Brooklyn Girl's Personal Finance Blog

We saw a condo in Jersey City today - 20 minute ferry ride from Manhattan. It is in a good location (most of the Jersey City is not so good).

It is lovely - a balcony with a great view, spacious, lots of light, 1.5 baths, washer/dryer, huge living room.
1.5 bedrooms. I could really see living there, waking up, there... getting ready for work... It can be home.

It reminds me of my childhood apartment - european style building, windows, lobby, grounds...

It is, however, quite expensive:

$1,850 monthly mortgage payment (430K mortgage with 20% down at 5% interest)
$878 monthly maintenance
$645 monthly taxes

$3,373 house payment

than there is commute. DH commutes to a job 47 miles away. (it should not really change much - the place is a little further but he won't have to go through Staten Island and its traffic).

I'll have to also get a ferry pass - $290 a month.

We will have to cut down on a lot of expenses - really count everything we spend on, including groceries, including every purchase. We'd be living like poor people but in a lovely place. Can I handle such simplicity? What matters to me more?

This is the best place I have seen since starting to look at the apartments over 2 years ago.

I really really want it. But DH has concerns regarding high cost and I understand him. It is a huge decision and we want to make a right one. But it is beautiful. I'd feel like going home to a resort every day.

$62 - but it is a rare opportunity. We work more than 1.5 hours away from each other over 3 hrs roundtrip.

But since DH had his eye exam yesterday in Manhattan (4 blocks form my work) he did not go to work and we met for luch afterwards.

We had a bussiness lunch in a steak house half a block from my work
It included for each a salad, an entree (one of which was nice steak with mash potatoes and vegetables and the other was the best juicy siroin burger...) and cheesecake. So with the tip the bill came to $62 - good deal for that kind of place.

It is so strange to have lunch together in the middle of my work day. We do it about 3 times a year - when DH is in the city for appointments and I love it! It makes the day feel almost like vacation day.

Today is Friday, so we are going out, but to an inexpensive place. It is famos for empanadas (we got to love them during our travel in Argentina) I especially loved the ones in Salta... ymmm.

My co-worker heroically continues to cook every lunch hour. We get a menu from her every Friday and choose which meals we like and which days we would like to skip.


I love kosheri! It is so satisfying.


we have a panini press at the office.
















Sometimes even desert.

We spent so much during the first 10 days of the months that with 21 days left to go we are down to only $1,700 left to spend - otherwise we will be spending more than we make.

This amount has to cover everyday expenses including the most expensive line in our budget - commute. Tolls for DH's commute to work are exactly $20 each workday day ($10+$8+$1+$1). Than there is gas (he works 47 miles away, and the traffic is horrible for a chunk of it).

Than groceries, food at work, a weekend with friends maybe, and everyday life.

And there will be additional chiropractor visit(s) and he does not take my insurance. I am still in a lot of pain - having trouble even getting up by myself. Advil, anti-inflammatory cream, and heating pads did not help relieve it. I took a vicodent an hour ago. That helped somewhat - now I can lay down and get up by myself and don't feel as much pain(still feel enough) and now I can feel the tension itself. I am a little tempted to take more to see if that can lessen the pain even more.

I woke up with a pinched nerve, only able to carry my head crookedly to my left shoulder.
I went to work anyway, but the pain got worse.

So my boss have me the name of a chiropractor, and was able to get an appointment in half an hour.

$165 for the chiropractor (does not take insurance)
$28.48 for a reusable heat pad with straps and a bottle of advil.

Chiropractor made me able to at least turn my head, but my muscles are spasmed and still hurt a lot.

I remember that I have some vicodent at home - I filled a prescription after my root canal but never used it.
I think this is the time of need - it hurts more than after the root canal.

I am too young to have these kinds of problems!

But at least I can afford to deal with it. I am glad that our budget is not so tight that we wouldn't be able to pay some bill if this happened. Or that my job will not even count few hours of to see the doctor and I can do it any time I need. Trying to look at the positive side (since I can't look at the left side).

I made a greek salad for dinner today:

This was the cost:
2 beef stem tomatoes $3.92
cucumber $0.5
1 onion $0.56
parsley $1.29
greek feta .46 lb $4.22
olives .71lb $2.87
1 small portugese rye bread roll $0.85

total: $14.21

Everything was used up except for parsley and 3 olives, so this is the true actual cost of making a salad at home.

Yesterday we paid less for getting one large dish to go from an ethnic restaurant and splitting it at home (I believe that actually resulted in a right portion size).
So cooking is more expensive (more healthy though).

I got 2 blood oranges for a snack - $1.29 each orange (and they are small!) and a mango at $1.49.
Eating fresh foods is not cheap. And there are no coupons for any of it.

Every year since we live together (3 years now) me and my husband go on a 9 day ski trip (one week plus 2 weekends).

It is more than a vacation - it is a winter tradition we established for our young family and don't want to give up. We drive through VT, from one ski mountain to the next all the way to Jay Peak and we always look forward to it.

We do long ski weekends here and there, but we only do the 9 day long one once a winter. This is the first winter I kept track of our expenses. Naturally, the total was more than I thought it would be. But this is helpful in order to plan for the future - if we buy a house and don't want to give up this tradition, we have to plan and save for it.

So here are our totals and my justifications for it:

Day 1
gas $21.51
Brooks Brothers suit for DH - he really needed one for work - the only one he had died from old age. On sale and with 10% off coupon on top $291.15
dinner $83
anchini (softest towel set and a bath mat at gigantic clearance - store closed 3 days later) $28.89
rite aid water $2.98
rite aid other $14.1
motel $93.38

Day 2
Breakfast $32
Dinner $57
Luxury hotel at the government rate $134
gas $26

Day 3
Breakfast $30
B&B 2 day package - included lift tickets and breakfasts $478
Dinner $76
water $4.49
beer at ski lodge $11.5
2 arctic weight ski thermal tops (it was cooold) $85.12

Day 4
gas $16.05
diner $76
2 beers at ski lodge $12.5

Day 5
water, snacks $8
drinks at pub $17
Thermal bottom for DH and hat for me $63.82
Thermal bottom for me and hand warmers $65
ski socks, warmers $23.23
2 day slopeside hotel package - included 3 day lift tickets, 2 days of breakfasts, dinners, and tips!) $466.44
2 items of clothing - one is a gift for mom $71.98

Day 6
ski wax $30
private ski lesson $94
bar $21

Day 7
dinner $44.73
motel $84.75

Day 8
breakfast $30
maple syrup $14.75
crabtree and evelyn shaving soap for DH $19.26
ann taylor (amazing sale for everyday work clothing) $69.3
Escada (2 beautiful vibrant red items at 90% off) $80
Normally I could not shop at Escada, but this time sales were just unbelievable!.

coffee shop with wi-fi where DH wated while I was shopping) 8
Burberry (causal pants and 2 shirts for DH and 1 shirt and hairband for me) $186
gas $23
dinner $35
starbucks break on the long drive back $5

We did not ski on that last day and went home a day earlier because of bad weather condition - it suddenly warmed up and rained.

So $3,034 is the total. It could have been around $2,300 without the shopping - but it was such an opportunity - I've never seen these prices in NYC and we are set for spring season now.

It was a very enjoyable vacation. I will plan $2,600 for the next year (less shopping).

It was a very difficult month emotionally, but I'm trying to get back to normal.

These are the totals. While I tried very hard and did save a lot of money on discretional things like clothing for me (we only bought a Brooks brothers suit and 2 pairs of pants for DH on sale), eating out, lunches at work, etc... And most of this eating out was emergency-related. I found out there is such thing.

We also spent less on gas and tolls due to DH's work travel and days off we took off work... But we spent a lot of month for necessities: help to family and we pre-paid car insurance for 6 months.

ABSOLUTE NECESSITIES February
rent $951.00
student loan $141.00
electric bill $60.50
gas bills $14.15
groceries $204.89
household supplies (bounty, bulbs, etc.) $16.26
hygene (toothpaste, shaving, etc.) $10.24
laundry $13.50
Medical/dental $16.78
dry cleaning $27.25
pet food/litter $23.82
car insurance $1,400.00
gasoline $99.68
tolls $200.00 (about)
tickets/fines $160.00
car maintenance $53.58
parking meter $10.50
NECESSITIES TO US (won't give up unless emergency)
triple play $149.72
Help to the family $1,148.56
grooming (haircuts, skincare, make-up) $48.10
game subscription/books/itunes $48.00
all food and drinks at work $192.58
OTHER
clothing $383.97
house other (linens, utensils, decor etc.) $75.47
ENTERTAINMENT
eating out $398.26
alcohol $60.25
Starbucks $8.00
skiing/weekend getaway 89.38
savings ROTH $393.00
miscelaneous $69.61
$6,468.05

Cashback bonus earned for January.

And I only spent $1,900 on this card in Jan. - large reward is caused by 5% cash back purchases.

So I will cash in $100 of my reward balance now.
I cashed $100 last month from my other card.

It is really nice to get money for buying stuff I would have bought anyway.
And these are not tiny amounts - it is more than our electric bill!

I had a cheap, cheap week.

Not including rent and student loan (fixed expenses) we have spent under $200 this week (not including tolls - I won't the amount until EZ pass statement comes).

How is it possible? The main contributing factor, besides than my incredible restraint, was that DH was on a business trip to Dallas starting Monday - he is flying home today.

So all his days were NSDs -- his food and expenses were covered by per diem. Lucky him was having Texas bbq and Mexican food, breakfasts cooked for him, the bed made after him, and it is all free. I am a little jealous.

So I did not have a temptation to go out or a need to cook. I got a hot meal every day at lunch (thanks to my cooking coworker) and just grazed for anything I found around the kitchen in the evening - though mostly due to lazyness, not desire to save money.

He also saved some money by not driving to the office.

I stayed away from all stores.

And keeping it up, we are not going out today (even though it is Friday and we have not seen each other in 4 days).
I will just make a nice fresh meal at home.

Yesterday I prepared sangria so it would be ready for tonight. I used nicer wine (I got a hot deal on) organic fruit(oranges were so delicious!) and contreau for sweetening(also a very hot deal). So it should still be a nice dinner.

Going there is my favorite winter getaway.

1) I love how uncrowded ski slopes are.
Pics from our last trip this January:










2) Draft beer selection in any eating place we went to.
3) Better skiers - no need to worry about a teenager on a snowboard running into you at insane speed. You can just look in front of you only, as you are supposed to.
4) People are nice. Any stranger will explain to you in great detail how to get some place, what place they recommend for which food, give details about their town, and in general get very easily involved in conversations.
5) Cheaper prices (though somehow you end up spending more).
6) Nature and snow!

I am a gourmet eater. Not so much of a cook yet.

When I do cook, however, finest quality ingredients and no cutting corners.

I just found a website after my own heart. What I needed was a gorgeous photo of every step (seeing a picture of each stage gives me additional confidense). But this site also provides motivation - if I want to eat something that delicious and high quality I will have to cook it.
I am so excited and wanted to share it.

http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?language=2&Display=141&resolution=&page=1
Beef Bourginon


Iranian Jeweled rice
http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?language=2&Display=93


French garlic soup.
http://fxcuisine.com/Default.asp?language=2&Display=151
And the "step" pictures inflame the appetite than the finished product shots.

There are also more uncommond dishes of all cultures that look amazing. I love variety and trying new things instead of "same old".

I going to make some of these!

Yesterday afternoon we drove to Catskills to ski on Sunday.

So Saturday:
Instead of stopping to eat on the way, we stopped by an organic supermarket and picked up some groceries. (we were staying at a house our friends let us use for free) I cooked a nice meal and did laundry and we took the rest of the groceries home today.

The only splurge was $14.84 for 2 slices from Cheesecake Factory. We took them "to go" and made coffee at the house.

I also made breakfast this morning. After skiing we were hungry, but instead of going for beers and bar food right after the lifts close we went straight home and ate there. My mom was cooking today and brought over a delicious hot meal for us (she lives really close).

Our will power lasted through a 3 hour drive! I had water and juice in the car from groceries we bought the day before and we did not even stop for coffee.

The lift tickets we bought in December when they had a winter card promotion 4 days for $129. So we got a card each. at $32 per day it is really a bargain.

So we were good. We got to enjoy ourselves and spend the day exercising and breathing fresh air while keeping spending to the minimum. We'll try to keep it up.
I really want to do better this month!

Other than gas we did not spend anything today and were very reasonable yesterday.

Unrelated:
While driving to the mountain we saw a crashed car that flipped completely upside down. We were on a tiny mountain road and had to pass it very carefully on the other lane. The police and paramedics were already there, so we did not stop.

ABSOLUTE NECESSITIES:
rent $951.00
student loan $141.00
electric bill $62.71
gas bills $13.14
groceries $292.82
household supplies (bounty, bulbs, etc.) $28.94
hygene (toothpaste, shaving, etc.) $6.98
laundry $0.00
Medical/dental $81.79
dry cleaning $0.00
pet food/litter, supplies $2.28
car insurance $240.00
gasoline $198.24
tolls $310.33
tickets/fines $75.00
car maintenance $68.23
car repairs $0.00
parking meter $8.00
NECESSITIES TO US (won't give up unless emergency):
triple play $149.72
Gifts and things for family (not ourselves) $470.10
grooming (haircuts, skincare, make-up) $111.18
game subscription $40.00
all food and drinks at work $275.21
OTHER:
clothing $463.99
house other (linens, utensils, decor etc.) $120.17
ENTERTAINMENT:
eating out $551.32
alcohol $260.05
Starbucks $9.55
skiing/weekend getaway $1,145.96
savings ROTH $300
savings non-retirement $800

$7,178

And I tried to spend less. I cooked more, I fought myself not to buy more. A lot of effort for few hundred dollars.

So today I withdrew $800 walked over to my other bank and deposited what I managed to save into my savings account. I will try harder next month, challenging myself to do better than this.

I saw this place and I could not believe it. I never saw a deal this good.

It had a yard!
I guarantee you, the square footage included the yard, so it is probably only 650sf internal, but still for that price with the yard and a kitchen area that big... it was the hottest deal I've ever seen in Manhattan.

http://www.citi-habitats.com/viewsales.php?adID=134008

So I emailed the realtor asking to see it 2 days ago and was imagining myself there ever since. Today, after still not hearing anything back I called the realtor and found out it is in contract. (he did not bother to even send a one-liner in response to my inquiry).

So I feel disappointed again. Any time I see anything nice it is instantly in contract and I feel like never even having a shot.

Where is that recession everyone is talking about?

I wondered this a little today as I was walking in the freezing slush (30 minutes of my daily commute is by foot - to and from the subway).

I remembered our recent vacation in VT.
I assume that outside major cities it is the same.

People there park right outside their houses, there is parking right outside the stores, restaurants, there is parking right outside their work. So at most they have to walk 1/2-1 block to and from their car. Why do you even need a coat or warm clothing for that (I have not bothered putting it on except to ski - and it was cold and snowy. But since you go everywhere by car, what does it matter? You don't get cold in 1 minute if you are coming from warmth.

In metro areas where you walk everywhere, even if you have a car you go to the grocery store, to dry cleaners and almost everywhere by foot. You are in the cold and wind for prolonged periods of time.

So other than shoveling snow and winter sports for which ski jacket is sufficient, I wonder why do people who live in car oriented areas (most of the US) need all this winter stuff such as gloves, coats, hats...

I am sure I'm missing something, just curious what it is.

For anyone who thinks that my vacations and entertainment expenses are extravagant, here is another way to look at our lifestyle.

While we can afford things that others may not, I cannot afford things that many take for granted. Here are some of them:

A yard. Any yard, even 8x8' is a luxury. Or a balcony, a terrace... any outdoor space at all.

A tree outside the window.

Reserved parking space near your residence.

Commute of less than 3 hours a day. People who commute less than that and complain drive me crazy.

More than one bathroom in the apartment - amazing luxury! - not even friends with over million dollars in the bank have that. But people outside NYC almost expect it. "I have kids so we couldn't make it with one bathroom." Yes, you could, it is just not as much fun. But second bathroom is a luxury, not a basic need.

A kitchen that could fit a dining table over 31" in diameter. People don't appreciate it. New Yorkers understand. Today I served brunch to 5 people on that table and it was completely normal for everyone, as their apartments are similar.

A walk-in closet - ohhhhhhh.

A washer and a dryer!

And in general - SPACE. 800sf would be fine with us even if we had a baby. 1000sf would make me completely happy. 1200sf would make me feel like a queen. (in the city, that is).

So if I was not spending 20K a year on getaways and was saving the money instead, it would not bring me much closer to owning an 800sf co-op at ($1,000-$1,400 per square foot with 1k+ monthly maintenance on top of that.) Neither would few thousand dollars a year spend on eating out. So I max out retirement, but don't feel all that hopeful about homeownership and just live entertainment rich life. What else am I to do?

But no, I don't want to move from NYC. So I guess I am not willing to give up the life I have now for house bliss and these luxuries. But I just wanted to remind people that these are luxuries that they are lucky to enjoy and not necessities. That people can adjust to live without them. I think a lot of these things are taken for granted by those who have them.

It was a rare opportunity and I jumped on it!

I have a diplomat friend who is entitled to order liquor tax free though a special channel. He was ordering again and agreed to order some for me too.

Prices were amazing - like Contreau is $15 for a 700ml bottle (I pay $35 at the store - I love margaritas) Grand Marnier is $25 per liter, 1 liter of Absolute vodka - $10...

So I stocked up $160 worth. Unfortunately the selection is very limited so I still will have to buy some stuff in the store to make cocktails I like. But overall it will be much cheaper. And unlike food, spirits don't go bad/expire so I can take my sweet time finishing them.

I love getting hot deals. And brand name liquors never go on much of a sale - the most I see is a $3-$4 difference. So I am very pleased with myself.

I knew what we bought, I kept track... But when I clicked the "sum" button in excel - it was a shock.

We went away for a 4 day weekend. Not a big deal right? But because I was tracking expenses it is starting to feel differently.

So we spend one day with our friends in Catskills and 3 days in Vermont. We only had to pay for 2 days of hotel. Yet our expenses were huge! Individually they seemed reasonable, but when added up it was a surprisingly high number, much more than I estimated.

Friday
Lunch DH $12
lunch me $4
dinner (on the way to Catskills after work) $51.71


Saturday
rite aid (water, toothbrushes, hand warmers) $22.69
organic food store (paid for our host) $7.38
RL $190 (I know, I am horrible)

Sunday
lunch on the way to Vermont $29.5
ski googles (I scrached mine last season) $134.77
ski jacket for DH (Killy - gorgeous, and he never had one - he was skiing in his colombia regualr jacket) $326
woodcraft store $10.06
car ice scraper with brush $11.23
Motel $92.65
gas $22.05
dinner $68.67
ann taylor $53.81
rite aid (water, hair bands) $6.29
coffee while driving $8

Monday
breakfast $33
lift tickets Bromely(special deal) $78
beer at ski lodge $14
dinner $51
hotel $134
rite aid $8

Tuesday
breakfast $31
theory $118
gas $14.84
lift tickets - Stratton $84
dinner $48.79
3 cases of Vermont local beers to take home $43.62


Total: $1,709.06

And it was not even a vacation - just a long weekend!

I think something happens in your brain and it is just so much easier to spend money when you are away. It feels different. You are relaxed. Everything around is cheaper, so you buy more of it...

I want to continue to ski and enjoy getaways, I just don't want to spend as much, to have my cake and eat it too.

Now I have all these neat categories but sometimes it is not clear where a particular expense should be recorded.

For example, when we are eating out and order drinks with dinner, should it go under "alcohol" or under "eating out"? I am putting it under eating out, because it is simpler than trying to separate it, even though it could constitute 1/3 or more of the meal cost.

But if we are eating out because we are on a 4 day ski weekend in VT, does it go under eating out or under skiing? And should the hotel room go under "vacation" or "weekends away" or "skiing". If it not for skiing we would not be in that hotel room or eating that meal out.

I went to Papyrus and got gorgeous christmas wrapping paper and some other holiday stuff at 70% off - to use for next year. (They have really nice stuff that is too expensive at a regular price but perfect at 70% off) Under which category do I write this down?

Maybe I am obsessing about it too much Just want to do it right.

A while ago, when Wiis were hard to get, I stumbled at them being delivered to Toys R Us and bought 2. One for us, one for sale on Ebay.

The one for sale on ebay was bought by someone who asked for it to be shipped to the Philippines. (even though in my auction I specified I won't ship Wii internationally).

I checked out the rates for insured shipping to Philippines and they were astronomical. Long story short, the buyer never paid, I did not follow up or kept on top of things so I still got charged by ebay for the auction.

Bittered by the whole ebay experience I did not list it again and just forgot about it for a while. I missed the deadline to return it to the store.
(all my fault). I should have known my personality and not have attempted this in the first place.

So now I have an extra new Wii that I don't know how to get rid of. Even at retail or slightly below retail price.

I am kicking myself

I returned a sweater that was lovely - fabric and design were great, but it was cut weirdly (they made it way too big in the stomach area) and it just did not sit on me right.

So I ordered this sweater dress(wool/cashmere blend) and some beautiful dress socks for DH.



I intend to wear it to work in the same way - with a white shirt(or a blue one, just one shade darker than the blog background), a tie(I bought some feminine smaller ties in asia once), and probably boots.

My total came to -$3.82 refund. So I am still keeping to my goal of not buying any new clothing this month. (I paid for the sweater over a month ago).

I never have time to make my lunch, but I am tired of everything I can buy - and it is expensive.

For the last few weeks we have come up with a new great arrangement in our office.

I have a co-worker who is an excellent cook and loves to do it. Eventually, a toaster oven, a panini grill, a microwave and the latest addition - an electric
skillet have made their way to the tiny kitchenette area.

With very basic utensils and no stove she can make amazing things in 20 minutes.
Here are some pictures of our office-made lunches:


Grilled salmon


Chicken with mango salsa and sweet potato


Crab cakes


Fettuccine alfredo (today's lunch - it was so delicious! oh, and we got real plates now)

We have a gourmet supermarket a block away. We all pitch in for the ingredients and it to anywhere from $3-$7.
A bought lunch is $8-$10 from a deli for a sandwich or salad or takeout.

This is cheaper, healthier, tastier, more varied, freshly made and hot!

We are going away for 4 days of skiing on MLK weekend. I am taking 2 days off and DH gets Mon. off so he only needs to take 1.

These things are quite expensive on a major holidays. So for the first time ever I am going to stay in a cheap motel!
B&Bs, hotels, VRBO and homeaway listings(that have cleaning fees added in).... their prices are quite high!

I was expecting better deals considering the recession.

There is plenty of availability, but prices are just not dropping, all the places insist on charging "holiday" rate and don't want to separate nights...

So I found the cheapest motel - $83 a night plus tax (also holiday price, but at least not $250-$300+ like a nicer B&B)
It is a pet friendly motel (I hope I won't come back with flees). Now I love pets, I just don't have that much faith in underpaid motel cleaning staff and pet owners I don't know.
Ok, maybe I do worry too much - but as I said, it is the first time.

On the bright side for our last night I found a normal hotel at a very good deal - this hotel http://www.equinoxresort.com/ for $120(this includes "resort fee") plus 9% tax.
If I could find other days under $250(my arbitrary ceiling for hotel room nights) I would gladly stay there, but.... it is a holiday.

I want to save money - but I don't want to sit at home or walk in the park. I want to ski, be active, enjoy myself, have nice food....
So I am planning my trip to get the things that are important to me and to save on things that are a little bit less important. I'll see how it goes.

My aunt has a close friend visiting from Canada. She is a very warm friendly person who quickly made friends with everyone in my family. My mom showed her around NY and they quickly became friends.

Anyway, she is a stylist and she insisted giving us all haircuts(she even brought all her equipment with her!)
So DH and I got our great professional haircuts at home for free this month. So $60 to the challenge - I know these haircuts are more expensive than that, but I am being very conservative.

Something fun to think about, but just not reasonable to actually do it.

For me, it is going back to Bariloche to ski in the summer. And to stay in this villa.
http://www.apartmentsbariloche.com/bariloche-7/rentals-1/houses-17/H14-p203/
just look through the gallery, it is great - I love patagonian architecture.

Bariloche is my favorite town.
Beautiful alpine town with great atmosphere unique nature-inspired architecture and GORGEOUS nature all around.
The food in local restaurants is delicious - the best Italian food I had (and I live in NY) and asado, and all those chocolate shops and cafes.
We were there during their spring, and would love to also experience it in winter! I think it would be like a winter wonderland.

Now the unreasonable parts of it:
expense - when we went for our honeymoon over a year ago it cost us 11K for 30 days in Argentina, and we did not stay in places like that - we got private rooms in hostels.
Airfare is also much more of a consideration when going for a short time. 2k at least. OK for a 30 day trip, but not a 7 day one.

But the biggest impediment is that this place is simply too big for 2 people. If I had a huge family than it would be perfect for a reunion. But with friends - I won't find enough people willing to fly to Bariloche at the same time and share such a big expense.

So spending close to 10k for one week is just not something I would do or could enjoy. But I still think of coming back to Bariloche again. It is a romantic dream left from my honeymoon.

Another vandalism to our car - this morning we found car window was smashed.

Not even bothered to report it to police - it would take us another 4 hour to make them show up.

So DH missed second day of work in a row due to car problems.

Well, he could not drive on a highway at 80mph with ice flying with no window.
Mechanic will have window shipped to him today - but it will take hours. It is Christmas eve.

So, another day wasted and another $120 because of some human garbage that this this is fun.
I saw another window smashed on a block few weeks ago. And 0 guarantee it won't happen again tomorrow.

Our car did not start today. Again. This time we are sure none of the lights were on. The battery is brand new (less than a week old).

So it is either the alternator again (replaced one year ago) or some kind of electrical problem. We don't even know a good mechanic. The one we use replaced 3 things that did not need to be replaced before he found a problem last time. But there is no reason to believe the next one would be any better.

On the bright side, we have plans for a 4 day getaway on both Christmas and a New Year's weekend.
We will be staying in our friend's house in Catskills. Half an hour from the slopes (as opposed to 3 hrs from NYC).

They won't be there, as they are visiting family. It is a lovely house, we stayed there many times.
This is better than a hotel. Prices for hotels are very high during these holidays, than there is a cost of eating every meal out.
In the house there is a kitchen we are comfortable and familiar with, and a gourmet supermarket nearby.

I am so looking forward to skiing! And it is so much easier when it is only 1/2 hour away.

We had lunch with these friends today, I was very happy to treat them. They are really generous. They gave us keys from their manhattan apartment years ago and now a weekend house, and we are welcome to stay anytime.

Now I just hope our car does not die on us!!!

Another project I want to do this year:

I have a tiny camera and I will carry it with me everywhere in my purse and take one picture a day.

Even if it is routine, mundane... like a way home from work or a street I've seen 1000 times, or breakfast.

I think one can see things differently through the lens and it will be like a record of what our life was like - what we see on a daily basis. I will select a fixed number of photos (I think 4 on regular week and 8 on vacation/getaway week) and have an album page for each week. (maybe post them on the blog every week too).

I hope I will have the discipline to see this through.

I will start today so that I can prepare the album before the next New Year's Eve.

Considering how much value the funds lost this year, it is a drop in the bucket.

But dividends are still pleasant.
If the stock market goes up and my value is to increase $800 in one day - that does not have much effect on my mood since I know it will be down tomorrow again and that gain is not "real" (though loss does feel real).

But something that increases the number of shares I have(I elect to reinvest) feels more real.