That wasn't meant to be advice, just ranting at the wrongness and unfairness.

I'm a little overly irate because I haven't had lunch yet. I think I will go fix that, since that's something under my control.

we kept getting our newpaper subscription cancelled at work because we had to forward the bills to corporate and the LA Times just stops delivering if you don't pay on time.

Too bad you can't do something like this.

That's great news, Susan. I'd echo the people who suggest consulting with a fee-only financial planner. You can find one through their professional society. [link] The advantage of fee-only planners is that they don't charge commission, and therefore aren't tempted to put people into investments that will make them higher commissions.

Clark Howard, the financial guru I listen to, suggests that people allocate 10% of an unexpected windfall to fun things. His theory is that if you get a lot of money, human nature says you'll blow some, and it's better to just budget for it. So you might want to take a percentage and put in money market funds or ladder it into CDs. Then when you get ready for your trip, you can plan the trip to the money.

I worked for one company that always paid vendors late because it was deliberately working the float and one that paid vendors late because it had the world's least competent accounting department. Either way, it wasn't the accounting department who worked with vendors every day. It was me.

why won't Victora's Secret show me the backs of their panties? I'm willing to invest in some quality underwear but I don't want to go to the mall!

Yeah, both of my last companies, as things got tight, started enforcing their "we have 60 days to pay an invoice" thing that was in their contracts. Whereas before that they'd usually pay a lot more quickly.

I'm trying to work out my budget for the summer. I've got a decent amount in savings, but I'll be earning close to no money this summer. Savings can cover rent (I always put away enough each month during the year so that I'll have enough for summer rent if I need it), and I signed up with a CSA, so a lot of food is already taken care of -- just add rice and pasta and beans and fruit. Definitely need to cut back on the number of books I'm buying.

Definitely need to cut back on the number of books I'm buying.

I often forget that the library lets me take stuff home and read it for free.

That's great news, Susan.

Well, we still don't quite have the money in our hands. It's just that apparently now it looks like we're around the point where the accountant can start disbursing the bequests. I won't completely believe it until we have it, and I'm itching to diversify our portfolio. Even though the stock in question is doing well now, it just makes me twitchy, especially in such a bad economy, to have what amounts to our entire net worth in one place (except for our 403(b)s, which are tiny in comparison).

Thing is, if it were all mine, I'd just pull out enough to pay for the trip and set it aside as soon as we get it. But it's not, it's ours, and DH is the heir, not me, so we're working together on this. And, really, a down payment on a house and setting up a college fund for Annabel and the hypothetical Edmund-or-Eleanor is much more important. I just really want that trip...

We'll start looking into financial planners. We get one free consultation with a planner apiece per year as UW employees, so we'll probably just start there.

Also, remember Susan, if you pay down your debt and have your other savings goals taken care of, you'll have that much more per month that you can put towards the trip. It's easy to forget that when chunks of your money are flying out the door to pay debt.

I have to keep reminding myself of that as well because, while I really want to get my own place, I just can't afford it right now. But, when my debt is paid off in two years, I'll have at least $850 more per month to spend on whatever.

why won't Victora's Secret show me the backs of their panties?

Probably because it's naughty. But dammit! It's important! That's my ass you're talking about there.

I worked for a company that would play around not only with paying their bills, but also with paying their employees. I do remember once they didn't pay us on the normal payday, saying it didn't matter because it wasn't a banking day. Fuckers--we're open and working! You can cut the damned check!

They never pretended to be anything other than flush. Luckily they'd stopped bouncing paycheques by the time I got there.