I know lately I’ve been micro-focused on my own spending and debt. Don’t think I lack interest in the greater economic forces out there. I just don’t think about them very often.

I would like to point out a great discussion on the Diane Rehm Show that was on this morning. In a fog of a headache, I listened to parts of the show aboutreforming the Alternative Minimum Tax. Fascinating stuff. Even if you aren’t paying it, pay attention. Unless something changes, we all might have to pay it just because of inflation making our income rise.

One of my knitting friends is about to have a child. Her due date is around the end of the year. She’s hoping to have it in 2007 so she can take the tax deduction, but I did advise her that she might want to visit a financial advisor because doing things like having babies makes the AMT kick in.

It’s not directly relevant to me, but AMT effects people I know, which is why I care enough to point it out to everyone.

Should it go away as a revenue stream for the government, we’d have to make up the trillion dollar shortfall in another manner.

As SingleMa has posted, we had a wine tasting dinner at Fleming’s with Debt Hater. It was wonderful to meet Debt Hater in person. She was rocking some red heels on top of being really tall already! We also got to meet, Nina, her car.

Dinner was great. A little more of the breakdown when it comes to the food and wine experience and some tips for a good wine flight experience. (Who the hell comes up with names like “flight”? Dumb.)

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I bought another soda today because I left my Pepsi at home. It was $1.46 at the cafe near my office for a Cherry Coke.

The vending machine on my floor is $1.25, but has only regular and Diet Coke.

Of course, Pepsi on sale at the supermarket is cheapest at $2.00 for a case of twelve on sale. But that was neither here nor there.

Now I know. Unless I really want a Cherry Coke, buy from the vending machine. Never buy a soda at the cafe. Now the Vitamin water on the day I was hungover was worth it for the B12.

Things to keep in mind while outlet shopping:
1) Stores will have a mix of sale items and outlet clearance items. Look carefully at the price tag for stuff that is actually clearance.
2) Be disciplined! If you don’t like the price, don’t buy it. There will be a better deal waiting for you in another store.
3) You can stock up on your basics, like socks, t-shirts and underpants so skip Wal-Mart and head to the outlets.
4) You can find high-end things at a really good price, but examine the item closely for seconds tags, flaws and poor construction. It might be in the outlet store for a reason!
5) Start early so you can hit all the stores you want.
6) Park close to the shops so you can go back to the car.
7) Wear clothes you can take on and off quickly. You will lose interest in shopping if you find going into the dressing room a hassle. I was a dork and wore lace-up boots instead of slip-ons.

Saturday was a brilliant day. I met Single Ma for a day outing to Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets. I hadn’t been out there yet, but my fabulous Joan and David shoes I’ve been trying to rescue for years were from the Petaluma Premium Outlets. I figured we were going to get a good deal.

Sure enough, we bought boots on sale at Nine West. There was a small flaw on the toe of mine, so we were going to ask for a 10% discount, but instead, when we pointed it out, the saleswoman whisked the boot away to clean it and when she couldn’t get it off, she gave us a 10% discount with Final Sale terms. This was going to be great because the boots were $80 on sale from about $120 original price. It gets better though. Turns out their Boot Sale was even deeper discount on the written sale price, so I was getting 10% off of about $55! Yippee!

I only purchased one other item which was a pair of green wide wale corduroys. They weren’t as cheap as I would have liked them. Original price was $50, sale was $40, but I would have liked to have paid $30. At any rate, Single Ma approved the cut and fit. Getting plump this past year has been a bummer for me, and my ego is only soothed my pants which are cut in a manner that makes for a more comfy fit for sitting 8-10 hours a day. Nothing like having a waistband cut into your gut all day.

We looked at some wonderful dress clothes for work at Kasper ASL. I wanted to go into Under Armour but we didn’t have time. Single Ma indulged me and we looked at luggage for my mom for Christmas. She has reiterated that she wants a really large bag, but I am uncertain she is going to be able to lift a full bag into the car. But either way, now I know where to find Samsonite luggage at a good price when I’m ready to buy.

All in all, it was a fantastic day outing.

Inspired by Mrs. Micah’s recipe. This is a recipe for a 1.5 qt crockpot, the small, single person kind.

Sausage Lentil Stew

2 fresh sausages or 1/3-1/2 lbs of sausage meat
1/4 c diced onion
1-1.5 cups dried lentils
2 cloves of garlic
2-4 whole, unsulfured sundried tomatoes
1-1.25 qts UNSALTED chicken stock (that’s 4-5 cups)
1 c water, if needed

1. Get fresh sausages from the butcher. Slice open the casings and throw casing away. Very little should stick to the casing. Get used to my meat-handling recipes. Squeeze the meat until its no longer a hot dog shape.

Alternatively, you can get sausage meat by itself, but usually it’s in 1 lbs flats. The meat can be frozen. I just prefer paper wrapped sausages instead of styrofoam packaging.

2. Brown sausage meat and drain thoroughly. Use your spatula to break up the meat into bite-sized chunks and smaller. You want your spoonfuls to have some meat, but not be a huge meatball. Drain meat and throw out most of the fat. Put the meat into a separate bowl.

3. Saute the onions in the leftover fat. Sweat them a little till they are clear, but no need to brown them completely. Take them off the stove and dump into the crock pot.

4. Peel your cloves of garlic and dump into the crock pot.

5. Rinse and pick over your lentils. The amount you use will determine how soupy your stew is. Less is soupy, more is stewy. Add them to the crock pot.

6. Put your whole sundried tomatoes into the pot. No need to pre-soak them unless you want to cut them up first. I usually leave them whole as you can generally tear them apart with your spoon after cooking.

7. Add your meat and chicken stock. Add any extra water to the pot to fill it up. The lentils will expand, so cover them with liquid till you are about an inch or two below the top of the crockpot. Much of the liquid will get absorbed, so you aren’t going to have as much in the end as it appears now.

8. Simmer in your crockpot for at least 6 hours. Cook till lentils are tender. I usually go about 8 hours.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with hearty bread like a chili. Or serve over rice. Serves about 4 really large portions or about 6 small meals. Freezes well.

Note on sundried tomatoes. I love them, but to be frugal, I buy them dried in plastic packages. You can get them in oil, but those are usually more expensive and I don’t think they last as long as plain dried ones. Get unsulfured ones since some people think the chemical preservative makes the tomatoes taste funny. Personally, because the sulfur treatment is used to retain the color and I usually bury the tomato in a soup, the color preservative property is a waste. If I want really red tomatoes, I will get them packed in oil.

And no, I didn’t write them. *sticks tongue out*

Aside: I am not so grouchy anymore today. Halloween was slightly more than I wished to spend, but still coming to about $38.00 including appetizer, dinner, beers, safe metro and bus rides, and then someone else buying some more cider and a shot. The conversation ended up being key as my friend was also a grouch and boy, did we need the drinks. (Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring is highly recommended. Service is still a tad slow, but the bartenders are excellent and the kitschy pirate decor is fun. Get the cod fritters and the bison burger!)

Anyhow, onto the articles:

The first is from Free Money Finance and how he’s sick of hearing about burdensome student loan debts. I agree that I’m sick of hearing about it as well. I agree with FMF taking on student loan debt is foreseeable and preventable. There are a great many ways to make undergrad and graduate studies more affordable. But if you read my comment, you’ll also see that I agree with some of these former students and I would like to know why the heck college is getting so expensive. Even in-state tuition is getting expensive, thus taking away an affordable option for many students for a first-rate education.

The second is from Justin McHenry at The Personal Finance Weblog and how he’s sick of hearing about ARM sob stories. Again, I agree with him because I’m a Ranty McRant Pants, but also because he has a point. Why isn’t his rate getting lowered for being a good borrower and paying his loan promptly? Why are we rewarding bad behavior? So what if Countrywide renegotiates the terms of the ARM? What if they extend favorable rates for 24 months? Does that mean the borrower will still be able to cope with a mortgage that readjusts in 2 years? Probably not. If they were foolish enough to take on the mortgage they couldn’t afford in the first place, who is say they have learned their lesson and will be able to pay an ARM with rising rates in the future?

Now I understand why on a macro market level why we need to do something about lots of defaulting mortgages. But very few people have said that we need to ensure that borrowers truly understand what they are getting through sound education.

Very few people have said we need to crackdown on liar loans and shady mortgage brokers. Fraud charges need to get filed against people who have knowingly duped the banks. Having been part of a federal fraud investigation by a flipper, I believe there isn’t enough oversight to catch collusive business practices between borrower, broker, appraiser and settlement attorney.

I think the banks are idiots for not reviewing their risk models more closely. Is everyone an effing Yes Man there? It’s a known fact that in real dollars, wages are falling, so why on earth would a bank think that making extremely risky loans to people who will be earning less in the future is a good idea?

I’ll right. I’m done.