Student Loan Wha?

Direct Loans, which owns all of my student loans recently changed websites.  The new site is easier to use, and looks better, but I've been having a whole lot of issues with it that have nothing to do with appearance.

1. I've tried to set up Kwikpay (I also have an issue with that spelling--what the hell is that all about?), which is the automatic debiting system about TEN times.  I tell kwikpay that I want $100 taken out of my savings account each month, but for the last three months, no money was taken out and I was behind.
2. I then make manual payments using the same savings account that I have always used and that the system has verefied is correct, and I get a confirmation that the payment posted, but the money never leaves my account!
3. Then, the payment that I made vanishes from the list of payments made (where it had been before), and I get an angry "past due" red line.
4. I keep getting messages from Direct Loans in my "Secure Messages" folder, but when I try to open them, I get an error message saying that the message cannot be opened. I hope what they want to tell me isn't important, but I fear it is.

So basically, I'm trying to send these people money, and they won't take it, but are penalizing me for their not taking it.  I called them a while ago to say that this was happening, and the nice man that I spoke to said, "I see that you made a payment for $300 about five days ago."

"Yes," I told him, "But that money is still in my account."

I could practically hear him shrugging, and he said, "Everything looks ok to me."

I wanted to make a big payment before the end of the year, and did, but Direct Loans never took the money.  I then made a big payment at the beginning of January to catch up on how past due I was, and Direct Loans never took that one either.  I have confirmation emails from Direct Loans saying "we will happily take your money" but they never do!

This is honestly the strangest situation I've ever been in, moneywise, and I really don't know what to do to rectify it.  Anyone else having any issues?  Any of my readers work for Direct Loans?

Weekend Reading: Why Women Need Fat

Slightly off the topic of frugality, but firmly on the topic of health and wellness, I recently acquired a copy of Why Women Need Fat: How "Healthy" Food Makes Us Gain Excess Weight and the Surprisingly Solution to Keeping it Off Forever by Dr. William D. Lassek and Steven Gaulin.  It's a mouthful of a title, but a really fascinating read.  I've always been interested in diet and exercise--don't know if that's just a side-effect of being a girl, and this book is possibly the most comprehensive look at why women are built the way they are, why our weight shifts over time and why most women gain the same percentage of weight around the same age as they get older.

Am I Trying Too Much?

This is certainly not my closet, but man I wish it was

2012 is supposed to be the year everything changes for me, and so far (first two weeks) that's actually true.  Here's what has changed so far:

1. I've been walking to work, which I love!
2. I've been less petulant/ run down and therefore haven't been shopping to perk myself up.
3. Since I've been leaving the car at home, BF has been going to the grocery store!  He's not the savvy shopper I am, but it's so, so nice to not have one more thing to check off my list.
4. I had a weekend--two whole days off!

What that weekend taught me, however, is that I am no good at weekends.  I have been working several part-time jobs at once since I was 15, therefore, I don't really know what to do with my downtime.  I feel guilty when I'm not at work, even when I'm not supposed to be at work.  Sidenote: It's really strange to me to only have to go to one job.  I keep thinking Oh, second half of the week, I'll have to go somewhere else.  Nope, I go to the same building every day; see the same people.  It's an adjustment.

What I would like to focus on now--in addition to frugality, losing ten pounds and those ten goals I came up with before, is enjoying my downtime more.  I found last year when I had only two days off a month that I would get so worked up about using those days well, that I often made myself sick.  Likewise, this past weekend, I gave myself a headache thinking about all the crap I should be doing, but was too tired/lazy to do.  The new goal is to spend some time cleaning/ organizing my office so I can keep it clean with a minimum of effort (I know that's the dream, but I'm optimistic).

I'm also going to stop beating myself up about "wasting" downtime, and try to trick myself into just enjoying it.  I'm going to try to remember the things I did when I first moved to Providence, when I was unemployed but wasn't miserable.  I imagine this goal will include more matinees of independent films (frugal AND supports local businesses), and perhaps some fro-yo.

When you write it all down, it does sound like a lot, but it's also a lot of fun stuff, which is what I need to keep reminding myself.  Hopefully, I can establish better habits and then everything will just fall into place.  Getting better at life--what an adventure!

I Feel Gross Even Admitting This

...but thanks to Michelle P over at Making Sense of Cents (I always want to call her blog Making Cents of Sense--I think it's because I secretly want people to pay me for practical advice), I have joined the *gulp* Newlyweds on a Budget 10 pound challenge.  Lest you freak out, gentle reader, I am NOT a newlywed.  I haven't gone and gotten hitched and kept it a secret from everyone.  What I am, is a gal who has been eating too much of late, and who knows that if I lose five pounds, I can shave two minutes off my 1/2 marathon time--FACT!

I had already decided, and secretly blogged that I want to lose 10 pounds before April, so now that this contest came along and I might actually make money for doing something I want to do anyway, well that's just a no-brainer.

So there it is--I'm on a diet ew ew ew ew ew.  No, I will not call it a diet, thankyouverymuch.  Instead, I shall say that I am trying to lose weight.  Now in addition to financial whatnot, I may occasionally mention health stuff, but only non-obnoxious health stuff.  Anyone else want to join the challenge?

Major Cash Injection

Doing a google image search for "cash injection" brings up
a surprising number of results.

That's kind of  filthy sounding title, no?  I like it!  As I've been strategizing how to not turn into a total money spaz while I'm not quite sure what my take-home pay is going to be, I got an email from former boss telling me that I can expect a payout of my accrued vacation hours!  Since it's been so long since I've had paid vacation, I completely forgot about all the hours I banked, and since I hardly used any (I was only part-time, remember), it ended up being quite a tidy sum of money.

This job also has a kick-ass online money management system where I can direct my paycheck into a number of different accounts.  That means that 5% of my net pay goes into my running account, 7% into my travel fund, 20% into my IRA, 30% into savings and the rest into checking.  So I've already kicked off the year with a healthy deposit to the IRA--huzzah!

In other news, I just learned about this new thing called Switch2Health, which is kind of like the swagbucks of fitness.  Leah Ingram (frugal guru extraordinaire) recommended it on a local news program that I then saw on her website.  The way it works is, you buy a pedometer or an activity tracking wristband, track your activity, upload that info to the website, and you can earn giftcards.  With my four-mile daily walk, I could certainly rack up the points, but the pedometer also costs $25, so it seems rather foolish to shell out the cash without knowing how quickly you actually earn rewards.  Still, I am intrigued, but not sure that a pedometer would go with all the cute dresses I like to wear...

Anyone thinking about trying this out?

New Job: Week One

This was me last night--out for the count

It's a good thing my first week on the job was only four days because I am seriously pooped.  I went to bed at 11:30 last night and didn't crawl back out until 8:30 this morning--even the cat seemed to understand and let me sleep in.  So many names to remember!  So much learning!  So many slightly different policies!

So far this week, I walked to work three days out of four (I had a meeting one day and needed my car), and I love it!  Even though these have been some of the coldest days we've had recently and my first night of work I got home feeling completely frozen, I am still totally pumped.  It actually takes me a bit longer to get to work walking than it did driving, but who cares!  The walk wakes me up and makes me feel good for the rest of the day.

In the interest of full bloggy disclosure, after that super cold walk home, I promptly ordered this coat:

Old Navy, 60% off, and I do not currently have any hardcore outside winter gear, because I really don't spend much time outside.  So I figure, even if I don't wear it that often, it's still probably a good thing to have.  Of course, today it's 55 degrees, but still.

Expenses this week include:

That coat (if I keep it--that remains to be seen)

Dinner last night--I insisted we go to a place near new job that I had been to in the past and liked, but then completely forgot about.  It was excellent and not too pricey, then we came home and watched Roadhouse.

It's a classic of 80's cinema!

That's it!  My first day of work, I took myself out to lunch at a place where I had a giftcard, and I packed my lunch the rest of the time.  Double bonus--New job is having a cell phone drive for a battered women's shelter, so I even got to unload a couple I had had chilling out in a drawer for years.  De-cluttering for a cause!

This week my biggest goal is to get that bike fixed--I just dread dealing with hipsters who work in bike repair and have been putting it off.  I assume they'll be assholes, but they're probably lovely--I'll let you know.

As far as my yearning to join a gym, the warmer weather helped alleviate that a little, though I did fill out a form asking the YCMA to contact me to show me around and assess my fitness (I do love assessment).  I also bought a rowing machine!  I've been wanting to try one for a long time since they're so good for a full-body workout, and I happened to find one on craigslist for $25!  I tried it for the first time this morning and I already feel fitter (by that I mean that my arms are sore).

How did you do with your spending this week?

The Lull Between Paychecks

That was almost me

I don't know if I'm the only person this happens to, but I've found that when I'm not earning money, I seem to forget the value of a dollar.  This is yet another reason that I remain glad my mother never submitted my photo to that Punky Brewster Look-alike contest where you win a starring role on the show-- I would have burned through those earnings in less than a year and would likely be living in a gutter right now.

For example, when I first moved to Rhode Island, five years ago, it took me six weeks to find a job.  That was pretty awesome as it gave me six weeks to go exploring, make new friends and acclimate to my new home, but it also gave me time to burn through almost all of the money that I had spent a year and a half saving.

Without having a paycheck to look at weekly or bi-weekly (hopefully never monthly, that would be really hard), I allow myself to fantasize that I have larger sums of money than I do. I forget that take-home pay is significantly less because of all those pesky taxes, and I forget how long it takes to save up money.  When I have that number in front of me, I can just do the math and not go overboard with my spending.  It's much easier for me to color within the lines than to go all free-form, man.

So I am presently in that lull between paychecks again, and I'm not sure exactly when I'll have some more money coming in.  It could be as much as three weeks, so now more than ever, I need to be sensible.  Also, I'm flying without a budget for the first time in four years, so everything is chaos!

So, for the next few weeks, I'm operating on a system of full disclosure.  I will be documenting every extraneous penny, and I charge you, blogosphere, with keeping me in line and calling shenanigans, should I need it.

My first order of disclosure, is to show you the awesome new boots I bought myself as an "I got an awesome job and need proper footwear for walking to work" present.  And I'm done buying myself presents, that can get out of hand really quickly.

I never thought I'd be a cowboy boots gal, but these are gorgeous!  That's it though, no more extras, focus on the task at hand which is learning how to do my new job and not just buying new clothes for this new life I imagine that I have.

OMG, That's Good

There's a restaurant down the street from me that I think I could easily call one of my top five restaurants in Providence.  They don't really have a particular style of cooking, except I once heard them described as serving "comfort food that your mom would make for you--if your mom was a really, really good cook."  My mom is not a really good cook (and she lives 1800 miles away), so I am adopting this restaurant instead.

Last time I was there, I was looking for something hearty but light, and warm because it is winter.  I'm also trying to eat more vegetables and do a bit of a detox from all of the heavy holiday foods and sweets.  Enter, The Warm Spinach Salad.  They made theirs with spinach, lentils, sweet potatoes, pumpkin seeds, shallots, cranberries and maybe something else.  As I was eating my leftovers, and scheming to get more of this salad, I realized that  I could totally make it myself! So here's what I made:

I ate a little divot in the front so you could see the layers...
No, that's a lie, I just wanted to eat it.

I didn't feel like cooking lentils (not sure why), so I subbed in some quinoa; and instead of using sweet potatoes (which I would have had to leave the house to buy), I used butternut squash (which I already had).

Ingredients:

1/2 medium butternut squash (or just use a small one, obv.)

1 c, quinoa rinsed and cooked

About four handfuls of spinach, wilted

Vegetable Bullion

Garlic

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Other spices as desired--I'm not going to tell you who to be

Slivered almonds and Craisins (garnish)

• Peel, seed and dice butternut squash into small pieces.  Arrange onto cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper and desired spices (I used rosemary--so good!).  Work the spices and oil through the squash with your hands and roast in oven for approximately 40 minutes at 400 degrees.
• Cook quinoa according to directions adding 1-2 veg bullion cubes.  That can boil on a back burner while the squash roasts, and you get started on the spinach.
• Add two glugs olive oil and 1 clove minced garlic to skillet (unless you want more garlic).  Heat and toast garlic until just brown.  Add four large handfuls of spinach (more if you want more spinach--it shrinks a lot), and cook over medium high until all spinach is wilted.
• Hang out for a bit while the squash cooks, maybe do some dishes or play with your cat (but be sure to wash your hands), or maybe you should have started the squash a bit earlier than the spinach and quinoa--did you ever think of that?  Finish up the quinoa and layer it onto plate or bowl.
• Layer spinach next.
• Layer squash on top and sprinkle with Craisins and slivered almonds (if desired).
• Pat self on the back because this is freaking fantastic.

I had  little extra quinoa, so I just piled it on top.  You can do whatever
you want with yours--follow your heart.

Top 10 for 2011

I wasn't planning on doing a list of the top ten posts for the year, but when I looked at what they were, I found it so bizarre that I had to share.

1. Blogathon Haiku-- This was a post that I did as part of last years' May Blogathon.  There were a few theme days, and I ignored most of them, but haiku is so short I couldn't pass this one up! Apparently, people really like it?  I feel like something is off here, but it has double the hits of the next-highest post, so go figure.
2. The Awkward Side of Frugality-- This makes more sense to me as this is one of my favorite posts as well.  This one was suggested to me by a friend who had just been 'invited' to take a $3000 European vacation.  Umm, no.
3. Could I Live on Minimum Wage-- My first-ever Blogher Featured Post!!  I wrote this less than two months ago, and it's number three for the year.  Not too shabby.
4. I Hate Gas-- I do still hate buying gas, and it seems that I'm not alone.
5. Tips for Frugal Gift Giving-- Solid advice penned by my friend Melissa, who is a much better gift-giver than me.  Thanks!!
6.  Food Waste Friday: A Forest of Dill-- It seems I'm not the only one who struggles to use up dill.
7. What to do With Quinoa-- I'm glad I've unpuzzled the mystery that is quinoa.  I think I might eat some more today.
8. Food Waste Friday: Rotten Tomatoes-- It's hard to store tomatoes in a way that keeps them fresh and tasting good.  This is a constant struggle.
9. Top Ten Reasons Not to Menu Plan--  This is another of my favorites and one of my most controversial posts.  I continue to not menu plan in the traditional way, and somehow life is still frugal and worth living.
10. Food Waste Friday: Nothing-- Huzzah!

I guess for 2012, I'd better write more haiku--gotta give the people what they want.

I Want to Join a Gym

...even though I know that joining a gym in January is a total cliche, and will likely make me very angry when I have to wait 30 minutes for a treadmill.  Here's why I want to join a gym:

1. It's freaking cold out and I am a wuss.  I have a treadmill in the basement, but it's a crappy treadmill and the belt is breaking.  When I go running outside in the really, really cold, I tend to get sick and my legs freeze, which makes me avoid going out at all.
2. I would like to do exercises other than run.  I want to take some classes, maybe do some yoga (I think yoga is incredibly boring, but it might be good for me).  I keep seeing pictures of people with tight abs advertising that zumba nonsense, maybe that's for me.
3. I want to run a marathon.  In order to run a marathon, I need to keep logging miles (see #1) and also do exercises with weights and stuff, or so running magazines tell me.

I was incredibly excited to find out that the health plan for new job includes a $150 credit if you go to a gym for more than three months in a row and fill out a form; and that you get a 20% discount on selected gyms.  I was then dismayed to find out that the only place locally where I would get that 20% discount is the super-fancy gym that's not within walking distance.  I secret-shopped super fancy gym last year, and it is NICE, but even though I can't remember exactly how much it cost per month, I remember that it was expensive.  

So I did what I always do in this situation, I looked at how much the YMCA costs, and then remembered that the YMCA is damn expensive.  It's $49/month plus a $49 start-up fee!  That is so much money!  I used to be a member at the Jewish Community Center (cause I had a coupon), but that place is even more expensive than the Y and you have to pay for a whole year up front.  Sigh.

BF keeps insisting that I can sneak into one of the Brown University gyms, but that makes me really uncomfortable (cause stealing makes me uncomfortable), and I'd also be working out next to annoying college girls who probably put on make up and don't sweat.  Hell no.

I also have the option, since I still technically work at academic library, to use the gym there.  But that's a 25 minute drive, would also make me feel a little like I was stealing, and I'd be working out next to super fit 19-year-olds (see above).

Then there's Planet Fitness, which is $10/month, but doesn't offer any classes.  It's also on the other side of town and a friend who goes there told me that she once found gum stuck to the track of a treadmill.  I'm not a snob (well, kind of), but that just doesn't do it for me.

*SOAPBOX* It's kind of interesting that we vilify people for being overweight, but then make it so expensive to join a fitness facility and limit the amount of public green space and sidewalks in cities.  Yes, there are plenty of things you can do without joining a gym (if you're lucky enough to life in a safe neighborhood with sidewalks, which many aren't), but then you're hamstrung by weather and other factors (like the fact that no one in RI shovels their sidewalks.  Seriously, last year several people died because they were forced to walk in the street and got hit by cars--kids and adults).  Sure the gym has to pay for the equipment, staff, etc., but man, $49/month is $600 a year!  That's walking around money.  That's one month's rent! *END SOAPBOX*

So what to do?  Is there a secret option #4 that I'm not thinking of?  Should I just suck it up and be grateful we've had a mild winter so far?  My dad runs outside year round and he lives in Minnesota, so I know that it is possible, but I'm also kind of a wuss... see above...