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Forbes has an article that ranks Washington DC as the best place in the world to buy real estate in 2009!! That kind of boggles my mind that it's ranked higher than NYC and London. Their main focus is that there's been such a boost in government spending that those jobs around here are very secure. And all the people filling new positions will need a place to live. It goes on to point out that the unemployment rate in DC is 4.1% when the national average is 7.2%. Pretty impressive!!

I'm actually very interested in buying a new condo within the next 6 months. I have to admit that I'm a little gun shy about the whole thing, though. I think it's definitely a gamble since we don't know if the market will continue to decline or not. And in the meantime, the value of my condo is declining...ugh. I've got quite a bit to do to get my condo in selling condition, so it won't be for a little while. I just hope it doesn't lose so much value that selling it would put me in the red!!

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There's an article on CNNMoney about how the downturn in the economy is having an effect on the US Postal Service. They're considering cutting the number of delivery days from 6 to 5 across the board. Another possibility is to cut down to 5 days of delivery only in rural areas in where costs are higher. They're also trying to get Congress to change how the USPS is required to prepay health benefits for future retirees. Some highlights of the article that surprised me:

  • 6 delivery days was mandated by Federal law in 1983
  • The USPS had a net loss of $2.8 billion last year
  • The USPS is the second largest employer in the country

I've wondered sometimes if the USPS would ever go under because of email and all of the other forms of transferring items electronically. It seems that it does have a great effect on them. At the same time, services like Netflix, Blockbuster, and Gamefly rely heavily on mail service. I guess it's not enough to offset the decline, though.

I don't think mail delivery 5 days a week instead of 6 would really affect me. At least we'd be guaranteed to not get a bill at least two days a week!! What does anyone else think about it?

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I'm heading out of town on Friday to go see my father. He has a big party every year and I always go up there for it. I haven't been up there since the party last year, which is a long time away for me. The biggest expense of the trip is just going to be the gas. It's 900 miles total....ugh. I'm not looking forward to driving that. And it's just a weekend trip!!

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Even though Prosper is in a quiet period, I've still got four loans out (1 borrower paid his off in full after 3 months). I'd still like to lend money out through Prosper, but it's not possible do put more money into it right now. However, this it what my account likes like on the four outstanding loans:

Not a bad return, huh?

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My friends and I had planned to go skiing at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia in February, but we just cancelled it because some people bailed and a lodge is a little more expensive than we budgeted for. It's just too expensive to divide the cost by 3 people instead of 7. Oh well. This will give me a chance to save some money (and maybe study for my midterm).

Still....I'd like to go skiing this year :-(

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I won $2 on the Megamillions lottery on Friday night. That's better than nothing, right? I actually spend $5 at a time, so I lost $3 overall. I don't play all the time, but I do like to get tickets every now and then. I'll probably buy some for Tuesday's drawing as well. Not the best use of my money, but it's fun/exciting to check your numbers the next day.

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I just computed my taxes and filed them. Woot! It always feels good to get them done and out of the way (and get a little cash back). Here's the breakdown:

Federal: Owe $34
State: Refund $449
Total Refund: $415
Minus TurboTax and Filing Fees: $64.90

Net Refund: $350.10

Not too bad. A few years ago, I realized that I was getting about $3,000 back every year. Since that's just an interest fee loan to the government, I upped my exemptions so that they would take less money out of my paychecks. So, now I owe a tiny bit to the Federal government and get a little chunk back from the State government. I think that this is a good level because if I upped my exmptions again, I'd owe even more on the Federal side and may even owe on the State side.

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Wow!! INGDirect lowered their interest rate twice in less than a month!! On December 30, it was lowered to 2.5% APY and on January 20, it was lowered again to 2.4% APY.

Hmm....perhaps I should be looking for another savings account that pays a higher rate. I'll have to look around to see what my options are. Anyone have any ideas as to what could be better and just as easy to use as ING?

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I paid off my credit card last month. It just showed up on my credit report and increased my overall score from 767 to 780. I expected a little more, but I wasn't sure how much it would affect the score. Still trying to hit that 800 mark. This is a good step, though!!

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My boyfriend and I are going to the Inauguration on Tuesday, so I wanted to buy a warm hat and some hand warmers. Today, we went shopping at Pentagon Row and parked on the street. Unfortunately, the parking meter had a 30 minute limit. My boyfriend was convinced that the parking meter police wouldn't be around, so I didn't run out to pump more quarters into it. Needless to say, I ended up with a parking ticket. There goes $25!! And I didn't even find a hat or any hand warmers!! Ugh.

Seriously, I've been to 2 REI stores, 1 Hudson Trail Outfitters, 1 Target, 1 TJMaxx, and 1 Sports Authority and ALL of them have a very limited selection of hats and absolutely NO hand warmers. I guess I'm a little late. I did get a goofy hat that I didn't really want, but I'm going to need something to cover my head on Tuesday. Better something than nothing. Oh, well.

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My second textbook sold last night!! I'm surprised at how fast they both went. I didn't make any money overall, but I only lost $2.25. Paying that much for two textbooks isn't bad at all! Here's a more extended breakdown:


I'm pretty pleased with this. I've never sold anything on amazon.com before. It's easy, but their fees seem a little high. Oh, well. The textbook that I'm using now might be interesting. It's a beast and cost me $83.99!! I'll let you know how selling that one goes in March.

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I just sold one of the textbooks from my previous class!! It only took two days on amazon! Better than that, I actually made money on the deal: $2.83. Not a lot, but it's still a profit. Here's the breakdown:

I'm estimating on the shipping costs. I'm hoping I can fit the book into one of the flat rate envelopes. If not, my profit will drop a little, but I don't think it would be negative. Either way, I'm pleased with the situation!!

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I have a meeting tonight at 5pm. Because of the late time, there will be free pizza and beer. And while I really appreciate that, I'm trying to eat healthier right now and lose some weight. It seems rude to bring something else to eat with me (and I'd have to go buy something), so I'll just go ahead and eat the pizza (and drink the beer, of course!!).

What do other people do in these situations?

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I just downgraded my Netflix account from the 2 at-a-time/unlimited plan to the 1 at-a-time unlimited plan. That means that my monthly charges will change from $13.99 per month to $8.99 per month.

I'm actually thinking of getting rid of Netflix altogether. They're great, but now that I have cable, I feel it's kind of a waste. And I've been so busy with school lately that I haven't been watching the DVDs at all. I'm going to see how the 1 at-a-time plan goes and then decide.

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I raided Costco this afternoon. I spent a total of $152.98 on stuff and I had to renew my membership for $50. Ugh. On the plus side, I've got a lot of food to cook instead of going out to eat. I don't remember the last time I cooked. It's been a good month or two. I'm usually pretty good about cooking at home, but I've been really busy with school and have just been grabbing something quick...usually Subway to keep it somewhat healthy and cheap. Now I can get back into cooking at home!!

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We had to change health insurance companies at work (because we're located in a different territory). My monthly insurance deduction is going up $5 to $84.20. A $5 increase isn't that bad in my book, but I don't really know anything about health insurance or if what I'm paying is good or bad. What do other people pay?

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My class ended on Saturday, so I can sell the two textbooks that I needed for it!! I paid a total of $92.46 for the books. I'm hoping to make that money back....maybe with a little profit. We'll see.

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I stopped buying Red Bull yesterday. So, I've only made it two days, but I've quit it before and I was successful. It just gets me going in the morning. I drink green tea instead now. Much healthier and MUCH cheaper. I should be able to keep this up.

Oh, and I stopped smoking about 3 month ago. I didn't say anything because lots of people quit for a few weeks and then start again. The 3 month mark kind of makes it official in my head. I'm pretty proud of myself too!!

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My company usually gives us a gift bag at our company Christmas dinner. It always has a few small gifts and a letter informing us of our annual raise. We didn't get a bag last month, though. I was a little worried about it, but I just got a letter in the mail. I got a 4% raise.

I'm a bit disappointed, but I guess with the economy and everything I should be happy for getting any raise at all and for having a job period, right? Well, a raise is a raise and I'm thankful.

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Sorry I've been MIA. School has been kicking my ass lately. I just finished up one of my final projects to turn in tomorrow. So glad that it's out of the way!!

I kind of screwed up, though. I created my document in Word 2003 and then went to Kinko's and printed it (all 54 pages). Then I saw that Kinko's has Word 2007 and it completely wiped out my number formatting. Argh!! The printing cost me about $27!!!

I went back home and created .pdf files of the project, went back to Kinko's, and spent another $27 to print it and then $4 to bind it. My mistake cost me almost double!!!

I think I'll just make .pdf files from here on out so I don't run into that again. PrimoPDF is a free tool that will make a .pdf file out of almost anything...even webpages. And I'm not affiliated with it, so I'm not getting anything if you download it. I'm just a fan of the tool :-)