Meet The Parkers from the Extreme Savers series. I liked this couple. They sound like real people. I love the photo of their Halloween costumes.

Will the deficit ruin my retirement? A question I’ve always wondered about. It’s part of why you should factor in inflation when setting your target retirement goal. The future’s brightness or dimness is going to effect how far your dollars go. I liked the advice that says you shouldn’t panic. Don’t panic, but do plan. Planning is the only way to prepare yourself for the possibilities.

Jonathan asks What are your luxuries?

I have to think about this one because some of them are must-haves, though I know I could live without them. Living off-grid for 10 days while camping really forces you to evaluate what it is that you need for living and what’s nice, but not essential.

Things I absolutely must have:
1) Clean-smelling soap, shampoo, conditioner, good lotion, Chapstick, 100% cotton towels in large sizes.
2) 2 Down pillows. I’ve tried other kinds but they don’t fluff as nice. One for under the head. One to hug.
3) Warm blankets. I don’t use a down comforter at home, but my 20F-rated sleeping bag sure is.
4) A good chair for my desk.
5) Quality ear plugs for blocking out the world when I need some quiet but can’t get to a quiet place.
6) Good food. Cheese, good bread, and meat. If can get those at every lunch and dinner, I’d be quite happy for the rest of my life. I actually get cranky if I don’t eat animal protein at least once a day. But I do occassionally have a meatless day. If it’s really good food, I don’t notice its absence. But my stomach will.
7) Good wine and beer. I love me the Guinness. I love a great red wine. Cheaper is better, but I’ve had $70 merlots from Silver Oak that have rocked my world. I can be happy with an $8 Rioja if the moment is just right.
Intellectual stimulation. Books and puzzles. I absolutely cannot live without diversions like these. Online print media doesn’t satisfy me like a book or newspaper.
9) Driving. It’s a luxury to say, ‘I want to drive there’ instead of riding the bus. Some days, there is great pleasure in driving ridiculously fast for a few moments in the summer with the windows open.
10) Travel. I love taking trips for the weekend, or overseas, or camping. My time off is a luxury I cannot live without.
11) Living in the city. To me, I’ll drive an insane commute to my office rather than live in suburban hell.
12) Paying extra to be unlisted in the phonebook.

Things that are actual luxuries I could live without if I must.
1) Quality pens and paper. I love a well-balanced fountain pen. I love a nice chewable Bic Stic. (Yes, I know, chewing on pens is bad for my teeth, but I do it all the time when I am thinking.) I still send snail mail and I still like receiving it too. Journal keeping is fun for me and I like putting my thoughts onto nice paper.
2) Quality wool and fiber products. I’ve got a stack of cashmere sweaters, handspun wool shawls, hand knit socks. The time and effort is crazy expensive, but there is nothing like a custom fit sock.
3) Good dishwashing detergent. I like the suds they make when I wash the dishes.
4) Rubber gloves. My posh blue vinyl ones spare my hands. See #11. The thickness makes a difference!
5) Ice skates and boots. I have a wonderful pair of semi-custom skates. I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I’d rather die than skate on rentals again.
6) Broadband access. I love it. At work and at home.

So readers, I pose to you, what are your luxuries? I once dated a boy who told me that he’d spare no expense for food. One of our first dates was Nancy Oakes’ wonderful restaurant Boulevard in San Francisco, so I knew he meant it. What about you? What will you spare no expense for?

Four women personal finance writers on the Diane Rehm Show’s 2006 archives.

I ran two used book auctions. One sold, the other did not. I mailed the package today, but I made a mistake. Being frugal and a little environmentally conscious, I re-used a white USPS Priority Mail box. BIG MISTAKE.

I wanted to send the books by Media Mail rate since it’s discounted from regular postage, but slower. But because I used the white box with the red and blue stripes, I was not allowed to send it via Media Mail. So while I charged a fixed fee for shipping, I ended up losing 15 cents. It’s not a lot, but when you’re sending a $4.00 package, it’s annoying.

But I made my first sale! Yippee! Netting myself $3.85.

The Wall Street Journal ran an article on Feburary 22, 2006 discussing long term care costs. As the article notes, it’s especially important for women.

Many women spend their declining years taking care of their spouses and loved ones. By the time they are in need of assistance, there is no one left to help them out. Their longevity becomes a financial liability. She ends up in a long-term care facility on Medicare or Medicaid to pay for the bills.

The compelling figure is that 11% of seniors will rack up between $100K-$250K in expenses. An additional 5% will pay over $250K .

What’s a girl to do? There’s really only two things outlined in the article.

1) Buy a long term care insurance policy. Most are for 3 years, which the article points out will only delay impoverishment. The sidebar in the article says 8% of the folks who buy this type of insurance exhaust the policy, i.e. stay longer than 3 years in a facility.

I have to tell you a sad story here. While I was working for the nursing home facility (field installing servers), I met a lot of different folks. One day I was accosted by this nice bouncy and friendly resident. She was full of questions. Turns out this sassy granny in her jogging suit wasn’t a resident. She was visiting her husband. He’d been in there for 10 years after a debilitating stroke. 10 years is a long time.

2) Longevity insurance. It’s a lump sum payment you make after age 55 which will give you guaranteed income later in life. But the catch is if you get sick before you reach the age when the payouts start. You’ll be screwed in the meantime if you haven’t saved enough.

So what to do? SAVE NOW. Above all else, save money now.

There are a few things I saw that gave me some comfort about nursing homes. One is that the staff, or at least most of the staff really cares about their residents. It’s a job, but it’s not without emotions. The second thing is that the nursing home administrators will work with a family to get them covered to stay in the facility. Even if that means helping people apply for Medicaid. The other sidebar in the article says that 6% of seniors who go into the home paying their own way will end up on Medicaid.

The last thing is that even young people can end up in nursing homes. I remember one bitter young man, a smoker. He was wheelchair bound and living in the facility until his legs healed up enough for him to go home and care for himself. He had had a catastrophic accident of some sort and didn’t have anyone at home to help him, so the state put him into a home.

So many of us are maybe one or two financial disasters away from the poorhouse. Start saving now, little by little. Plan now for the future before it arrives.

My email address was buried in a post somewhere. I figured if folks wanted to reach me privately they could leave a comment since I moderate them.

But since some folks want a quicker, faster way to reach me, I figured I should open an email account for this blog. It’s got this really catchy name. ‘mapgirlsfiscalchallenge’ at Google’s mail service. I know it’s really long. I thought about taking ‘MapgirlsFC’ but oh well. You’re going to have to be really motivated to reach me and type in all those letters.

But please do email me. I love responses, emails, comments. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you here on this blog, answer a question, explain something better, etc. I keep telling myself that I hate doing tech support, and yet somehow I remain ever eager to help others on their financial paths. (In a non-professional way of course.)

Thanks for reading!

Whenever you read a fashion magazine, they tell you how to go from day into evening by changing all your accessories. Buy a single item of clothing, but accessorize it for different looks!

Sure, ok. Save money buying one thing, and then load up on accessory crap! GREAT! Where’s the savings now?

Try DE-accessorizing. Today I almost put on two necklaces. I try to wear a necklace I got from my boyfriend everyday, but I have a pretty bead necklace I got recently which matches my shirt even better. I exercised some discipline and wore only one. What are you wearing? Earrings? Rings? Necklaces? Belts? Brooches?

I stick with simple and classy. Pearls, single pendants, plain rings with no stones to fall out. (Diamonds do fall out of prong settings. Just ask the lady at work in tears who lost a 1.5 ct solitaire. Luckily someone found it a month later and the janitors hadn’t sucked it up while vacuuming.)

I tend to have a lifestyle that doesn’t lend itself well to jewelry on the hands and wrists. I knit, spin and dye my own yarns. That stuff snags or just gets in the way. I remember lofting my bed in college and smashing up my class ring to the point where it couldn’t be worn. I’m still sad about that.

Simplicity and less conspicuous consumption is the key. Deaccessorizing is probably hard for folks who think they look more ‘together’ with all that extra junk on. I remember reading once in The Official Preppy Handbook, by Lisa Birnbach, to paraphrase, ‘put on all the jewelry you want to wear and then take one piece off.’ Why stop at one? Try two or three.

I’ve added a bunch of new people tonight to the blogroll on the left.

I wanted to give a special shout out to Money Blogger Podcast. Scott does a great job with these interviews. There’s jazzy music to start it off, which sounds very professional to me. Usually I don’t listen to MP3’s. I listen to streaming radio from one of three stations, WAMU, the local NPR affiliate in DC, Theory Radio, or Play The Records Radio.

I saw Money Blogger Podcast but never really paid attention till I followed a tracking link there. I was really shocked to see that I was mentioned in Boston Gal’s interview, so I just had to listen. I am extremely flattered to be mentioned by Jane Dough. You see, Jane’s blog is my inspiration. It all started this past January, not long after New Year’s, I got a random instant message from a friend pointing me to her blog. I got hooked by her inspiring posts and motivation. I started reading her regularly, Madame X and the entire PF blogosphere. Within about 2 weeks, I had my own PFblog. It’s been a lucrative friendship. Jane’s gotten me off my duff to call for my long lost DC tax refund.

I look forward to listening to all the podcasts and catching up. There’s many of my favorites on there. I can’t wait!

Money Dummy wrote this in response to Madame X’s post on what makes you feel poor. I think both posts are excellent. Madame X asked a really important question about how we *feel*. It’s another mind over money relationship that I’m glad she brought up. She’s very thoughtful that Madame X.

I liked Money Dummy’s commentary because it shows that you make yourself feel poor by the response you give when making a choice about how to spend money. She recognizes that being positive about the choice you made is the better option rather than labeling yourself poor. Because when that moment arises when you’re faced with making a similar choice, rather than calling yourself ‘poor’ you’ll just realize you’re making an active choice to spend your money differently.

If you were entertained and occupied with free things, would you even realize you were poor? I used to play in the dirt as a kid, digging up worms, making mud pies, ’soups’ of flower petals, water and dirt in buckets. I was doing this until I was in 3rd grade. I bet kids today would turn their noses up at make-believe play like that.

Does anyone still visit a cobbler? Excuse me, a shoe repairman?

I have these great Joan & David square-toe loafers I bought at the Outlet in Petaluma, CA years ago. (Marked down to $80.00 for $120.00 shoes. That’s $10.00 a year for the last 8 years!) They need some tender love, but I can’t for the life of me, find a good cobbler anywhere in Northern Virginia.

For $15.00-$30.00 bucks you can repair your shoes to the point where they look and feel new, but without the blisters all over your feet from breaking them in. I know that pointy toes are all the fashion rage, but I really don’t care what people in the office think about these shoes. They’re so damned comfortable I don’t want to trash them just yet.

That’s my frugal tip of the day. Take your shoes to the cobbler for some TLC.