The road to $1000

Yesterday I decided to reconcile all my recent Aetna insurance claims (believe me I did not want to).  Since we are in CR, I need to pay in cash at the time of service and then get reimbursed later.  Due to recent workload isses, I ended up submitting about 12 claims at the beginning of this month.  Guess what...they had "missed" a few items...total ~$55.

Total: $307

PS - I liked Flogger's comment on the last $1K post.  It really is amazing that something as simple as just changing your mindset in small ways can pay off substantially in the long-run  (includes more than just financial matters)

$700B

So I really wanted to stay out of this because it is being talked about to death...but...I heard something troubling today. I heard that the pricing that was being used to purchase the bad loans was something OTHER than fair market value. I certainly hope that this is not true. If we (the taxpayer) pays one cent more than the fair market value for these loans then we are getting ripped off and our money is effectively subsidizing the banks.

At the end of the day I think it is bad enough that we are buying bad debt. I understand that we *HAVE* to or the whole market may "collapse"... but it certainly is not something that most of us would ever contemplate doing with our own money...oh wait...this *IS* our money (or should I say our debt since this will simply be written against the national debt).

In the end, it will be done...we just need to ensure that we get the best deal possible. I recommend we have someone like Warren Buffet step in and negotiate a good deal on behalf of the American Taxpayer. He has a great track record of driving a great deal...let's use our national resources here on this one!

The road to $1000

Day 3 (Friday): coffee at home, skipped lunch and did not buy a bag of candy that I wanted --> $4

Day 4 (Sat): nothing ;-(

Day 5 (Sun): opted for the "$115/night" room at Las Palmas vs. the "$165/night" room saving a total of $150 over the three night reservation...plus...we figured out that Payton was an "infant" and not a "child" saving another $60. Total for day 5: $210 (Jen assisted on this one)

Total: $252

The road to $1000

Day 2: Well today I did not really do much but I did brew my first 2 cups of coffee at home and I skipped lunch. In the states that may have saved me about $10...but here in Costa Rica that only saved me about $3.

Total: $38

Now...as far as the economy goes...today was a nice day on Wall Street. Amazing how one can feel "better" when their stocks going up 6% despite the fact they are still down 20%.

The road to $1,000

For the time being I am going to stay away from commenting about the market.  I think we all have had a little too much market talk lately.  For the record I have not done anything with my positions except watch them go down like everyone else.  Instead...

On the drive home today, I was wondering just how much we tend to piss away money in a seemingly infinite number of little ways.  Now I know that this is nothing new to most of you who have been through one or two financial books...most of the time it is called something akin to "The Latte Factor".  While I do not drink fancy lattes everyday from Star$$ it does not meant that we don't do this in many other ways.   And a penny saved IS a penny earned...so my gaol is to keep track of all the little things that I do daily and keep a running total.  That way I can see how long it will take before we get to $1K. 

Today I cleaned one of the A/C units in our house.  I know that would have cost me $35 so today I saved $35.   I have two more to get to at some point...so that should help...

Total:  $35

That is all for tonight