I start running for the safety of the house. It was wintertime, and my fiance was scooping up snowballs and throwing them, to distract the T-rex. Apparently that had worked in the past, but the T-rex had gotten wise to it. So he ignored the snowballs completely and was focused on me. He caught up to me and was opening his jaws wide to eat me and I knew it was now or never. I managed to get one skillful jab into his eye and he cried and lurched backwards. It bought me just enough time to get in the house and slam the door in his face.
The end.
Benefits of low expectations
Ignorance is bliss, and low expectations are a path to happiness.
Sort of.
The term "low expectations" is not a particularly positive one. Nobody thinks that kids should be taught to "aim low!" or "don't dream big, cause you'll only be disappointed!" That feels sad, doesn't it? That sounds like giving up. That sounds like loser talk.
But at the same time, optimism is encouraged. Looking at the glass as half full, and having low expectations, are not very different viewpoints. If you have low expectations, then you're thrilled and grateful that the glass is half full. If you're a high achiever and expect a lot out of life, the glass is unacceptably empty.
Wouldn't we be happier if we accepted ourselves the way we are, instead of striving to better ourselves? Wouldn't we more content if we just live within our means and keep the dead end job forever, instead of constantly struggling to move up a rung?
Yeah, I suppose so. Maybe temporarily, anyways. One of my greatest fears is getting to the end of my life and wondering what the hell I wasted it on. I don't want to be old and wonder why I never did anything special or great or interesting with my life. I don't want to be frail and infirm and cursing my young self for thinking I "couldn't" do something. Because the truth is, I can do a whole lot of stuff, but I need to raise my own bar. Happiness schmappiness.
For instance, I was pretty proud of myself this morning because I was able to successfully rouse myself in bed to be able to make it to work on time, even though I had several drinks the night before. I realized I was congratulating myself in the shower for having performed this feat. And then it hit me: that is a pretty low goal to achieve. Getting up for work does not get you a gold star. Had I, say, gotten up and worked out and gotten some shit accomplished early in the morning despite being hung over, that would be something worth congratulating myself.
And that's when I realized that I have some pretty low expectations for myself these days.
Oftentimes I just want to do something extreme. Like start working out every day, but not just 30 minutes a day or an hour a day, but like 4 hours a day. I like getting obsessed with stuff. I like feeling like I'm making a monumental change in my life. But lately I've been pretty content with "getting to work every day."
But at the same time, I've also felt pretty happy. I haven't been berating myself for not being Superwoman. I have been living a pretty enjoyable existence lately.
Do I really want to start torturing myself? I seem to have a problem weighing the pros and cons of working really hard at something. Anything. In the past, I've worked really hard on something for years and it never worked out. Now I don't try very hard at anything and my life is pretty good. Society has groomed me into the perfect automaton, a good little worker drone who is happy with working and consuming and sleeping and not doing much of anything else.
I wish I had a time machine right about now. I would go to the future and ask my old self what I did with my life and whether or not it was a good choice.
I could drop dead tomorrow... does that mean I should hurry up and start achieving something before I hit the dust, or does that mean I should enjoy myself?
Life is confusing.
Sort of.
The term "low expectations" is not a particularly positive one. Nobody thinks that kids should be taught to "aim low!" or "don't dream big, cause you'll only be disappointed!" That feels sad, doesn't it? That sounds like giving up. That sounds like loser talk.
But at the same time, optimism is encouraged. Looking at the glass as half full, and having low expectations, are not very different viewpoints. If you have low expectations, then you're thrilled and grateful that the glass is half full. If you're a high achiever and expect a lot out of life, the glass is unacceptably empty.
Wouldn't we be happier if we accepted ourselves the way we are, instead of striving to better ourselves? Wouldn't we more content if we just live within our means and keep the dead end job forever, instead of constantly struggling to move up a rung?
Yeah, I suppose so. Maybe temporarily, anyways. One of my greatest fears is getting to the end of my life and wondering what the hell I wasted it on. I don't want to be old and wonder why I never did anything special or great or interesting with my life. I don't want to be frail and infirm and cursing my young self for thinking I "couldn't" do something. Because the truth is, I can do a whole lot of stuff, but I need to raise my own bar. Happiness schmappiness.
For instance, I was pretty proud of myself this morning because I was able to successfully rouse myself in bed to be able to make it to work on time, even though I had several drinks the night before. I realized I was congratulating myself in the shower for having performed this feat. And then it hit me: that is a pretty low goal to achieve. Getting up for work does not get you a gold star. Had I, say, gotten up and worked out and gotten some shit accomplished early in the morning despite being hung over, that would be something worth congratulating myself.
And that's when I realized that I have some pretty low expectations for myself these days.
Oftentimes I just want to do something extreme. Like start working out every day, but not just 30 minutes a day or an hour a day, but like 4 hours a day. I like getting obsessed with stuff. I like feeling like I'm making a monumental change in my life. But lately I've been pretty content with "getting to work every day."
But at the same time, I've also felt pretty happy. I haven't been berating myself for not being Superwoman. I have been living a pretty enjoyable existence lately.
Do I really want to start torturing myself? I seem to have a problem weighing the pros and cons of working really hard at something. Anything. In the past, I've worked really hard on something for years and it never worked out. Now I don't try very hard at anything and my life is pretty good. Society has groomed me into the perfect automaton, a good little worker drone who is happy with working and consuming and sleeping and not doing much of anything else.
I wish I had a time machine right about now. I would go to the future and ask my old self what I did with my life and whether or not it was a good choice.
I could drop dead tomorrow... does that mean I should hurry up and start achieving something before I hit the dust, or does that mean I should enjoy myself?
Life is confusing.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Poverty Sucks
I had an idea today that I should, for the next year of my life, try not to buy anything.
This, of course, is impossible. I need to buy food, and utilities, and gasoline. But I mean discretionary purchases, and to some extent, those "basic needs" are discretionary also. I could probably stand to buy a lot less food, utilities and gasoline and still survive.
I have a spending problem. And I'm not a "big spender". The problem is that I think I spend very little... except that I spend very little on a lot of things.
I'm just so sick of working a job that is slowly sucking out my soul. I feel I need to make it worthwhile in some way. So for the next year, I would like to try to do a few things
1. Save as much money as possible
2. Be annoying frugal
3. See how much money I can make selling crap
"Crap" includes the crap around my house that I don't need, and also stuff like silly drawings and writings.
I won't take any money out of my "crap" account. I'll let it accumulate the entire year and see where it gets me. Maybe I'll make $5, or maybe I'll make $5000.
I need to make the distinction between "want" and "need". Like today I had a doctor's appointment and I had forgotten I needed to drink a bunch of water first. I thought "omigosh I need to stop and buy some bottled waters" which would have cost a few dollars, but instead I made a slight detour to stop at home to grab a Nalgene bottle and filled it up with tapwater. Easy, right? If I could save $5 a day with stuff like that, I could save $1825/year.
Every time I don't buy something I was gonna buy, I should transfer that money into the crap account.
I would be really amazed with myself if I actually stuck with something like this for a whole year.
This, of course, is impossible. I need to buy food, and utilities, and gasoline. But I mean discretionary purchases, and to some extent, those "basic needs" are discretionary also. I could probably stand to buy a lot less food, utilities and gasoline and still survive.
I have a spending problem. And I'm not a "big spender". The problem is that I think I spend very little... except that I spend very little on a lot of things.
I'm just so sick of working a job that is slowly sucking out my soul. I feel I need to make it worthwhile in some way. So for the next year, I would like to try to do a few things
1. Save as much money as possible
2. Be annoying frugal
3. See how much money I can make selling crap
"Crap" includes the crap around my house that I don't need, and also stuff like silly drawings and writings.
I won't take any money out of my "crap" account. I'll let it accumulate the entire year and see where it gets me. Maybe I'll make $5, or maybe I'll make $5000.
I need to make the distinction between "want" and "need". Like today I had a doctor's appointment and I had forgotten I needed to drink a bunch of water first. I thought "omigosh I need to stop and buy some bottled waters" which would have cost a few dollars, but instead I made a slight detour to stop at home to grab a Nalgene bottle and filled it up with tapwater. Easy, right? If I could save $5 a day with stuff like that, I could save $1825/year.
Every time I don't buy something I was gonna buy, I should transfer that money into the crap account.
I would be really amazed with myself if I actually stuck with something like this for a whole year.
Today is a great day
Today is a great day.
Today, I have discovered.... margaritas.
You may wonder how an adult fairly well along into her legal drinking years could not be familiar with a margarita. Well, my friends... it's because I am a creature of habit. I enjoy enjoying the familiar things that I already know I enjoy and will enjoy experiencing again. As my good friends say, it's because I have a "touch of asperger's." I really enjoy repetition. I really really really enjoy it.
And I have always been afraid of tequila. I picture the gross things that they put into tequila bottles.
Today, I have discovered.... margaritas.
You may wonder how an adult fairly well along into her legal drinking years could not be familiar with a margarita. Well, my friends... it's because I am a creature of habit. I enjoy enjoying the familiar things that I already know I enjoy and will enjoy experiencing again. As my good friends say, it's because I have a "touch of asperger's." I really enjoy repetition. I really really really enjoy it.
And I have always been afraid of tequila. I picture the gross things that they put into tequila bottles.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
A disturbing lack of strangeness
A while ago I started a personal sub-journal a while ago that I called the "strangelog" where I intended to note anything weird or unusual that happened to me, or that I heard about. Like most of my well-intentioned journals, it mostly collected dust after the first few entries.
Lately my life seems to be rather devoid of weirdness.
Yesterday, Clarence Clemons died. He was the saxophonist for the Bruce Springsteen band. I didn't know who he was until recently, when he performed the sax solo on Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory". The video, featuring Clarence, came out on Thursday, and he died on Saturday. Pretty ironic that the last song he worked on was a song about the moment before death.
I believe my car is haunted by the vehicle curse that seems to have been following me around for 10 years or so. Every car I've ever had has had two issues: tire problems and mysterious front end noises. My latest car has the same problems. The tire pressure issued resurfaced today on the highway, and the light refuses to go out even after filling the tires.
Lately I've been mostly obsessed with my own health, which is an incredibly boring topic. Except for an anxiety-filled evening of reading webMD to such an extent that I freaked myself out into thinking I've got some Transformers version of Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, pancreatic cancer and thyroid trouble all rolled together with a dash of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
The weekend is over once again. Didn't it just start? I always envision getting all this stuff done, and it never happens. I'd have so much more time to do stuff if I just didn't have a job.
Lately my life seems to be rather devoid of weirdness.
Yesterday, Clarence Clemons died. He was the saxophonist for the Bruce Springsteen band. I didn't know who he was until recently, when he performed the sax solo on Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory". The video, featuring Clarence, came out on Thursday, and he died on Saturday. Pretty ironic that the last song he worked on was a song about the moment before death.
I believe my car is haunted by the vehicle curse that seems to have been following me around for 10 years or so. Every car I've ever had has had two issues: tire problems and mysterious front end noises. My latest car has the same problems. The tire pressure issued resurfaced today on the highway, and the light refuses to go out even after filling the tires.
Lately I've been mostly obsessed with my own health, which is an incredibly boring topic. Except for an anxiety-filled evening of reading webMD to such an extent that I freaked myself out into thinking I've got some Transformers version of Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, pancreatic cancer and thyroid trouble all rolled together with a dash of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
The weekend is over once again. Didn't it just start? I always envision getting all this stuff done, and it never happens. I'd have so much more time to do stuff if I just didn't have a job.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
I curse thee, microscopic enemies
I am sick. I caught a gross cold. My throat is on fire. I hate sore throats with a passion. I can endure the congestion and the runny nose and the coughing, but a sore throat is the worst. You can't escape it. You can't do much about it. Every "remedy" brings only very temporary relief. For example, you stop feeling better once the ice cream is gone.
This is not the greatest start to June 2011, which is supposed to be my "Summer of Excellence." I plan to do a lot of things:
1. Ride (the horse I am leasing)
2. Get really fit (running every day) and lose 15 lbs
3. Make money and actually save it (by being frugal and also selling junk, of which I have a lot)
4. Finish my writing project
5. Do some fun stuff, like visiting some new amusements parks, hiking trails, maybe even start a band with the girls
I am not exactly happy that I am sick but I am grateful that it is just a cold and not something worse like a stomach bug. I am grateful that a lot of things in my life are going well and that I have a wonderful fiance who has taken very good care of me while I'm under the weather, and in fact, all the time.
Even so, I can't help picturing the little bugs having a party inside me right now. I did not give permission for my upper respiratory tract to host a rave of germs, and I feel intruded upon. I am giving the green light to my immune system to wage all-out war against the trespassers.
This is not the greatest start to June 2011, which is supposed to be my "Summer of Excellence." I plan to do a lot of things:
1. Ride (the horse I am leasing)
2. Get really fit (running every day) and lose 15 lbs
3. Make money and actually save it (by being frugal and also selling junk, of which I have a lot)
4. Finish my writing project
5. Do some fun stuff, like visiting some new amusements parks, hiking trails, maybe even start a band with the girls
I am not exactly happy that I am sick but I am grateful that it is just a cold and not something worse like a stomach bug. I am grateful that a lot of things in my life are going well and that I have a wonderful fiance who has taken very good care of me while I'm under the weather, and in fact, all the time.
Even so, I can't help picturing the little bugs having a party inside me right now. I did not give permission for my upper respiratory tract to host a rave of germs, and I feel intruded upon. I am giving the green light to my immune system to wage all-out war against the trespassers.
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