fat women, lean times?

I found this article interesting and I wonder if there is any truth to the idea that in lean economic times, men prefer women with a little more meat on their bones. I've always heard that our current trend of "thinner is better" totally goes against what we as animals should desire. I mean, a healthy woman (ie- one that is not rail thin and appears fragile) would presumably be a better able to withstand childbirth and thus reproduce - which is the MO of the animal brain. And I don't find the connection between size and financial status a far fetched idea. I just think kate is growing into her womanhood and motherhood and maybe, just maybe, all that champagne is catching up with her....

kate moss is fat? and that indicates we are poor?

Talk amongst yourselves... I'm gonna go eat my lunch (which, BTW is keeping me on a roll of eating in and saving money - I almost gave in today but resisted. Quite pathetic how hard it has been to not eat out all week!)

is autopay your friend?

Here's an interesting topic my mom and I discussed over our lunch (my early bday lunch!) today: Does autopay help you or hurt you? She worked for a short time at a bank and processed information for people applying for mortgages. She remembers that back then (has been many years now) lenders didn't look fondly upon your payment history if your bills were paid with an autopay system because they viewed it as no real indication that you were paying your bills on time - you were just relying on a system and you yourself may not indeed be as trustworthy or responsible as said system. I think that totally stinks but she says that's just the way it was.

So is that true anymore? Now that everyone is paying bills online and autopay is so much more common is it still a bad idea?

I certainly hope not seeing as how I have now set up almost every single bill (with the exception of utilities that vary from month to month) for an autopay service. 

I guess I can ask the mortgage guy we are meeting with Friday and if he says it's not such a good idea then I can always go back and opt out.... hmmm. 

I AMOST FORGOT!!!

I took the expensive pants back to Anthro and (at least for the time being) walked away without purchasing anything else in it's place! This is HUGE people - I'm making history here. 

applause is welcome.

still on track

here's a confession:

i do this all the time - the only difference is that *this time* i've got a blog. 

i go through these spurts where i try to be all organized and strict with myself and my spending but i secretly use it as an excuse to buy new pens, calendars to write down payment dates and due dates of bills, buy magazines or books about money, etc, etc, etc. 

i can usually keep it up for about 2 weeks tops and then i run out of steam. i know it's only been a few days but i really feel like this time it's going to stick... and honestly, i think it's because of the accountability the blog provides. 

thanks for checking in on me and lending me support - it's gonna be tough but i know i can do it!

this evening i spent time on mint.com updating my categories and really setting my monthly budget. i LOVE that site. if you haven't checked it out then do it now. it's scary to see how much i spend on clothing and magazines.... speaking of magazines, one of my clients gave me two of her old issues of Money Magazine to look through and I was so disappointed and overwhelmed. It seems like all of the info in those magazines is geared towards people in a totally different situation than I find myself in. They talk incessantly about 401Ks and stock options - I currently have neither. 

I've been thinking about hiring a financial planner but I want to see how it goes on my own first... see what headway I can make on saving a little money before I run off and spend said money for someone to tell me what to do with it - makes sense?

PROGRESS: 

today i ate both meals at home. faux-turkey sandwich/grapes/nuts for lunch and a faux-philly cheese steak sandwich for dinner - YUM! 

we have an appointment with the mortgage broker this friday and we'll see what that brings - fingers crossed. 

Check on it

Things to do & think about:

-Can I set up Auto-Pay for the rent on my storage space? If so, do it.
-Should I return the obscenely expensive (for me anyway) pants from Anthro & then turn right back around and use the 15% off card they sent me for my bday to buy them back? Would save me almost $20. Or if I were going to do the totally responsible thing I supposed I'd make the return & not be lured into a purchase I don't *really* need to make. Hmmmm... Logic sucks for my wardrobe!
-Call morgage broker tom. to make appt.
-Call to get important tax document mailed so can do taxes & not pay more late fees than necessary.
-Pay power & cable bills
-Go to grocery & get more food to eat at home

-posted with help from my robot

i just realized:

when you type in the address for this blog it could also read as:

they ear off rug al living

sorry, i am easily amused.

carry on!

one small step for womankind

They say it's re little things that count and I'm counting on that.

One of the ways I think I'm going to try to save money (and probably the oldest and easiest in the book) is by eating out less and making meals at home. It's never to early or too late to start so today I made one of my favorite meals of all time:

the green plate special

It consists of a sandwhich made with toasted while grain bread, sliced avocado, sprouts, spinach, and lemon juice and a handful of grapes (instead of chips) on the side... who knows, maybe I'll lose weight on my money diet and end up rich AND thin!

Another stride I took today was an easy one: I set up Auto-Pay on two of my monthly bills. It's an easy way to insure you don't waste money on late fees but my biggest concern now is remembering when they will be autodrafted and making sure I don't accidentally overdraw my checking account- because those are some hefty fees!

Next, I went to myfico.com and I checked on my latest FICO score. I signed up for this service(as well as mint.com) quite a while back and I have found both to be very helpful. I have one remaining "Score Power Report" to view on myfico.com but for some reason it won't let me look at it - annoying. I need to see if an old credit card account has rolled off my credit history yet. I seem to remember that some old accounts will be removed from your credit history after 10 years and I am hoping this is one of them. If not, I probably need to just own up to the debt and pay it so that it will look better on my credit history when I attempt to get a morgage. Does anybody know the truth about that? Did I make it up? Does it only apply to certain debts? 

I need to go look in my Suze Orman book and see if she mentions it. She's not my favorite, but it's the only (or shall I say first of many to come?!) financial book I own. 

In other news, as I have been sitting around dreaming of ways to save money I got a call from a client who needs me to babysit this evening. I was really looking forward to a night in with my boyfriend but I think it was just too serendipitous that here I was thinking of ways to fatten up my savings account and a chance to make money landed in my lap - I couldn't pass it up. Normally I would've decided that my time was worth more than the little bit of money I would make in the few hours staying with someone else's kids but I guess it's time to rethink that whole scale. 

Every penny counts. Something is better than nothing. If you are thinking "something's gotta change," chances are it's you. 

in the beginning, i was broke.

hi, my name is meg.
i am single - but in a long-term committed relationship that is "going somewhere" - whatever that means...
i am self-employed and love my job.
i make a decent amount of money but i am horrible at saving it.
i am resourceful - i can sew and craft up just about anything you can imagine. i like problem solving my own life.
i have a shopping addiction. mainly thrift stores, but shopping nonetheless.
i don't have great credit but have been working to rebuild it.
i turn 31 in 7 days...
and i want to buy a home.

this blog is my journey through saving money and making myself financially stable. i have a few ideas about how i'm going to do it but in reality i think i'm pretty naive. hopefully this journal will help me to look at my financial life with a discerning eye and by writing in a public forum, i will be held accountable for my choices and joined in the celebrations of my achievements towards this goal. i welcome advice or cheerleading of any kind. i can't promise entertainment, but hopefully i can promise honesty... wish me luck!