White iPhone 4

We had to get the wife the new white iPhone 4 last night. Believe it or not she had her 3G iPhone in her back pocket, went to pee and didn't realize it was there until she heard it fall in. She looked down and it was completely under the water, in a public bathroom. She got it out but it was too late, the phone is dead.

The timing was strange, Apple just released the mysterious white iPhone last night. We had to wait for an hour but we got one. The money came from the emergency fund, she was hysterical and crying... all her information, contacts, emails and appointments were on her previous phone. She had to get a new phone asap!

Look how beautiful this phone is:



Have a good weekend!

HS

Bank of America Accounts

A while back I did a post about our bank accounts setup. Today I'd like to revisit the topic, maybe other DINKS can comment or try our approach. We use Bank of America for most of our banking. We have a love hate relationship with them but their accounts are still free! It is also mostly love now since they got rid of their outrageous overdraft fees.

We have 3 accounts with them, all of them are checking. Bank of America let's you give the accounts nicknames so I've set them up as like this:

Accounts Payable: This is account is free with direct deposit. My paycheck and company reimbursements are deposited in to this account. The goal is to pay all bills and liabilities from this account. This is the only account that we use checks and all Bill Pay is handled from this account. This account is also linked to outside savings accounts like Discover Bank and stuff like Paypal. The name according to Wikipedia fits perfectly:

"In households, accounts payable are ordinarily bills from the electric company, telephone company, cable television or satellite dish service, newspaper subscription, and other such regular services. Householders usually track and pay on a monthly basis by hand using cheques or credit cards".

Savings Accounts: This account is free with my wife's direct deposit. This is our main savings account but I also keep our emergency fund here. This account always has $1,000 in it in case anything crazy comes up. My wife's paycheck is also the money we live on so I regularly transfer money to our checking account.

Checking Account: This is our daily spending account. This is the only account that has check cards but no checks. Stuff like gas and groceries comes out of here. I always keep a very low balance to prevent fraud and I also order new check cards every six months. This account is free with Bank of America online only checking. I have to do all our banking like deposits and withdrawals from the ATM machine.

Here is what it looks like online:



My Portfolio links all my other accounts in to one place. When I click that link all my balances from 401k, 403b, Vanguard, Scottrade etc are displayed on the screen- also free!

What do you think? is there a perfect way to bank?

HS

Air Conditioning Debt?

So the blower on our air conditioning at home appears to be out... I hate this A/C unit, it never cools. If you read back, we replaced the outside unit a couple of years ago after Hurricane Ike but the upstairs unit is probably 10 years old by now.

Options:

1 - Replace upstairs unit, add $2,500 new debt?
2 - Fix upstairs unit, live miserably through the upcoming Texas summer?
3 - Do nothing and hope something happens (new job, sell house etc).

So that's how my day is going... the 85 degree weather is not helping.

Thoughts?

HS

Careers Under Attack

My wife is a elementary school teacher at a public school district. The district she teaches at like most school districts across the nation is facing a budget shortfall. She's got some seniority but her contract could be terminated at the end of the school year. If we lose her income, we might as well lose everything else. I don't think she can find another teaching job in the fall and I doubt she could find any other type of work and make the same money.

My job is also in jeopardy. I have 10 people coming from offshore to take over and do most of my tasks. The goal is for them to go back and take all my knowledge so we can pay them $6,000 per year to do the same work. Most people don't realize how bad things are getting out there. I can personally say we can't be heading in the right direction as a nation. Last weekend I met a NURSE (the alcohol post) who was just laid off at her job from a major hospital in the Houston area. Keep in mind nurses are supposed to be in high demand for the next 20 years. I'm sure she will find a job but do you see a pattern here? I was thinking about going in to health care but now I'm having doubts.

So that's the title for this post- our jobs are under attack. The Texas legislature will cut funding for schools so that could impact my wife's job. My job could go due all the 'free trade' policies we hear are so good for Americans.

So what's your take? Is your job safe? Are we heading in the right direction?

HS

Alcohol

Alcohol is killing me! I drink way to much and I'm starting to to think I might have a bit of a problem. This also relates to DEBT as I'm always charging all my alcohol purchases to my credit card.

It's always been a problem. It started in high school, drinking to fit in and have friends. It continued on in college, everyone was doing it so why not me. It continues in life, every one I know drinks. Family, friends, coworkers, events... seems like everything revolves around drinking.

Last Friday night I charged close to $100 dollars on my Citi card. I met my wife at a bar and while waiting I made some friends, bought them a drink, next it was a shot, next thing I know my bill is $100! I see myself drinking more and more...

How do you handle alcohol? Do you feel like you have a problem?

HS

Is $300 Too Much?

Wife calls husband at work, Hi honey I'm going shopping with the girls after work, husband, sure sweetie just don't spend too much money. Husband comes home and wife has a brand new Coach Poppy purse:



Husband reaction: WOW... lovely! looks great on you! Quietly whispers, how much? wife smiles and whispers a number very close to $300 and puts on the cute smile... husband grins a little...

OUCH! Yes I have a taste for expensive things but isn't $300 a bit much for a purse?! what happened to $99.99, I miss that number. Back in our college days the average price for her purses was around 89.99 plus tax. Seriously, I miss those days.

I can't say NO to her since she also brings home the 'bacon' and these kinds of purchases don't happen very often with her but this one hurt a little. At least she didn't purchase the $500 pair of shoes she found at another store, I think I would have quit this blog :)

Have a good weekend!

HS