The Blog

The (Real) Truth About Love’s Cost

By • October 24, 2007 • Review • Leave a comment

I was alerted today via another blog about an article on MSN called "The (Real) Cost Of Love". I realized after reading it why there was no place to comment on this article. It was one of the most sexist things I’ve seen lately and I’m sure the women reading this online would have ripped this guy apart(I’m assuming it is a guy). I’d like to talk a little bit about what I find wrong with this article and, like the article did, back up my article with "sources", you know, like the New York Times, CNN news, and financial journal articles. (Compare the article’s sources to mine and I bet you’ll see I’ve already out-researched him.)

First of all, I see in this article, men are the breadwinners. Yes, women make up almost half the work force…(oh wait, that figure was from 1999, but as population has increased and more women are now attending college then men, women are likely entering the skilled work force at a larger rate.) But, ladies, men are still our providers.

I feel bad for how much money men have to pay for us. Who cares that women are also paying more taxes then men; earn 1/4 less than what men earn doing the exact same job; and are still doing more housework then men. We cost men money, ladies. They have to buy us lingerie and jewelry.

So clearly, though I earn less than a man, am more likely to pay taxes than a man, and do more housework then a man, someone can still write an article about how much women cost men and make a few people nod their heads in agreement.

If we wanted to go with this articles cavemen premise, let’s assume what this guy does: that men earn the money and women have traditional roles. Values have been assigned to traditional women’s unpaid roles ranging from $75,000/year  to $130,000+. I think that means as an average house wife, I’d "outearn" my husband. And let’s not even talk about the value-added services…

But wait a minute, women work too! I almost forgot. And I also forgot that I can actually pay for dining out, entertainment, personal grooming, and a lot of the other things on this list myself.

But I tell the author of this article not to worry about taking me on an "expensive dinner to apologize" for undermining the contributions of women in our society. I’ll buy my own dinner, thanks.

Momma Needs A New Set Of Wheels: Part 1

By • October 24, 2007 • Current Affairs • Leave a comment

Two years ago, right before I was about to move to a place with no mass transit, I hit my car into a moose. I survived with no injuries but my car sacrificed itself completely. I loved that car.

So I had about two weeks to research cars and buy a car before my move in addition to getting ready to move. It was all very stressful. I hate shopping for cars no matter what and having to buy one quickly made the process even more painful. My father’s friend ended up selling me a 2001 Subaru Forester at slightly above book value. It’s silver and outdoorsy looking. It’s all wheel drive is particularly useful in Maine winters. But I’ve never fallen in love with this car.

It’s not a bad car but I’m not particularly attached to it. I’ve thought of getting rid of it since I’ve bought it. And with gas prices the way they are, well, going smaller is looking particularly good right now.

Thinking about new or used, hybrid or regular, car payment or cheap car I run into the ground are all making my head spin. I ran across this article at another finance blog about the cheapest new cars to own. Then I think I need to do some calculations about whether in my particular case a hybid car’s fuel savings and tax breaks would be worth the extra costs up front. Then I will research how much a typical used car with 50,000 will cost me over the course of five years in maintenance, etc. Sounds like this will be a three part blog series!

And if anyone is out there reading this who knows about cars, feel free to pipe in with information and links. In the end, this may not even pan out but it’s worth a little research anyway…

Momma Needs A New Set Of Wheels

By • October 24, 2007 • Current Affairs • Leave a comment

Two years ago, right before I was about to move to a place with no mass transit, I hit my car into a moose. I survived with no injuries but my car sacrificed itself completely. It was totalled; I had one scratch. I loved that car.

So I had about two weeks to research cars and buy a car before my move (in addition, of course, to getting ready to move). It was all very stressful. I hate shopping for cars no matter what and having to buy one quickly made the process even more painful. My father’s friend ended up selling me a 2001 Subaru Forester at slightly above book value. It’s silver and outdoorsy looking. It’s all wheel drive is particularly useful in Maine winters. But I’ve never fallen in love with this car.

It’s not a bad car but I’m not particularly attached to it. I’ve thought of getting rid of it since I’ve bought it. And with gas prices the way they are, well, going smaller is looking particularly good right now.

Thinking about new or used, hybrid or regular, car payment or cheap car I run into the ground are all making my head spin. I ran across this article at another finance blog about the cheapest new cars to own. Then I think I need to do some calculations about whether in my particular case a hybid car’s fuel savings and tax breaks would be worth the extra costs up front. Then I will research how much a typical used car with 50,000 will cost me over the course of five years in maintenance, etc. Sounds like this will be a three part blog series!

And if anyone is out there reading this who knows about cars, feel free to pipe in with information and links. In the end, this may not even pan out but it’s worth a little research anyway…

Entertainment Is A Click Away

By • October 23, 2007 • Web/Tech • Leave a comment

Looking for a way to hear new music but can’t afford satellite radio? I’ve got the perfect solution.

Pandora (the Music Genome Project) is a great web site where you put in a favorite song or artist and then Pandora "suggests" other artists/songs like the one you entered by playing the song. (Something about how it analyzes the tempo, harmony, etc. matches similar songs up on many dimensions.) You vote the individual songs up or down when they play. Vote the song up and it will find you songs like that one to play for you in the future. Vote the song down and you will never hear that song again. The first few times you use it (you’ll have to create a log-on name so the web site can find your station when you log back on), it’s pretty hit or miss. But eventually this wonderful thing happens. It knows you. It picks only songs you like. I feel like if only it would give me backrubs and take me to dinner once in awhile, I would marry the Pandora web site.

I have a few "stations" going: one with upbeat music when I’m in that mood, another has female jazz artists, one for hiphop when I’m channeling my inner thug. When you feel a station is pretty good, you can even share it with friends.

Of course on the site, they will attempt to sell you the service, which is very reasonably priced. What isn’t reasonable are the players it’s compatible with. Do I really want to spend $200 on a device that I can only listen to Pandora with? Not so much. True, you can listen on your cell phone but I don’t have one, nor do I believe that many cell phones are built for music listening anyway.  Plus Pandora only works with certain cell providers. What to do?

The good news is you don’t have to be sitting in front of your computer to listen to your Pandora station. What I have been doing is hooking up my computer to my stereo with a cable. The music can be as loud as I want it to be and when I want to have a party, I just tuck it under the stereo so no one has to stare at my computer all night.

So endless music that you like, no commercials. You get to hear a mix of the old stuff you love and the new stuff you probably will end up liking. And with the title and artists of the songs you like conviently listed, you can figure out which album to download next.

Happy listening… Tell Pandora I said hi, and ask if it got the cookies I baked it.

How To Throw A Party With $50

By • October 20, 2007 • Saving Money Tips • Leave a comment

I’ve been really hankering to have a party lately. I don’t know if it’s because Halloween and other holidays are coming up or because I haven’t thrown one since moving here (and it’s been about three months) but it seems to be the time to invite people over and be the hostess with the mostest.

Carving As someone who takes pride in throwing a good party, I want my guests to have a good time, eat well, and have a drink on me. This got me to thinking how I could throw a great party on a budget while still maintaining my great hostess reputation. The following party will be thrown a week from today. The budget is for 8 people, though I’m sure I could make this work if a few more showed.

Purpose: Pumpkin carving/Belated Housewarming

Drinks: Not that this is the most important part but I like to have something to offer my guests when they walk in. Often, the well meaning guest will have picked up a six pack of beer or bottle of wine on the way over but I never want to assume anything. Plus, what can we drink while we wait for the brought-over beverages to chill?

Stocking a bar can really break the bank but I’ve found having one drink of the night has really saved me. Let’s face it, a handle of medicore hard liquor and a mixer is cheaper than a round of good beer for everyone. (Plus mixers can often mask the taste of even cheap hard liquor; if you don’t want people to see the bottle evidence of your thriftiness, you can just pre-mix it in a pitcher beforehand.)

I usually include the drink of the night on my invitations or when I call people. My usual script for telling people this is "The drink of the night is vodka tonics but I certainly won’t be offended if you want to bring something else to drink instead." See? You’re cool and accomodating, not at all a cheap bastard.

Also, the added benefit of a drink of the night is it can contribute to your evening’s theme. Hot chocolate with Baileys on a cool night, cosmopolitans for the girls night in. I find vodka tonics to be my all-time standby.

A handle of vodka, some tonic water, and limes: $18

Snacks: I don’t like going to parties where the main food is chips and salsa or crackers and hummus. To me, that says, "I don’t want to serve you real food." I also don’t think you have to serve a 10 course meal either.

Appetizers with some substance say you care and mean you don’t have to worry about silverware or finding a table that seats everyone. I plan on serving some baguettes with good cheese ($10), home-made spanikopida (phyllo dough, frozen spinach, and garlic) ($6), chicked kabobs ($9), seasoned popcorn ($2), and grapes or some other fruit/veggie on sale this week ($3). I’ll also be toasting some pumpkin seeds as the carving progresses (free!) and send guests home with small bags of them (free- use grocery bags).

Appetizers with substance: $30

Ambiance: Tea lights are cheap enough to buy a ton that you can put everywhere… plus you can illuminate the pumpkins carved as party decorations for the evening. I’ll be creating a cool playlist on my iPod to be playing in the background (free).

Tea lights: $2/bag

Other supplies: Newspapers and knives to carve pumpkins (free). It’ll be BYOP. Some home-made ribbons for the best and most ridiculous pumpkin (free- markers and paper!). If you have a good friend at the party, get them to start a game of charades, bullshit, or some other group game if you find people aren’t talking or mingling. Whatever you do, don’t be the hostess/martyr in the kitchen or doting on everyone. If you have a good time, so will everyone else.

Party on!