Rantings of a Creole Princess

Tell the truth and shame the devil!

Do you always tell your spouse the truth about how much you paid for something?

Ugh!

I don't like being price gouged.

In fact...it makes my teeth itch.

I don't care if it's only fifty cents more than what it's supposed to be...I will roll out without a look back.

I called a stylist around the corner from me because, again, it's around the corner from me.

I've seen her work and it looked good.

She told me that she didn't take cards so I'd need to bring cash.

I asked how much cash.

She quoted me a price that sounded like K Street in DC prices.

I was like...ummmmmmmm...

Her "salon" is in the back of a barber shop in one of them lil strip mall thingys.  

She then stated that new clients get 30% off first time.

She's lucky she said that cuz seriously...I was about to bail.

And I still might.

Cuz this ain't K Street in DC.  

This happened to me once and the chick tried to guilt me by saying something like..."What's 20 extra dollars?  I mean...it's not like you don't have it."

That shit made my teeth itch too.

I remember another stylist went up on her prices SIGNIFICANTLY once.  Like...her ish was only $40 for a wash and style and then she started charging $65.

I never went back.

How do YOU feel when you know the prices are too high and the vendor tries to justify it when you know good and well it's waaaaaaaaaay too high.  

Question...

What's the last thing you spent money on?

God and Money

I was watching OWN last night with Joel Osteen and Oprah asked him a line of questions which were very interesting.

What do YOU think?  Do you believe God wants you to be financially poor and struggling or do you believe God wants you to be successful and have a financially abundant life?

Were they Netflixed?

Bank of America Drops Plan for Debit Card Fee

Occupy Wall Street

“Rebellion will not stop until the corporate state is extinguished.”

So...there is a lot of confusion out there about the OWS movement.  It started with a simple call to folks to show up on Wall Street on September 17, 2011 with tents and just pretty much move in on Wall Street.  Why?  Because this movement has decided enough is enough as it relates to corporations being allowed to screw us and get rich off doing so and then...nothing happens to them.

Like the mortgage crisis which continues to screw us and, dare I say, IN MY OPINION, is the reason the economy is so fugged up right now and won't be right for probably a decade or so.

So corporations, in OWS's opinion, have pretty much been able to get away with straight up raping us and then we're azzed out and the division of wealth gets even BIGGER.

Haves versus Have Nots.

The people WITH the power versus the people who just want to be able to pay their mortgage and other living expenses, and live a normal, happy life.

At least that's my take on it.

What say you?

What do you think about the movement so far? 

Are you for or against it?

Do you think it's necessary?  Do you think they'll get anything done?  Do you think this is the only way to get our government to really listen to our problems and take serious steps to fix them?

 

Instrastin...

  Michelle Singletary:  A debit-card fee lesson: Sometimes, cash is king

Dear Bank of America:

We've heard that BoA is going to start charging us $5 a month for using our debit cards.

I'm curious as to whether or not it's going to be PER debit card and can't find the answer to that just yet.

Also...I guess if it's PER account then I guess that means we'll pay $5 a month on our business account too.

So...if it's $5 PER card then, since we have two attached to our personal account and two attached to our business account that would be $20 a month for a total of $240 a year.

If it's PER account then that would be $10 a month for a total of $120 a year.

I understand that the new regulations made it so that you can no longer charge merchants for debit card purchases so the cost for managing those transactions is soley on you now.  Being in business to make money...sounds like you decided that you needed to offset that cost to us.

I guess to someone like me, who is running a small business, that makes sense. 

Kinda.

But, then again, as an American...it irks me because I know you're in the process of laying off tens of thousands of Americans which will continue to put a strain on our economy.

But you're finding new streams of revenue.

So yeah...I'm feeling some kinda way.

Bank of America has been my/Robby's/our bank forever.  I truly feel you've been good to us.  We've never had a lot of the problems we've heard other folks complain about.  We went without having to pay fees for a very long time and, even when you did start charging our types of accounts...the fees were reasonable.

I'm just really wondering, for the first time, if you're really a bank FOR America.

If there is any such thing.

$5 a month to some people will hurt.

And you know this.

What do YOU think?

Could YOU live off $9 an hour?

Play Spent

Question...

What's the last thing you spent money on?

From Mark Cuban:

Bust your ass and get rich.

Make a boatload of money. Pay your taxes. Lots of taxes. Hire people. Train people. Pay people. Spend money on rent, equipment, services. Pay more taxes.

When you make a shitload of money. Do something positive with it. If you are smart enough to make it, you will be smart enough to know where to put it to work.

I don’t care what anyone says. Being rich is a good thing. Not just in the obvious sense of benefiting you and your family, but in the broader sense. Profits are not a zero sum game. The more you make the more of a financial impact you can have.

I’m not against government involvement in times of need. I am for recognizing that big public companies will continue to cut jobs in an effort to prop up stock prices, which in turn stimulates the need for more government involvement. Every cut job by the big companies extracts a cost on the American people in one way or another.

Entrepreneurs are needed to create and grow companies to absorb those people in new jobs. If entrepreneurs don’t create those jobs, the government ends up having to spend more money to help them one way or another.

So be Patriotic. Go out there and get rich. Get so obnoxiously rich that when that tax bill comes , your first thought will be to choke on how big a check you have to write. Your 2nd thought will be “what a great problem to have”, and your 3rd should be a recognition that in paying your taxes you are helping to support millions of Americans that are not as fortunate as you.

In these times of “The Great Recession” we shouldn’t be trying to shift the benefits of wealth behind some curtain. We should be celebrating and encouraging people to make as much money as they can. Profits equal tax money. While some people might find it distasteful to pay taxes. I don’t. I find it Patriotic.

I’m not saying that the government’s use of tax money is the most efficient use of our hard-earned capital. It obviously is not. In a perfect world, there would be a better option. We don’t live in a perfect world. We don’t live in a perfect time. We live in a time where the government plays a big role in an effort to help lead us out this Great Recession. That’s reality.

So I will repeat my point. Get out there and make a boatload of money. Enjoy the shit out your money. Pay your taxes.

It’s the most Patriotic thing you can do.

Question...

What's the last thing you spent money on?

HUD Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program

If you need this...get on it!  HUD Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program

Budget Woes

What's the first thing you cut back on when you need to make adjustments to your budget.  What do you NEVER cut back on because you consider it a luxury you need?

 

 

Budgeting Blah, Blah, Bloogedy

I'm not good at budgeting or sticking to a budget so I really don't even try.  Hey...I'm being honest here.  Like...budgeting simply sets me up for failure and then I feel really bad about myself.

What works for me however?  Being conscious of the fact that I don't have an unending supply of money so I seriously need to ask myself do I really, really NEED something.

One thing I've done recently that has saved me ridiculous amounts of money is be pissed with Target.

Yall remember during the campaign when Target gave away a crapload of money without completely vetting their candidate only to find later that dude was a racist right?  Right.  Well...I stopped shopping at Target because of that.  Like...COLD.TURKEY.STOPPED.

That ended up being HUGE for me financially.

Why?

Because, apparently, I go in Target and browse for a couple of hours.  I get bored, need some motivation for writing and go to Target.  I get a basket and go up and down aisles looking at ish and, inevitably buying ish we don't need but it was cute or at a steal of a deal so I bought it.

And I did this weekly.

Well...when I stopped going to Target I started going to Walmart cuz yeah...they're the debil...but it's not all in my face ya know?

And...I hate Walmart so I DREAD going in there.  When I do go in there...I have a list and I try and get outta there in the least amount of time possible.  Like...it's speed shopping.

Therefore...I've saved a lot of money by simply NOT going to Target. 

Sure...the candidate lost and Target has since apologized and let the world know that their donation was about taxes and not gay people so yeah...I don't feel guilty about going anymore but I've simply learned I can live without it so yeah...I'm good.

Another way I've stopped spending money?  NO.NEW.BAGS! 

Yall remember my doctor ordered me to get a nylon crossbody bag for everyday use right?  Right.  I've been rocking the same one for a minute now and anytime I'm looking at a hot bag in a store I remind myself of my doctor's orders and I move on.

And then...there are clothes.  Let's be honest.  I have enough clothes to last a lifetime.  Sure...there are going to be things I need to attend that I simply can't fathom not having something new for...but I can do without buying everyday things for a minute.  ESPECIALLY since I end up wearing the same ish daily.  I have a few things on my list that I believe I need to add to my wardrobe (I picked something up this weekend on my must have list) but seriously...I have sooooooo many clothes that I haven't rocked EVER that I should really try and make do with what I've got huh?  I can't say that I can't fit any of my clothes because I've been the same size since forever...so yeah...I should be good.

I don't budget.  I don't.  But I do try and keep in mind that I really don't NEED anything.  Truth be told my biggest expense is GIVING and, in 2011, I'm shaking the takers so I can probably clear out that line item completely.

What about you?  Do you budget?  Or do you do it by being realistic and using common azz sense?

 

Money Matters

What's the last thing you spent money on?

Back in the day...

I remember back in the day my parents had ONE major credit card and it stayed at home in the original envelope it came in. (They had a Sears card too.)

I remember the way the clear part on the envelope rattled when my mom went in that envelope to get it out.

I remember her being sooooooooooo nervous whenever she had to use the credit card.  I mean...it had to be something HUGE for the credit card to come out ya'know?

And I'm sooooooo serious.  She would be a worry wart for DAYS while they tried to decide whether or not they were going to use the credit card.

My first credit card was a copy of this card they got for me on their account.  It was in my wallet and to be used for emergencies ONLY.  I can't even imagine asking my parents for a pair of shoes and them telling me to put it on the credit card.  If I wanted shoes...cash money was exchanged.  Same as with anything else I wanted.

My mom was strict and responsible with money.

My dad?  Not so much.

What about you?  How did you get your first credit card? Were you allowed to use the credit card for purchases you wanted to make or did you have to use cash?

How do you handle this with your kids?

Eggnog Latte

I went to the movies the other day and decided I'd get my first red cup of the season at Starbucks.

I paid for a tall (small in the rest of the world) eggnog latte and hung out for a bit on my iPad.

After a few swallows I realized I was finished.

My receipt and change was balled up on the table next to my cup.

I gave them a $5 and got back $1.04.

The damn thing was $3.96.

Let's just say $4.

I honestly started feeling some kinda way about a $4 cup of fancy coffee that didn't take me long to finish.  Hmmmmmmmmm...

I'm actually STILL kinda annoyed about it.

Crazy huh?

What say YOU?  Has it ever hit you that the small fancies cost $4  in a very REAL way?  Do you go a lot less?  I think I'm done with the fancies. 

Black People + Success = Devil Worship?????

 

Let's chat about this cuz baaaaaaaaaaaaaby...this ish chaps my damn hyde. 

Seriously.

I love how some Black people are so quick to feed into this Illuminati ish.  Just flipping ri-damn-diculous.

pinkdes2ny said...

Ok, I can just say that I'm so sick of hearing people pop off at the mouth about how successful black people are only successful because they have sold their souls to the devil! Come on now, because you suck and are struggling then you are backed by Jesus but if someone else is making it and doing well they are in bed with the devil. GTFOHWTS! I'm gonna need you to expand your concept of reality and expectations of hard working successful people!

 

That comment right there sums it all up for me.  There is another commenter around here who has made me o_0 her twice for saying something that made my damn teeth itch...lemme find what she said the other day...hold on...

 

The existence of occult symbolism in the media...especially the music and film industry. The coincidences are uncanny. Before y'all give me the side-eye, I really have looked into this mess and it's a shame. The music industry is far more artificial than the WWE! I'm not one of them crazy folk hollerin' about Jay Z and everyone else being in the Illuminati but the powers that be-the ones who control these artists and their images....they are definitely on a DIFFERENT PAGE.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox and finished sounding crazy LOL ;-)

I was like...seriously?

*sigh*

Do better people.  That crabs in a barrel motif is NOT a good look this Fall.  Doesn't go with FABULOUS boots that's for dang sure.  Oh...and once I'm a successful filmmaker and someone DARES insinuate that I sold my sold to the devil...be ready to be doused in the flames of IRATE BLAST!

What say YOU?  Do YOU think you can only be very successful and Black if you sell your soul to the devil? 

SIP:  There is an implied thunder clap and earthquake whenever we use the word DEVIL.

The Economy

Has it really changed YOUR spending habits?  How?

W-2s

Who do you let see YOUR W-2?

Scenario...

You're 37 and your new fiance is 39.

You sit down together and discuss finances.

You're good and consider yourself particularly savvy. 

He's had some credit issues that he has worked hard to clean up.

You knew this because he shared it with you while yall were dating.

You're good.

Question...

Are you happy with your current mortgage?

Friends, Money and Hanging...

How does your group of friends handle hanging out when some of them have far more money and are able to pay for better seats, nicer restaurants, etc than others?

Scenario...

You loan a friend $1,500.

You tell them they can pay you back in 6 months.

Your run into some financial difficulties.

It's only been 3 months since you loaned the friend the money.

Do you ask for your money back earlier?

Question...

Are you able to and DO you save money every month?

Dear Bank of America:

LOVE THIS!

You'll never get rich listening to broke people. -Dree Ellie 

So, so true and I LURVE it!  

Underwater House

In our neighborhood the last house that sold went for $30k less than what we paid for our house.  Prior to that...someone was in a bad spot and put their house on the market for $90k less than we paid for ours. They didn't sell it and the house was foreclosed on.  It's been rumored that they stayed in the house as long as they could without paying their mortgage intentionally and simply walked away.

It now sits empty with those bank notices of no trespassing in the windows.

I know a house down the street from ours that sold for 80k MORE than ours a year after we purchased so...I can see how the current climate would probably make the owner kinda annoyed.

I know someone who paid $180k for a house in Georgia and now that same house is worth $80k but they are still paying a mortgage on a $180k house.

I don't know about you...but this is scary to me.

Last night I read this article:  JPMorgan Chase Warns Investors About Underwater Homeowners Walking Away  

Scenario...

You're out of town for a business event where you are presenting an award to the CEO of your company on behalf of your home office.

Your luggage didn't show up with you.

Your event is tonight.

Your hotel is in a luxury mall.

You run into Neimans to find a dress.

You find something that fits and doesn't need any alterations. 

You go to the shoe department and get some shoes.

You head to pay for your purchases.

You are reminded that Neimans only takes AMEX, cash or check.

Your AMEX is your corporate card.

You don't have cash.

You don't have check.

Your company has a policy of no personal expenses on your corporate card.

You have thirty minutes before you have to be at the event.

What do you do?

Hmmmm...

No one gave this chick any advice over here,

Our credit is too poor to buy a house traditionally – what are some other options?, so I'm wondering what YOU guys would advise her to do?

I have bad credit and my husband has twelve negative items on his credit report – mostly stemming from credit bills his ex wife flaked out on that we are paying back slowly. However our family is growing and out growing the apartments we’ve been living in. I desperately want a better quality of living for my family, a yard for my children instead of a parking lot to play in. A neighborhood with families that care about their kids and raise them with some ethics, instead of the kids around here who might walk right in if the door wasn’t locked and take off with our things. I will have my Nursing degree in less than two years and my husband is computer tech. As I said we have poor credit so this doesn’t seem to matter. We don’t have thousands just laying around for a down payment and don’t want to ask for a co-signer. I have looked into bad credit loans, rent to buy, there doesn’t seem to be any way that we will ever get out of these apartments we are living in. Is there hope?

Money Matters

What's the last thing you spent money on?  Did you NEED it?

Money Matters

What's the last thing you spent money on?  Did you NEED it?

Available Resources

Our gym is more than just a gym.  It's kind of like this rehabilitation/wellness center.  When we were researching gyms initially we bypassed it because of the cost.  I remember we joked about what they'd better have up in there for the cost so we didn't even visit it.

But I wasn't happy with the level of cleanliness in the gyms whose prices were more along the lines in keeping with what we THOUGHT we should be paying for a gym so what did we do?

Nothing.

Hell...we have an elliptical, a stationary bike, weights, etc. at the house so we're good right?

Wrong.

Robby and I are both the type of people who need an "outlet" for our physical fitness.

Later on we found we had a benefit that allowed us to become members of the fancy gym for a good deal less than the asking price.  It was STILL more than the regular gyms mind you...but more affordable in my eyes so I decided to go check it out.

And I fell in love with the level of cleanliness and signed us up on the spot.

When I work out I use the treadmills and the nautilus machines.  I also attend the pilates classes.  Robby uses the elliptical and the weights.

And that's all.

Our gym offers physical rehabilitation therapy, massages, nutrition classes, yoga, power weight training, cycling, basketball, squash, water aerobics, aerobics, kickboxing, flexibility training, one-on-one personal assessments once a month, swimming lessons, boot camps, etc., etc., etc.

Seriously...the gym is chock full of every option.

And yet...we use about a tenth of what is available to us.

I was thinking about this this morning and wondering how many other people are like that.  It can't just be us ya know?  We can't be the only people not using all of our available resources that we either pay taxes for or good hard earned cash for.

When's the last time you used your county's recreation department?

When's the last time you took a class at your county's community college?

When's the last time you took advantage of some of the things available to help entertain kids in your area?

When's the last time you attended a free movie or concert in the park in your area?

When's the last time you checked a movie or book out of the library?

Seriously...when was the last time you took advantage of YOUR available resources?  Are YOU getting YOUR tax and money's worth?

Kids and Credit

How Young is Too Young?

Credit Cards and Teens

At what age do you think kids should get a credit card (linked to YOUR account) so you can teach them about credit cards?  Do you think they ever should have one before they are an adult?

Money Matters!

What's the last thing you spent money on?  Did you NEED it?

From My Inbox:

Good morning, I have yet another question for you and The Tribe. There is a great possibility that I will be offered a job in the next few days that will be an increase of at least 20, 000 dollars for my household. At this time is it just my husband and I. We have combined studen loans of about 20, 000 dollars and one car note that will be paid off in less then a year. Both cars are in great shape and we won't need another one for several years. We have one credit card that is paid off every month. We recently moved and now pay less in mortgage, no water and less in heating our house. And because of the change in zip code, our car insurance even went down. We do well with the income we have now. so, how should we spend the increase of money we are about to have? I know savings but what else is there that makes sense. We are both in our early 30s with no children at the time. We have great Life Insurance policies, we put a nice amount into our retirement accounts and mutual funds. What's next? I know this may seem funny with the economy and some people having jobs but I still need to know. Thanks in advance for your help!

Your money, his money, OUR money!

Which way of dealing with money works for you? Do you have one joint account only? A household account and separate personal accounts? What works for you and why?

Question...

What's the longest you've kept a vehicle after you paid it off?

For Sale by Owner

At this stage in your life...with the economy as it is...would you rather RENT or BUY?

Has this climate changed your perception of home ownership any?

Doing More for/with Less!

All over the United States people are proving that it is indeed possible to do more for less out of necessity or fear that it eventually BECOME a necessity.

I usually go to the grocery store on Thursdays and I buy more of the same stuff we use for the week.   I opened the refrigerator this past Thursday and saw that I had a bunch of nothing I wanted to eat even though I could have made something out of what I had if I was forced to. 

But...I'm not forced to...so I don't.

Well...I started making my list and then I threw it in the garbage can.  The Robinator and I have a plan we are attempting to implement this year and the less money I spend on ANYTHING the better off we'll be in the even our plan becomes an actual reality so yeah...I decided to make do with what I had and only purchased fresh fruit and a few veggies.

One veggie in particular?  A HUGE 10 pound bag of potatoes. 

Which I NEVER buy much of.

I'm going to do this as long as possible.  Not going to buy anything until we eat everything.  I figure I have about two weeks of nothing that can BE something in my kitchen and downstairs pantry.

Imma see.

Now...that said I'm curious as to tips you have for doing more with less.  We help each other out in so many other ways around here that I'm thinking this could jump start savings plans for a lot of people.

Whatchu got? 

(Oh...yall KNOW I'm not cutting back on the products I choose to use so um...erra...don't even suggest those type of things to me.  I'm too vain for all that.  Oh...and before TBS comes up in here giving her FABULOUS tips she AL.READY.KNOWS I have sniff, sniff problems.  ROFL!)

Feed The Pig

So...this pig scares me.  SERIOUSLY.  This pig SCARES me.  This pig is right up there with the Burger King man.  Just...ew!

I get the initiative here but dude...that pig looks like a zombie pig whose death blow was a hatchet to the head.   Feed The Pig

Renting in this market?

In this market when interest rates are falling steadily and home prices are becoming more reasonable...if you rent...are you considering buying?  If you're considering buying...are you going to make the deadline for the first time home buyer's $8,000 tax credit?

Extended Warranty

We're the type of household that buys the warranty on all electronics and lately...I've been wondering if it's really worth it.

For my new HA-CHI-TA-CHI 3000 the warranty was $179.99.  Because I'm well known as being clumsy...we got the warranty. On my old camera we have it.  On my 3CCD video camera we have it.  On our phones, iPods, laptops, our televisions, appliances, you name it...we got the warranty.

As you can tell...turns out this is a sizeable amount of money to say the least.

On Robby's big tv we got the three year warranty.  It's now 6 years old and we haven't had a problem with it. 

And the warranty has expired.

Kinda makes you wonder...are warranties necessary?  Hell...I just read the warranty for my camera and it CLEARLY states it doesn't cover me dropping it and yet...that's the reason we got the warranty.  Cuz I'm clumsy.

Do YOU buy the additional warranty?  Why?  Why not?

$1,800

My dentist is in a fancy, smancy area with all sorts of new technology stuffy.  Seriously...it's really cool.  AND IT IS EXPENSIVE AS HELL!

The cost hadn't ever been a problem for us because we only need regular maintenance stuff that was 100% covered with our insurance.

The first time I needed to get something done that WASN'T covered by insurance my dentist gave me a fancy, smancy quote on nice paper in a lovely folder.

$1,800.

Um...yeah.

I called three more dentists in the area and got quotes from them faxed to my home for the same work using the information on the quote from my dentist.  The lowest price was $750.

I went back to MY dentist and showed him the quotes.  Let him know that I had $750 that I was either going to pay to HIM to do the work or pay to the other dentist that gave me the $750 quote to do the work.

He couldn't BELIEVE the other dentist could do the work for $750 (Insert ::EYEROLL:: here) and went on and on about how it couldn't be done for that amount.

Me:  Okay.  I'll see you guys for my next cleaning!  Toodles!

Dentist:  Well, since I consider you a personal friend and you and Robby have been coming to me for so long...I'll do it for that.

Me:  Okay.  Where's my bib?  (Open mouth...) Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

And we got to getting.

People are funny.

I got a new quote today from my dentist that is sooooooooooooooooooo funny that I laughed till two drops of pee came out.  HA-FUGGIN-HA!  So yeah...tomorrow I shall be getting other quotes for the same work.  I will go with the lowest cost and will give my dentist the first right of refusal for said price.

If he does it...cool.

If he doesn't...cool.

But I'm getting it done regardless.

Do YOU do this?  (By the way...you can do this with the Veterinarian too.  Pretty much anything where you're paying out of pocket for a service.  Yup.  Hell it's a recession for everyone.)

Interesting...

Jubilee Housing

Money

When do you start the conversation about money and debt with someone you are dating exclusively? 

Have you ever had this conversation and it colored the way you saw the person after or your ran into a deal breaker? 

Loose Change

What do you keep your loose change in at the house?

From My Inbox:

Monnie,

Would you mind asking the tribe for ways they have found to live cheaper?