I'm heading out of here sometime between 3:15 and 3:30, and this last hour is going to drrrrraaaaaaaaag by.

I did finally get around to placing a few orders (for shoes at Zappos and some clothes and shoes for my sister's wedding at Avenue), so at least that's done. If everything fits, I'll be all set for the wedding, other than getting her present framed. I'll have to get that taken care of next week; I'm still having problems finding a dry cleaners who'll clean the cross-stitch piece before I head over to Michaels for framing.

I'm not sure if it's required where I am, but I think it may be, if only for the title search. Which are similarly complex as MA, but now they are switching over to a new system, which should be easier and by title holder, not by lot.

Maybe they should switch the credit giving age and the drinking age. Drink at 18, no credit til you're 21. Heh.

certainly a much better idea than Drink AND Credit at 12:01 am on your 21st.

::votes for Daisy Jane as patron saint of good banking/mortgages::

I didn't have a lawyer. No way we could have afforded it. We did think about it, but it was just one more thing.

I have a rehearsal tonight and two shows (plus the regular lessons) over the weekend, so it'll hardly feel like a holiday, but I do actually have Monday off. And it's my birthday! When I was a kid, I always loved being born when I was because I got my birthday off three years out of seven instead of two like everybody else. And also my very first day of school ever was my birthday, so my mom brought in cupcakes for the whole class and I was a hero.

So the SO & I are planning on taking a picnic lunch up to Petrified Forest and hanging out there. And then for my present I'm preordering that Northern Exposure box set, whoo!

The upcoming shows have been stressing me out some, but by my birthday they'll all be over and we can just really enjoy ourselves.

Here's hoping he's healthy again by then (selfishly) because he's under the weather now, which should be interesting for the whole playing trumpet thing.

::votes for Daisy Jane as patron saint of good banking/mortgages::

Aw, thank you. My personal finances are probably as screwy as your average person. It's particularly hard reining in Mr. Jane's spending (though not on credit) because he'll come home with a few hundred bucks in his pocket.

But this is what we do at work, and when it goes well, it's really rewarding.

I don't know that that many people employ a lawyer for a home purchase.

Hiring a real estate lawyer was the first thing we did after we saw the place we wanted to buy. No way in HELL I was buying a home in NYC without someone on my side going over the paperwork with a fine tooth comb.

Our mortgage was about 1.5X income at the time. The largest car payment we've ever had was $250 a month. We are car payment-less at the moment, however the miles are starting to really add up on both cars. Finances are pretty tight right now nevertheless because we had a lot of expenses (clothes for school, major repairs for both cars, orthodontics, and a new water heater) while increasing 401k contributions and trying to pay down debt quickly.

Sophia, have you looked into a consolidation loan through your credit union? If you've been making timely payments on those cards, your credit may be good enough to get a loan and pay off all three cards, and then be able to pay it off at much more reasonable rate.

I'm not a big fan of having to work my second job (I'm getting too old for this crap!), but having that extra $40-80 a week is definitely giving me a chance to get some things I desperately need (stuff for the wedding, then later this fall Xmas presents and a new computer and TV) and then next year, I'm hoping I can finish paying down my credit card balance. If I can refinance my car, that'll help get me ahead, and then maybe I can finally start putting my own money into my 401(k) here at work, instead of just having what the company puts in as my balance. I'm 41, and retirement is (relatively) just around the corner!

Since we were talking about the costs of car ownership...

Drive your car to death, save $31,000

By keeping your car for 15 years, or 225,000 miles of driving, you could save nearly $31,000, according to Consumer Reports magazine. That's compared to the cost of buying an identical model every five years, which is roughly the rate at which most car owners trade in their vehicles.

Hmmm....