I have a GREAT phone. It’s so great that I accidentally dropped it in the parking garage at work and kicked it across the floor. I’m just lucky another car didn’t come whipping around the corner and crush it. It’s a red Motorola KRZR that was a Valentine’s Day special with Verizon earlier this year. I bought it last minute without a sale because I needed an immediate replacement (i.e. a week wait via mail-order due to my out of state contract), seeing that I lost my cellphone on a blind date with this phenomenally cute guy. I was beside myself that day. He was so hot I also misplaced my regular glasses and car keys. (It was sunny and I was wearing my prescription sunglasses.) Thank god we’re still friends but he doesn’t know the extent of my spastic reaction that day. But I digress.

At any rate, it was really stupid of me to get this phone. I don’t warranty replace it because the big cracks and scratches are a reminder to me of the wastefulness of having this electronic device. When I think of the wasted money on little gadgety things, I feel distinctly ill.

For instance:
The Diamond Rio by Creative (Lazy Man and Money inspired this post just by mentioning his.) - I liked the idea of solid state storage for music because at the time, I was still walking all over San Francisco and occasionally went running. Of course, you should ask me if I had any MP3’s to play on it at that time…

Sony PSP - I bought it for plane trips and to play with my gamer boyfriend at the time. Needless to say, we’re not together any more and I rarely look at the thing. I did have hours of fun with it and I would probably still play if I could find another fun game like PoPoLoCrois, but not all games are fun like that one.

Palm V - I actually used this one a lot. I liked it quite a bit, but after losing my ability to sync it to a computer daily, it lost its charm. I was using it to download the NYT and Wired and read it on the bus. Once I left CA and got a car, its usefulness went out the window. It makes me fantasize about getting a Palm Treo. I see my girl friend’s Treo and I keep thinking I could get used to one again. I really liked the Graffiti UI a lot. Sure beats typing on a stupid iPhone screen.

iPod Nano - Fortunately, I won mine in a contest, but it remains underutilized even for something that was free.

Fancy rice cooker - No, it doesn’t play music, but my mom has that kind. That makes sense for her because she makes rice everyday. I don’t make rice enough. This sucker was in storage in my mom’s garage for 5 years while I lived in CA. Now that I have it again, I’ve been using it, but again, it’s underutilized for something that was free. (My mom bought it for me when I was in college.) Utilizing it means I would be eating home for cheap, therefore I should make it a mission of mine to try and use it again.

Stereo - I have one in a box in storage. I don’t need it. I should yank it out and at least use the speakers for my computer. Hm. There’s an idea.

Epiladay/nose hair trimmer - Just kidding. Never had either. But my college roommate had the Epilady. She liked it. I thought it was weird.

In August I was home visiting my mom while she had ear drum surgery. I also had to help my dad with his new cellphone. Since the stroke, it’s been slower for him to get used to new interfaces. The new phone has all kinds of stuff he doesn’t need, but that’s what happens when they go shopping without me. My mom shows me her phone and I realize that her phone, in all its minimalist glory is the phone I probably really want in life. I don’t need a camera. I don’t need to play music. I don’t need a data card. I just need a reliable phone with a long battery life, some SMS capabilities and the ability to store a ton of phone numbers. (Over 100, because if anything that was the downfall of my second cellphone, the Motorola StarTac.) I don’t even need a color screen.

When I think about the racy computer I could buy for my apartment, I realize that it would be useless. I don’t crunch a lot of data at home. Most of my spreadsheets are small things and I cut them up before they get unwieldy. I don’t game on my computer and so what really matters is a high quality screen and a DSL connection. That’s it.

What about you? Do you have feature overkill on your products? What did you overbuy? What gadget did you buy that was a total waste of money?

I have been going through my files and I found my old 401k statements. I had to recreate some of the missing amounts, but basically I started with $289.90 in 401k contributions, and added $38.25-39.02 with each semi-monthly paycheck over 2+ years. My total contribution in cash was $1,890.63.

When I left that company in 2005, I rolled over that money on December 18, 2005 into a Traditional IRA account. It was worth $2,897.47. A 53.25% rate of return!

Almost 2 years later, as of Tuesday, September 25, 2007, it was worth $3,669.48. A 94.09% rate of return on over 4 years of investing! I have added nothing to this account since the rollover. I thought I did, but I can’t find record of it. (Quicken’s Find feature will search all your accounts for you. Nothing. Zip. Zilch.)

I’m not savvy enough at the moment to figure the actual annualized rate of return, but using the Rule of 72, it’s about 18%, which is not too shabby.

So if you aren’t thinking about saving, think on this. I saved about $70-80 bucks a month for about 2 years, did nothing to it for an additional 2 years, and it’s worth $3,669.48 now.

I went on a job interview yesterday afternoon. It was for an open job fair. I did ok. The screener was very nice and we talked about Oracle and Information On Demand, which is his company’s code words for business intelligence and all of its attendant technical work.

I honestly don’t know why I signed up for it, other than the fact that an email popped into my mailbox. I’ll have to pee in a cup for any of the jobs they offer since this is DC after all and all the good contracting jobs are with the government in some capacity. Have passport, will travel, but no, we aren’t sending people to Iraq or Afghanistan anymore. Dubai and Kuwait are still ok.

I know one of the reasons why I did this was a random IM from a friend of mine. A long time ago we talked about how we got from Point A to Point B and where Point C might be next for us. I seem to have this cheerleading squad of guy friends who like to tell me that I’d be a cracker-jack programmer if I really gave it a good whack. I take their advice seriously since most of them are self-made computer geeks and they love it.

Anyhow, earlier in the week he wrote me to tell me that he reads my blog. He said forget about stretching out a chicken to last for a week. (And I know he was serious because he specifically wrote ‘rotisserie chicken’ in the message.) He asked if I was interested in consulting and started dangling a carrot at me. I quickly brushed him off. I AM making more money now. I rather like the place I am at. My boss is cool. He totally picks up on my Dead Milkmen references. We drink beer together. He lets me *walk out of work a half hour early to go interview somewhere else*. (Well, he let me leave early. I didn’t tell him where I was going. But I don’t think that fact would have upset him.)

The opportunity with my friend’s firm is intellectually intimidating. It would be a serious challenge to stay one step ahead in technical savvy. So much so, that I’d really like to stick around with my cool boss and my cool salary for another year. I just don’t know why I have this itch. I always get the itch for a new job after a year. I’ve been employed at my company now for almost 2 years. It’s alright. The best part is the team I have. We’re all super friendly former co-workers who’ve created this great mix of talents to get the job done.

How many of you stay at your less than perfect job because the co-workers are totally awesome? How much is it worth to you to stay in terms of dollars? $5K? $10K? $20K?

I mean, in terms of dollars, today I gave myself nearly a 20% raise when they asked for my desired salary. I made a note of telling them my base salary and the bonus compensation I last received. hey asked for the former and I tacked on the latter just so they know my desired salary bump was very serious.

So tell me, what does it take to stay? What does it take for you to go?

My original post on 401K True-ups is one of the most popular search terms reaching my site. I guess there isn’t a lot of information about them.

I am reposting it at the request of Sistah Ant, who wasn’t sure what it was. Looking back, I am gratified that reader BD was inspired to ask about them at his company. (But he didn’t leave me a website link.)

So I will repeat the question, does your company have a true-up available?

I admit, I don’t get my true up contribution till much later. I won’t see the amount till 2008.

Happy trails!

I have a motivation problem. I’m not ‘running scared’ anymore. In the past, I’ve paid off all my consumer debt and lived within my means. I wasn’t saving anything though. I felt like the world was going to crash down all around me if I missed a payment.

Right now, because I am making a great salary doing something I like doing, I am too comfy. Savings is going into the bank. The bills are getting paid on time. Life is great!

The problem is life is great. I am not being squished by my debt. I know I could just cut off my 401k contributions this year and hack away at my credit cards pretty solidly.

At the suggestion of NCN, and I’m really sorry if I’m repeating myself here, I did some calculations about it. I really think that the dental payment plan and my credit cards are best served if I cut back on my retirement contributions for the moment.

I can’t let myself get too comfortable. I’m starting to feel like Lyndsey. I don’t want to be a Lyndsey. This stuff has got to freakin’ go.

I gotta keep giving myself these damned pep talks.

Per the commenters on my dental financing post, I needed to look into IRA contributions more carefully. Without getting too specific about what I make in income, I am hitting to the phase out point. Over the last few years, the contribution rules have changed and apparently, I’m behind the times. I needed to do some more research on the rules.

It turns out that my AGI will be well over the 2007 Single Filer limit for IRA deductibility, which is an AGI of $52K. WOW. I have totally not been paying attention. Even if I was maxing out my 401k contribution, I don’t think I’d be under $52K. Investopedia has a nice chart with the 2007 IRA contribution limits. Scroll to the bottom to read the table.

I also found this IRA contribution calculator at Smart Money and when I punch in my info, it tells me that I can no longer deduct Traditional IRA contributions. I am left with ROTH IRA contributions only. Bummer.

Why is this a bummer? Well, I’ve put $900 into a Traditional IRA account for some stock market mad money. Now I know, I can’t keep adding to that account and get a deductible benefit. So there’s no point in having Traditional IRA accounts anymore. Nuts. Welcome the world of great income, Mapgirl. GOOD JOB!

I am now stuck holding two low value Traditional IRA accounts and I think I should consolidate them by closing my stock trading account and roll it into the existing Fidelity account I have. I am going to have to think about this since I would be selling stuff off at a serious loss. I wish I had thought about this earlier in the year, I would have closed the stock account sooner before this summer’s wacky performance.

Everything is a mixed blessing in this world. Now I know. I have to open a Roth IRA.

Work is on the upswing again, so today I leave you with a round up post. But stay tuned for some IRA information later this week.

Share and Enjoy!

One Million and Beyond. A kick in the pants for me. Accepting my responsibility.

James is spot on about inheritance not being the surest way to wealth. Stick to your knitting and build on what you’ve got.

Freakonomics Blog reports the departing lecture of Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon. I had dinner this week with a friend who studied with Dr. Pausch. He told my friend to get rid of his TV and video games so he’d have more time in his life to do really important things. My friend has done that and instead of watching TV and eating dinner on the couch with his roommates, we went on a long walk around my neighborhood after getting value menu food at Wendy’s. (Junior bacon cheesburger, baked potato and mandarin oranges for me.) I dare you not to be moved by his story. Godbless and godspeed Dr. Pausch.

Single Ma reflects on her Social Security statement. It’s a good post about work history and life changes. Makes me wonder what mine says about me.

So I’ve been thinking about reducing my 401k contribution so I could pay my bills off faster.

Then there was this rigamarole about cutting back to 5% just to continue receiving the company match, because that sounded like I was giving up free money. And then I remembered that my company does a 401k true-up. So I called my benefits department to confirm this and they said yes, they do. Therefore, I’m going to cut back my contribution to nothing and let my company pay me the true up amount later. Because I need the cash now.

How does this impact my finances? Well more than I thought. Yes, I will be losing the tax benefit from the 401k contribution, but by paying off the entire bill right now, I may be able to get a couple of items of medical work completed by December 31.

To create a deductible item on my tax return, I need to spend over 7.5% of my salary on medical expenses. Now, I’ve figured out that I need to spend about another $3K to hit that mark. This means I can get my last permanent crown and eye surgery all this year. Yes, it’s spending to save, but I am going to look into it. I get the health benefits immediately rather than later and financially, I think taking the deduction now instead of next year when it won’t be deductible at all. There is a time-value component to these expenditures and I’ll have play with a few scenarios to figure out if the present value of the money is worth it.

Plus if I do all the medical work this year, it means I can put A LOT less into my medical FSA account and I can do four things in 2008:

1) Return my 401k contribution to 20% and max that puppy out.

2) Fund my traditional IRA more quickly than before. (Though I am reaching phase out stages, I think.)

3) Beef up my emergency fund again.

4) Fund a Roth IRA.

I know this dental financing topic has wandered all over the place, but this has been hugely challenging and life changing for me. I admit, I was a bit stung by CleverDude’s post about hygiene and missing teeth. (I think he should buy me a beer next time!) One of the new crowns I need is towards the front of my mouth. It’s not glaringly obvious unless I smile broadly, which is the kind of gross display of happiness I usually avoid, so I prioritized it last. I wanted to put the rear molar crowns in first because it was impacting my ability to eat. (HEY. Wait a minute. I must be getting fat because I can actually CHEW my food now!)

UGH UGH UGH. Tough decisions here. Balancing the want of eye surgery, the need for safety while motorcycle riding, the desire for tax savings and fiscal responsibility. This could be endless scenario planning. I wish this was easier.

I love the Washington City Paper. I was at the Yarn Harlot book signing event last night. As I waited for my friends to get their books signed, and deliver her a beer, I flipped through the paper and found a lovely ad on page 49.

Financial and Credit Literacy Day
Hosted by the Washington Area Community Investment Fund

Saturday, September 29th
9am-4pm
Kellogg Conference Hotel
Galludet University
800 Florida Avenue, NE
Washington, DC

RSVP: 202-529-5505

FREE ADMISSION and FREE PARKING!!!

The financial literacy seminar/workshop list looks very good. (link goes direct to an Adobe PDF file) There are seminars on targeted to teens/youth and women. Topics include Small Business Management (including federal contracting), Homeownership, Selecting a Mortgage, Managing Foreclosure, Credit Scores, Budgeting and Consumer Rights.

The ad says, “Bankers and housing counselors available all day.”

I do not know very much about this organization, but they do have an impressive list of sponsors. They were formed out of Arlington with the help of the local Catholic diocese, which if you don’t know, has one of the craziest liberal parishes in the US, St. Charles Borromeo. I actually have worshiped there because one of my closest friends used to attend. If you know their ministry, they’re very into social justice, often to the chagrin of the archbishop. I mention this because St. Charles is very active in low income housing initiatives in Arlington County and I could definitely see them supporting an organization like this.

It’s technically a non-profit loan fund, with 501(c)(3) status. I’m going to look into investing in it.

There have been days this summer, or rather sleepless nights, where I regretted getting the bike. And then I had a perfectly clear afternoon this week, schedule-wise and weather-wise. I put my fully-charged battery back into the bike, mashing up the screw on the right and got it started again. I love fixing stuff myself, especially when I don’t get electrocuted. (Upon closer inspection, I see that the screw on the right had been mashed into its socket before by the friend who first installed it for me. It’s just not a good fit into that spot. It just isn’t.)

At any rate, I haven’t made it out of the parking lot. Some nice people I know helped get me re-oriented and tweak a few things a couple of weeks ago, when I had my first moments riding in the parking lot at home. I was really nervous and tense about it all. But this afternoon, I had a great time making ovals around the cement medians, and cutting figure-8’s in low gears. It hurts my forearms to squeeze the levers, but it’s a good kind of ache.

Even though I am sorry I spent the money, on the other hand, I had a great time noodling around that afternoon. I can now stop reliably, even if it’s still not perfect. If I had a jacket on, I would have taken the bike out of the lot, onto the street. But I left it inside for the moment since I had only intended to practice. I’m not really supposed to ride alone anyway because I have only a permit.

I’m still edgy about riding on the street in traffic, but I had a great time on the bike. It’s perfect for puttering over to nearby places like the farmer’s market.

For the amount of enjoyment I’m getting though, I have no regrets. It felt really nice to ride around the lot and practice even if it’s costing me a gazillion dollars per mile. LOL.

Little by little, step by step. I’m going to learn to ride.