Books & Burgers
I am the proud new owner of a Houston Public Library card from the McGovern-Stella Link Library. Now that I’m no longer enrolled at UH, I needed a new place to do research and get access to databases. The public library is the next best thing! What a peaceful, inviting place.
BEST LINK OF THE DAY: http://playauditorium.com. You will thank me for it. Go ahead. Click on it.
TODAY’S HAMBURGER: Sparkle’s Hamburger Spot. Sajan ordered the double cheeseburgers and brought them home for us. Each patty was an inch thick. I’m lucky to be alive after eating that artery burster. Two thumbs up.
LAST WEEK’S HAMBURGER: DJ’s Olde-Timey Hamburgers off of Kirby and Old Spanish Trail. This is my kind of burger, a new favorite. Best buns.
Homeowners: Your Fortune Cookie Inside
I’ve been listening to money guru Dave Ramsey on the radio for about a year now. Dave laughs at anyone who would suggest there is such a thing as “good” debt. Debt makes you a slave, he says. Listeners call in with sob stories. Grandmothers who co-signed on their grandson’s car. Shopping addicts, families keeping up with the Joneses.
Dave says that all debt should be paid off immediately. And after that, you should save up and earn money to pay cash for your next big purchase, be it a car or home. Also, be sure to keep at least six months worth of your salary in your savings.
On existing debts, you should pay way more than the monthly minimum. That way, you’re paying toward the principal (the actual retail price of a house, for example) rather than the interest and debt.
Here’s where Sajan and I began to debate.
-It’s good to have liquid cash in the bank in case of an emergency.
-But shouldn’t you use it to pay your debt?
-Wait – rather than paying off debts, you could invest that cash and grow it, so in the end you can get rid of an even larger sum of debt.
When it came to our house payments, we wondered if we if there was a big difference between making minimum payments and making larger payments. Our plan is to rent out the house in a few years anyway, so why pay off more of it now when our renter can do it for us later? Would it really save us that much to pay more now? When you start talking about interest, taxes, escrow and all that junk, the conversation gets confusing and plays tricks with your head.
In my heart of hearts, I felt that something was wrong with making only minimum payments. Something is wrong if you have liquid cash and you’re not tackling your debts.
So Sajan called the mortgage company the other day to settle this once and for all. Read the rest of this entry »
The Man (Chase) Sticks It to Wamu
so long, bank that treated customers like people
Dear WAMU,
Today, your walls were still bright green and blue, painted with words like “you” that talked to me. Your open, welcoming layout that wooed me to you remained.
But we all know things have changed. You are morphing into the cold, ugly, people-hating bank that others banks are, that Chase wants you to be. Your shirts, formerly a soothing green, are now an icy blue. The greeter and bankers no longer smile. They’re the same employees, but they know the man — Chase bank — is sticking it to them.
Morale is down. The rules are changing, and no one knows to what. The open, friendly atmosphere will be wiped away and turn to impersonal, side-by-side, straight lines. Chase does not like Wamu’s open style and pretty, green shirts, an employee said. The WamuKids playspace will probably go to hell, too.
Wamu, we will miss you. Chase, we will not let your oppression destroy our spirits. We will stick it back to you, one day.
With sadness,
Customer.
Five Bucks Closer to a New Me
Our friend Maya brandished a gorgeous Gucci bag the other day.
“It’s my reward,” she said.
Reward, eh?
Turns out that she gave herself $10 for every workout session last year. Her approaching wedding was extra motivation. Those $10 sessions quickly added up to become her shoulder’s new best friend.
Sajan and I have been looking high and low for motivation to shed post-wedding pounds. Maya’s story was a light bulb moment. Not fitting into our pants should have been motivation enough, we know.
Let me rewind a few months. Back in the fall, we invested in running shoes from Academy. When I put those shoes on, I felt like Superwoman, like I could run to the ends of the earth. Then winter came, and it took all the fun out of being outside. Lucky for us, Craigslist came to the rescue. Sajan rented a flatbed trailer and hauled home an elliptical from a seller in The Heights.
Now, we bust out the iTouch and listen to music or watch videos while exercising. At first I would get on the elliptical for 4 or 5 minutes. Something was better than nothing, right? Then I worked my way up to 10 minutes. I get so bored exercising if it’s not a team sport.
Sajan and I decided we would each pay ourselves $5 for every solid 20-minute workout. I’m working toward books. So about every 3 workouts, I can get on Amazon.com and go straight to my wish list. He’s working toward a flatscreen TV, which should take about 100 workouts. Sucker! Just kidding.
Today, I made a chart to track our progress. It’s posted on the fridge.
Flatscreen TV and Books, Here We Come!
What are your motivations to work out? How can we make exercise more fun? What are your favorites places in Houston to get up and get moving?
My Top Blog Posts of 2008
Back in April when I started this blog, it was a symbolic move. It represented getting off my butt and actually doing something instead of just talking about it. Now I’m reviewing and figuring out how to improve in blogging/writing and connecting with people like you.
Keep sharing your feedback!
Here are some of the top posts from 2008:
Things We’ve Learned About Marriage – No. 6
How to Survive An Interstate Wedding Weekend
Abstinence: Not Just for Sex Anymore
Kerala – God’s Own Country (And Mine)
Your True Love is a Keystroke Away
Five Things We’ve Learned About Marriage
The Unspoken Stories of 2008: Your Year-in-Review
Towards the end of 2007, I asked a group of friends to write about the adventures they had experienced that year.
You can learn a lot from someone’s personal, riveting, yet previously unspoken stories.
What were the turning points of your year, the ones that make you a different person today than you were 365 days ago? What are your expectations for 2009?
Remember those comic strips that ask you to find six differences between two pictures that look identical? You may look the same, but subtle changes have completely altered the course of your life. Read the rest of this entry »
