Money In My Pocket

Wholesale Store

I am a creature of habit.  I eat the same thing for breakfast everyday—a granola bar.  I feel that it is healthy and most importantly, it is quick to eat while I am getting ready in the morning.  Every time I go to the store, though I have to buy all they have because I eat them so often.  The regular packages have only 6 bars in them and sometimes the store carries a larger package with 12 bars.  These prepackaged snacks, while convenient, are not cheap.  I guess I pay for the convenience.  Recently, a friend of mine and I decided to run errands together, and the first place to stop on her list was the local wholesale store.  I had been in some when I was really little, but definitely not in the past 15 years or so.  It was amazing.  There was so much food there on huge pallets, and as we were walking around to find all of her stuff, I saw my granola bars in packages of 30.  It was so much less expensive to buy them this way, and I won’t have to go to the store half as often.  I think I will try to go with her more often or even buy a membership for myself.  

Roommates?

As my decision about an apartment comes ever-closer, I am faced with the decision to go it alone in a small apartment, or go for the larger one, but have to have roommates.  I can see advantages and disadvantages in each.  I have heard horror stories about roommates not paying their part of the rent or utilities, or trashing the place, which does not allow you to get your deposit back.  On the other hand, with a larger apartment, there is more space, and if arranged correctly, can be less expensive than having a smaller place to yourself.  One of my friends here is going to medical school and says that she will not even consider living alone because it would take longer for someone to realize if she did not come home for a while—there would be no one to check on her to see if she was just sick or if she was abducted.  While I am sure this is probably her paranoid mother talking, I can see the point.  It would be great to have a place to myself for a change and not have to deal with other residents as I have had to living on campus my entire undergraduate career, though.  Oh well, lots to consider and no decision as of yet.

This Day is to You, Mom

Truth should be known that my mother is the most amazing mother in the world. Sorry everybody else. Never has spare time for a break. Strong as a fortress in many facets but to name a few emotionally, mentally, and motherly. Comparable lady attributes as Margaret Thatcher. Willing to help as soon as a ring tone is heard. Offers as much love and compassion as The Man’s son. And these are just a few words that I know how to describe her.

Especially after all the events of this tough year for our family, how do you show appreciation for such a great mother? For the last two weeks, I have pondered about gift options. Amid several opportunities, I am still lost. Some say you should fulfill her five senses. Others say chocolates and flowers. A few prefer jewelry and clothes. At minimum I decided cards. Except, I will flood her with cards. Store bought, home-made, and even this post. (You know she is the biggest fan of this blog.) In the end, all that matters is the words, thoughts, and feelings behind the love. Money can not represent the proper amount of gratitude. Surely, my stroke of enlightenment will arrive during my last hours of procrastination of gift purchasing. Slash if I informed you of the final idea(s) she would know contents of the poorly wrapped box. Feel free to share your creative gift ideas in the comments box.

Casino

As a disclaimer, I realize in previous posts that I admit to not gambling, but this post will describe how lucky my recent adventure ended. Last Saturday, a few friends and I were looking for entertainment for the evening. Somebody had the ingenious idea of driving a couple hours to visit the casino. Seeing as I recently became of age, I was particularly curious about the casino experience. We figured we could enjoy the buffet, people watch, maybe catch a show, visit a club, and hit the casino floor. Of course this would consume an entire evening, and if need be we could insist for a “comped” room. It sounded like a great idea and in to the car we climbed.

Upon arriving, we bee-lined straight towards the copious trays of extravagant chef created provisions. Given my love of food, I was content with my chair at the buffet line. After finishing two rounds of deserts, the friends scratched all other entertainment options and went directly to the floor with their full stomachs and at the time full pockets. For enjoyment purposes, we made an agreement to only gamble the amount of money that we would not be upset with losing. I am very cautious with my money, and for the next hour and an half I observed how to “properly” gamble with the best odds.

When I felt comfortable with blackjack, I humbly pulled up a chair at a table. Clueless as a kindergartner on the first day of school, I exchanged money for chips and made the first bet. Lost, Lost, Lost went the first three hands. I was ready to leave, but I figured I should at least given it a chance. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. My first black jack came on the fourth hand. I was hooked. After an hour or so, all except one friend were tired of losing money. Being the good friend, I also threw in the towel and went to cash out. It was a good thing that I did when I did. I knew I had more chips than what I started with, but I had no clue how much I had actually raked in.

Who thought it was possible to profit four hundred dollars off an initial “investment” of fifty dollars. I was ecstatic and jumping with glee. My friends were perturbed, because they each lost a minimum of fifty dollars. Nonetheless, I footed the bill for the gas and late night food on the return trip. It is tempting to return however I do not foresee another adventure ending so well for me. Now I know why the mobsters love casinos.

On the Road Again

I just finished with everybody’s favorite activity: Paper work. This time, my school wanted me to reflect upon my almost complete work term. In all, it was about a three page report. It was a fun activity to analyze what I actually accomplished this semester. I had to include work assignments, attributes acquired, expenses, supervision commitment, company analysis, and overall enjoyment.

I thoroughly enjoyed my job and the interaction with coworkers. But since this is a collegiate financial blog, I will hit on the expense side. Through many of the previous posts, you can read specific details about where my dollar finally landed.

My parents are wonderful and supportive care takers. But they viewed the co-op rotation as extending my college career and wanted me to pony up the extra expense of the additional year of school associated with co-operative education. Thankfully my salary has covered the incurred costs during the work term, and I can lean upon the parents for the summer school semester of classes. Now it is time to put quite a few more miles on my tires and travel back to school. It really has been a great semester being immersed in the working world.

Senior Gifts

Throughout my undergraduate career, there have been students I have looked up to and who have pushed me to do my best.  They encouraged me to become involved on campus and perform well in the classroom.  As a senior, I have tried to be this to my younger classmates.  As a friend did for me a couple of years ago, I will get a little gift for a couple of people to encourage them to continue on a path of service to others and to this undergraduate institution.  This means spending money, though.  I decided to go to the bookstore and get some encouraging books to pass along, which is an affordable way to give a gift.  I went to the children’s book section and picked up a few of my favorites with great messages, and since they are not hardback, they turned out to be no more than $10 each.  I hope they will provide motivation for their college careers just as the gifts from my mentors have provided for me.

Overdraft Fee

As is evident from my previous posts, things are getting busy here.  One thing I did not anticipate was all the money I would have to spend then wait for reimbursements.  As we are selecting new members for campus organizations and finishing everything up for the semester, I have had to write several checks.  If you remember, for security reasons, I get my bank statement sent to my house, and while I always call to check in on what has gone through, it is hard to get parents to keep up with it in addition to their own statements.  I got all my reimbursement checks, but have been so busy that I had to wait until the end of the week to head to the bank to deposit them.  This is where the problem arose.  One check I wrote weeks before finally cleared, putting me $15 in the red.  When I opened my student account four years ago, there was great overdraft protection on my account, but the woman said it was no longer valid.  It was my fault for not getting the statements here so I could know about the change and my fault for not making it to the bank soon enough to get those reimbursements in.  I paid the fee and have decided in my law school career, I will begin to get my statements sent to me, not home.