Just out of curiosity, I played around with firecalc again, you know, just to get a rough idea of where my parents stand. The results... does not look good. At all.

Most simulations show that their money will run out as early as 10 years time, 20 if they're lucky. And that's assuming a liquid portfolio of $350k, which they don't have.

So, something like a reverse mortgage, annuity, or down-sizing their house is NOT optional. They must leverage their house somehow. According to AARP's reverse mortgage calculator, it looks like they can get about $600 a month, which is just enough to pay for home expenses such as insurance, tax, and utility. Ugh.

I mean, I still think they can pull this off. They are very frugal, and expenses is apparently one of, if not THE biggest factor in making your retirement money last.

Still, it'd be ridiculously tight. This is no joke. I'd be sweating bullets if I were them. I'm already sweating bullets about myself, but at least I'm still youngish you know?

Heh, kind of on a roll today I guess.

The Fear
Some of you regulars may remember me talking about my parent's nest egg and wondering whether they are going to pull off retirement or not. Well, I think I finally have some solid numbers.

Earlier tonight, my mother asked me to take a look at their latest mutual fund statement. There's nothing extraordinary about the statement itself, but I finally know what the balance is (since my mom didn't know). In short, it's only $60k.

I mean, don't get me wrong. That's certainly a nice chunk of change, but... they're thinking about retiring like maybe next year or the year after that! $60k is NOT going to cut it!

I double checked about the $30k to $40k my dad has set aside to buy stocks. Mom said that the money is still there. Together, that's about $100k. Better, but I was still worried.

I asked if there was any other savings, and she said there is still a joint account that she has with her brother, but she's not sure how much is in there, or for that matter, how much of it belongs to her (long story). And... that's basically it.

Enter: The Fear.

I calmly asked my mom if they have any other assets she can think of. Anything at all. To my surprise, she said that their house is completely paid off! Wow, I didn't realize this as this had to be fairly recent. The house is worth roughly $250k (in a medium cost of living area), giving them a basic total of $350k net worth.

I think she sensed my distress and quickly asked, "Can we retire?" I took a deep breath, smiled, and said, "Yes."

But I also explained that there will be a couple of caveats. For one thing, it can't be too extravagant. She confidently stated that it's no problem. That's true. My mom is very frugal. My dad might have to adjust a little bit, but I think he'll do just fine since he won't be a slave to the clock anymore.

The other caveat is that she will have to sell the house some day. $100k is simply not enough to retire in the US, so she will need to downsize eventually (or reverse mortgage or something else). To my surprise, she said that it's fine. You see, she loves the house, but I think she was already aware that they would have to do this some day.

For some reason, I thought they had more than this though. They've always worked hard to save, and truth be told, I thought they might inherit a small chunk of money when my grandmother passes away.... But you know, I think a net worth of $350k should be enough for a simple couple. At least I hope so. What do you think?

The Loathing
Since I took so much space talking about tonight's fear, I'll just keep my loathing short. Basically, my W-2s have arrived. I'm still waiting for a couple of 1099s, but I'm basically ready to file my taxes. This year should be interesting, since I've shifted my rollover IRA assets around.

I had an interesting talk with my mom last night. She was talking about how she only needs the simple things in life to be content and satisfied. A bed to sleep in, eating well, and getting to see the grandchildren from time to time.

I used to think that such sentiments, while heart-warming, it also seemed, well, kind of dull.

However, after having gone through the entire weekend without heat and not sleeping well, her message, in that moment, really sunk in for me. I then realized just how much I was enjoying the warm meal she cooked and just the heat in her house.

Kind of crazy, but it got me thinking that we all need warmth in our lives. Warmth in all sense of the word, if you think about it.

Are we interested in only the technical aspects of decluttering and saving money? Or we are after something more than this, such as figuring out where we belong, where we call home, and where we can find our own sense of warmth and soul. Isn't that the real reason why we do what we do?

Otherwise, frugality and simple living really would be nothing more than a cold, dull struggle....

Yes, I think this is how I've been doing it all wrong. Instead of trying to live with less, I should be focusing on finding happiness in having less clutter. Instead of trying to just save money trying to cook at home, I should be focusing on the warmth of a home-cooked meal. Instead of living in a house, I should be focused on living in a home.

Well, that's my crazy Monday morning thought anyway. But yes! I think this is an approach worth looking into.... I'm just not entirely sure how to do it yet. If anybody has any ideas, let me know.

Besides Battlestar Galactica, I am just finding that I am not terribly interested in too many movies or TV shows. I guess I am more of a gamer, and anyways, the local Red Box is plenty for me.

Let me also say that my experience with Netflix has been absolutely positive. So, this has nothing to do with their service. For that matter, I think $10 a month is a very reasonable price.

But then, if I'm not using it all that much, then it's still money wasted right? So, I figure I might as well cancel it.

This arctic cold snap is no joke, but that's not why I'm cold. The central heating is suppose to maintain 50 degrees F.

It is not!

I hear it kick on from time to time, but the thermostat needle is way below 50 and it definitely does NOT feel like 50!

Something is very wrong with the central heating. Of course, I wasn't going to walk out there in the middle of the night to investigate. Now that the sun is up, I'm going to go take a look.

On the "upside", I learned that my current passive heating strategy can handle about this temperature, but just barely. I wouldn't be surprised if I slept through below 30 degrees F last night.

But this is getting insane.

Tracfone currently has a web exclusive deal where you can get 1500 minutes for $200.

Now, I know that sounds really steep at first, but if you break it down, it comes out to only $0.13 per minute! That's better than even their own usual rate of $0.17 per minute! (All this is before tax, which bumps up the rate very slightly.)

Plus, my phone has double minutes, so, I actually got 3000 minutes total, or roughly $0.066 cents per minute! My service is also extended out for an extra year.

I still have 200 minutes left, but I went ahead and jumped on this one because it is simply a great deal. Overall, I'm saving $60 with this than if I bought their usual minutes. And of course, this is still infinitely cheaper than most anything else out there.

To put this into perspective, I use an average of 100 to 150 minutes a month. In other words, my total phone bill is basically paid off and set for the next 2 years!

* Anybody got their PerkStreet bonus money yet? I haven't. The first one is suppose to be that $5 for making a credit card purchase. Maybe it's a lump sum thing they deposit at the end of the month? I should've kept the email.

* I'm basically loaded and ready to do some more trading this year, but I haven't made a move yet. The year is still young, and if there's one thing I've learned about trading, it is that one should never be in too much of a hurry to lose money.

Actually, I'm just wondering if I will even be able to do this once my job is over. My current job is pretty sweet. I get to sit down and actually do all this part-time trading while I'm at work. Will I be able to do this on my next job? Will I even have internet access or get to sit down?

If so, I'll probably continue to trade, but if not, I'm seriously considering just plopping down with Vanguard and go completely passive.

* I admit I'm in a bit of a funk about my job situation. But then, I would read about all the troubles other people are having, and you know what? I can't complain. My life isn't so bad! At least my problems are strictly financial, and it's not like I'm even in a bad financial shape really.

* Saw UP last night. Wow, that was a bitter sweet movie. The bonus short feature was hilarious, and fleshes out what happened to the dogs in the beginning.

* Last but not least,

here's today's moment of zen.

Check out the chart!

Usually, I'd just add it to my links, but I thought it'd be fun to share it first as well.

David Bach has an e-book out that's available, free for today only, called

Start Over, Finish Rich.

I don't know if the book is any good yet because I wanted to share this link as soon as possible. At quick glance though, it looks like a basic book aimed at people who, as the title implies, are just starting over.

But it's free, so get it while you still can!

So, my family took a trip to see the Biltmore estate in Asheville, NC. The trip turned out to be surprisingly affordable, but only because of a series of fortunate happenstances. Is that even a word?

Anyways, we found a motel that costed $60 per night, which I thought was cheap considering that it's 2 queen, not 2 doubles. Plus, they offered a 10% coupon for a nearby restaurant, which turned out to be one of the best restaurants I've ever went to.

The shocker was that I thought the Biltmore estate was going to cost $25 per adult. I guess not for their Christmas festival, because that turned out to be $60 per adult! Oh but here's the REAL shocker.

My mom is a very friendly person who tends to smile and say hello to everyone. I'm always constantly watching her, muttering that one day, we're going to get mugged for it. But for that day, some lady seemed to be so impressed that she gave us vouchers that was good for 4 adults (which we needed) that was worth $240!

Yes, her being nice and saying hello to total strangers saved us $240 in admissions! We thanked the lady profusely, and she responded with, "Merry Christmas!"

But the best part of it all? My parents sprung for everything. They wanted to do it, and who am I disagree? Yeah, I know. I'm such a Scrooge.

So, this guy I know bought an iPhone. He's unemployed, won't look for even a part time job, subsisting entirely on student loans, and buys an iPhone.

His reasoning? I quote, "Well, I had a tough few days, and I decided that, you know what? I'm just going to get one."

Amazing. Everybody has tough days. Everybody. And those tough days that he was talking about? Well, long story short, he broke up with his ex-girlfriend. Let's just put it that way, because there's more to it, and frankly, I thought he was being a manipulative tool to her anyways.

Yes, this is the same guy that I'm trying very hard to not hang out too often. He's just, I don't know, he drives me batty. It's not so much that he has issues that bothers me. After all, who doesn't have issues?

It's just that he doesn't treat me much like a friend anymore, especially when a woman is involved. Even with waitresses that are spoken for or even married and I'm not even remotely interested in, he would look at me like competition and talk to them about my flaws like somehow it's just innocent humor.

I don't know why I even bother hanging out with him. I don't see him often as it is, and he can actually be cool sometimes. But you know what? If he doesn't want to treat me like a friend, then I'm just going to say forget it.

The temperature that is.

I know others do the no-heat challenge, but for me, having no heat when it drops below 50 is passing that point where I can not sleep well. And if I can not sleep well, everything else in my life is going to suffer. So, that's why I don't personally do the no-heat challenge. For the rest of you that do, you're better than me!

However, what I do do is the 50 degrees experiment. I don't call it a challenge because, to me, a challenge would basically boil down to sheer willpower. While I could do that, I'd much rather figure out a way to live comfortably while staying at the lower temperature.

50 degrees is kind of pushing it though. You know it's borderline when even your eyeballs are a little bit sore due to cold....

But it's been an interesting experiment nontheless. I bought a sleeping bag from Walmart a while back. It's nothing fancy or expensive, and I use it more like a comforter. Rated for 40 degrees though, this alone has been enough to keep me warm at night!

My face has been a particularly interesting challenge. My nose, eyes, and ears get uncomfortably cold when I am trying sleep. I've tried several different things, but eventually settled on putting a toboggan over my face. Yeah, you know I'm nutty like that. The fabric is quite breathable though, and the toboggan also helps to trap some of the warmth from the breath and spread it around my face.

As for when I am up and about, I double up on the sweat pants and hoodies. The outer layer is extra large so that it can also cover over my hands and feet if necessary.

Overall, I have to say that this is actually... quite workable! There's no way I'm going to impress any woman with this, but nevermind that. Have you seen my gas bills recently? Well, they're still climbing because I still have them on to maintain 50 degrees, but the cost so far seems to be roughly the same as when I was sleeping in the closet. Except this way, I can go all over the house and even go outside!

Another peculiar benefit is that I've actually been sleeping slightly better? Because it's cold to be up and about, I'm not as tempted to stay up late. In fact, I've actually been looking forward to going to bed early just to get warm.

Ah, but even my frugal mother is starting to voice her concerns that I should turn the heat up. I don't know though. I'll bet I can do this the entire winter. I do turn the heat up when the kids are with me though. It's amazing how much of a luxury and joy that something as simple as heat can be when you normally go without it....

I'm near the finish line in getting all of my bank accounts straightened out.

My Wachovia account is finally squared away. It's completely hands-free. All I have to do now is just close the account some time late 2010 when the 5% saving program ends.

My PerkStreet account is set up, but will need to see it in motion to confirm that everything is working as it should. I've re-routed $1000 a month to it, and because it earns 1% cash back on purchases, I'm going to use it to pay off as much of my bills and expenses as possible.

My current credit union account is now my primary savings account. I need 12 transactions per month to maintain 3% APY. So, I will do that and then switch off to my credit card and PerkStreet.

If it works out as advertised, I will probably keep PerkStreet for as long as they give 1% cash back. I don't have any incentive to keep Wachovia, so I will likely close that when their savings program is over.

The title is sarcastic. I'm about to rant about my ex again, so please feel free to ignore if you don't want to read about negative stuff. I'm also going to try very, very hard to keep it short.

I just had another fight with my ex last night. Basically, our divorce contract states that I get the kids from Dec 23rd to Dec 24th while she basically gets from Dec 25th to Dec 26th.

Over the past years, I've been accommodating and generous by allowing them to have the entire Dec 24th as well because her mother, who doesn't get along with the rest of her family who celebrates on the 25th, have her own Christmas party at her house on the 24th.

The past years haven't been a problem because I had gotten those days off, but this year, I have to work Christmas Eve, which means I was going to pick up the kids after work on the 24th to meet my parents for the holidays, instead of the usual 23rd.

Now, I ask you this. When someone is kind enough to step outside the legalized, contractual agreement-- with no personal gain to be had for said act of generosity-- and now this year, he has no choice but to work, causing a schedule conflict, what would you do?

A) Ask politely to see if the schedule can be worked out somehow? Maybe even thank him for having been so accommodating, and hey, is there something I can do to return the favor?

OR

B) Point out how the father is somehow at fault for changing the dates, even though it's within his legal bounds, as this causes a schedule conflict with her plans? A schedule conflict that he didn't even know she had at the time?

Guess what my ex-wife chose? You guess it. B!

Again, I'm trying to keep this as short as possible, so I won't go into details about a host of other incredible accusations she has made or implied about me. Please. Like anything she says actually holds any credibility.

In any case, I gave her the 24th again, and shifted my schedules to pick the kids up today to meet my parents. I don't mind it because my parents and I are much more flexible than their family's holiday plans (which is true). And to be fair, she did eventually calm down and talk nice.

Of course, it's not the date changes and my accommodating that bothers me. It's the fact that she's playing the victim and I'm the evil bad person again that frustrates me. Geez.

Well, it's that time of the year again, where after the last paycheck of the year comes in, I like to sit down with a cup of hot chocolate, look at my net worth history, and get a feel of how the year has progressed.

I don't know about the rest of you, but to me, the net worth isn't just a bunch of numbers. To me, it's more like brief reflections of my past life.

For example, I can look all the way back to 2006, when I was going through divorce. I see that I actually put down $500 for asset. It was all the cash I had, and even then, it was probably rounded up. I remember fretting about how I was going to come up with the money for my divorce lawyers, who wanted $6000 up front, and even then, I thought that maybe I shouldn't do that because I still had hope that we could patch things up....

Or take Jan 2008 for example, where for the first time, I had no liabilities listed. I remember wanting to be debt-free so badly, I scrimped everywhere, and I still remember all the rice and ramen noodles I've eaten to accomplish that goal. 2007 was not an easy year, but 2008 seemed like it was full of possibilities, even in the face of the economic meltdown.

This year does seem a little different. The previous years felt like I was in some kind of disaster survival mode, where all I could do was take care of the basic essentials. This year, with everything seemingly ship-shape, I was able to indulge in a little bit of furthering and deepening my finances, such as saving beyond minimum emergency funds. I also became a consumer and took advantage of many recession deals. As a result, I've progressed roughly $900 less than what I did last year or the year before.... But I have to admit, this year was a bit of a luxury for me.

Next year though, I'll be back in survival mode because of my impending job loss. Obviously, for someone who is as concerned about personal finances as I am, the specter of job loss hits me pretty hard. Then again, compared to what I've had to deal with in the past, this shouldn't be so bad? I'm certainly not losing sleep yet, which is always good.

I just received an interesting email from PerkStreet. They're making two additional offers:

1. Get $5 for making a non-PIN purchase with your PerkStreet debit card.

2 Get $100 if you direct deposit $1000 or more per month for the next 3 months.

The first one wouldn't be difficult at all... just as soon as I can get it activated! (I called them about it. They said they sent it, but I asked them to send it again.)

The second will require a bit more thought.... I suppose I could technically do that, but it also means that I should re-direct some of my bills that-a-way, because, look, I'm not made of money, and I still have to use my current credit union account to maintain my 3% APY. So, it all sounds like quite a bit of hassle....

But then, it's 100 smackers that they want to put into my hands for no extra money from me. Just shifting my personal finance towards their way. So, maybe it's worth it?

Sorry for the pseudo swearing there, but I'm just absolutely blown away by the new Battlestar Galactica. I finally made it to season 4.5, but can't watch it on Blu-ray! I don't know why, but I'm betting it's some kind of Cylon encryption. The disc works just fine, even the bonus footages, until you get to the actual episodes. I've had Netflix send me two copies, but both failed the exact same way.

My PC is my only Blu-ray player. I don't have a standalone unit.

The chills.... Must be BSG withdrawal. Don't know what to do. Gotta have my fix!

I spoke to a Wachovia rep. She said that what happened is that I put in $100 deposit to open the account, then set up $100 a month of transfer to their Way2Save program. Then, Wachovia also added their $50 bonus money (which is the main reason why I decided to go through all this), giving me $150 total.

The first month transferred just fine. The second month, I was short $50 on the transfer. I found out that Wachovia saving accounts act as an overdraft, so it pulled $50 out of the savings into my checking to cover the difference so that I can transfer the full $100... back into savings. Kind of funny when think about it.

But bottom line is, I didn't lose any money, so I decided to just keep up with the program. I want to set up a monthly transfer, but I can't access my account online without my pin number and I had trouble using their phone system. Maybe I will stop by a branch later.

PerkStreet is almost set up. I've set up a $15 a month transfer there from my checking. I'm planning on using it to pay my monthly Netflix bill. I'm also missing my pin number here, so I can't activate the debit card. Netflix is blocked at work anyway, but once the card is activated, then I can use that to pay Netflix.

What a pain. Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth all this trouble. Anyways, anybody know when pin numbers are suppose to be mailed? I've already received everything else, but I haven't seen the PIN letters yet.

A little while back, I set up an account with Wachovia to try to earn their bonus money. I thought I was doing fine until the first statement came in and I was fined $50 service charge for not having enough money in the checking when it tried to transfer to savings or something.

In all of this job fretting, I forgot that I set up $100 a month of automatic transfer to take advantage of Way2Save's 5% APY savings program.

Now, I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I'm basically thinking of either closing the account, or sticking $1200 in there and let the way2save program run for a year until the 5% APY expires.

But whatever it is, I have enough on my plate already, so I don't want the hassle of keeping up with this account. The $50 bonus for opening the account is already lost from the service charge, so, what would you do here?

On a related note, I also opened an account with PerkStreet Financial. I just got their welcome letter earlier this week, but I don't have a debit card from them yet. I think after 3 months, PerkStreet will actually pay me $75 total, but I do have to keep up with it. That is, at least one transaction per year. Plus, they offer 1% cash back for all purchases (which honestly isn't that great of a deal for me because I've been locking down on my spending).

Once again, what would you do here? Perhaps set up an automated bill pay? Close the account? Or something else?

For reference, my current credit union account is doing just fine. It pays 3% APY for my balance there, and although it requires 12 transactions per month, I have no trouble keeping that up.

I just had an annual review with my boss.

I'm kind of surprised that raises were available, although my pay grade was already nearly maxed out, so it wasn't a big raise or anything. Still, I'm not complaining at all, and this job is ending soon anyways.

Also, my boss said his bosses are pondering the possibility of offering a bonus for those who decide to stay until the very end. That also makes sense because it would not help current operations if we all started to leave early.

Still, his advice is that I shouldn't wait if I do find a better job elsewhere, which I agree.

Overall, it was pleasant. My boss tried to help me with what he could, and I made sure to thank him. Every little bit helps.

Answer: Before it rains.

Since I don't anticipate any more major expenses for the rest of the year, I decided to go ahead and post the "results" of my 2009 goal as well.

My 2009 goal was simple enough: Throw everything I have, including the kitchen sink, at the emergency savings.

That's it. Simple right? The hard part, of course, is doing it.

I think if I really, really wanted to, I could have achieved this goal. However, earlier in the year, I was still on a sort of recession-deal buying spree. I mean, I don't think it was a terribly bad thing, but in the end, the result is still that I would only reach 85% of my intended goal.

But that's still progress, and I'm really glad that I did, because this year also came along with the bad news that I will be losing my job soon.

And hence the question in the title. I'm glad that I started saving before the news about the job situation happened.

Finally, since I'm here, I might as well go ahead and state my 2010 goal. Again, it's going to a simple goal that will be easier said than done.

Very simply, find a decent job.

Every year so far, it's been something.

So, there was a blood drive at work, and I decided to get involved.... This is my first time, so I didn't know that they feed you snacks! I had to give up my lunch time though, but it's for a good cause, and the free cookies and apple juice certainly helped.

I finally rented this movie from Redbox, and wow, I'm just blown away. What a great movie! I loved Latika's theme song so much that I decided to get it. That's another $0.99.

We had a pow-wow at work that involved the boss, the boss' boss, and the boss' boss's boss. Sooo, you know there would be free food. And good stuff too! Green beans, sweet potatoes, chicken, and even steak! Woohoo! I love free food.

We had this pow-wow in order for them to update us on our site situation. It would seem that perhaps we may have as much as a year, not six months, but nobody is guaranteeing anything.

Given the situation, I suppose the mood was fairly somber, but I didn't feel that way. I was getting free food, they were telling us that we may have longer than expected, which also means that I'll have even longer to have income and save, which means I'll have even more savings to sustain myself after that.

Besides, they brought food for heaven sake, and it's not like it's their fault the site is shutting down. How can anyone get upset over that? So, I stayed over and made sure I said thank you and shook their hands.

But this impending shutdown is also a perfect example to me how life can be so uncertain, and that the only way to fight it is by creating your own financial safe harbor.

Stock trading talk.

Even though I've effectively frozen all stock trading right now, it would seem that I don't want to stop delving deeper and deeper into it either.

So, anyways, I'm mulling over whether to stay with Scottrade, or switch over to either WellsTrade or OptionsHouse.

Scottrade is perfectly fine, but for me, it's also the middle-of-the-road option for discount retailer brokerages, and I think there might be something cheaper and better out there?

For example, WellsTrade will give me up to 100 free trades per year. If I had maxed that out with Scottrade, it would be up to $700 per year in trading fees.

OptionsHouse has one of the lowest rates in the industry, and like Scottrade, they work on flat fees. At the very least, while Scottrade's $7 per trade fee is pretty good, OptionsHouse is even better at only $3 per trade. And as the name implies, OptionsHouse is geared towards option trading, so I can continue to trade stocks if I wish, but have plenty of room to grow into options as well. Best of all, OptionsHouse also has a flat fee for options contracts, $10, which is actually kind of high unless you write relatively big lots. But to me, that also means the orders can be scalable while the price remains the same!

OH also lets you set up with a virtual account, so that's what I am currently tinkering with.

So anyways, that's what I'm thinking. WellsTrade if I just want to stick with casual stocks, and OH if I want to get into options. I could stay with Scottrade and even use their OptionsFirst program, but their tickets are $7, followed by $1.25 per contract! That's pretty expensive!

But don't worry. I'm taking my sweet old time on this because it will be a while before I can get my money together to open a real account. Two years maybe? It will probably take at least that long for me to get the hang of using basic options anyways, let alone try anything fancy.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Soooo, you guys know how worried I am about losing my job and not having money.

Soooo, I guess it won't make a whole lot of sense to anyone then that I've bought and built a new computer for my middle son.

Why am I doing it? Because there's this new game that my oldest son and I are playing together that my middle son wants to play as well. He's 12 and is starting to know more about games than I do.

But that's not really the reason why I did it. That's only the reason why I've decided to do it now. We have a chance to play together with something we all enjoy, and considering that I don't see my children that often, I don't want to pass up the opportunity....

But the real reason why I did it is because he's a lot like me. He's that kid that likes to sit quietly in the corner, tinkering with something. I know the ups and downs of being that kid, how people may view you, but also the great potential that can come out of it with the right tools and incentives.

My first computer was an Apple II, and it opened up a whole new world that I didn't even know existed! It was my mad scientist lab and private world all to my own, where the only limitation was my imagination... and technical knowledge.

With it, I explored digital music, digital art, and with internet later, my world expanded that much further, connecting with like minded people. I've been programming on my own since I was 8 or 9 years old.

Now, I don't know if my middle son will be as inspired by a computer as I have been, but he has a similar personality as I do, and I believe that it will do him a world of good.

Oh, and although it placed a nice little dent on my savings, I am still on track overall. I wouldn't have even thought of doing it if I didn't think I could pull it off. It's probably my last great purchase for a very, very long time though.

I'm a little surprised that my net worth went up this month because, knowing that I'm going to be out of a job soon, I've effectively frozen all my stock trading, and instead, have been focusing on nothing but just building up my emergency fund. The only thing I'm still contributing to are passive investments such as my 401(k).

I'm probably over-reacting to my impending job loss. It's only a job, and so long as I can find another one and keep the income rolling in, I should be OK. I also realize that there are people out there dealing with much worse issues than this.

Still, this isn't something I can brush off.

What are you doing for Black Friday?

As for me, I plan to avoid the crowded traffic and the general hassles of the shopping frenzy at all cost. Although I may run out real quick, mostly, I'm just going to stay home.

I... don't think I will ever understand the point of being out on Black Friday. If there's actually a benefit to this, please clue me in.

In the meantime, I've already prepared a crockpot for tomorrow. I'm experimenting (again) with a variation of the Italian chicken recipe. Crossing my fingers, I hope it will turn out well.

Speaking of experimental cooking, anybody ever seen caviar parfait before? It's one of the most

visually stunning food creations I've ever seen! I don't think I'll ever actually try it, but for those who may be interested, ThinkGeek sells a small DIY kit.

Not financially-related, but I thought these were so cute and funny that I just HAD to share it.

Kitty on the slide.

Begging kitty.

Dishes
So, someone requested that I take pictures of the dishware, as if to imply that I don't have the stones to use my gift card to buy dishes! Well, I'm going to prove you wrong! I think! I'm strong! I can do this! Baby step to open the wallet. Baby step to touch the gift card. It's OK, it's OK! Take a deep breath and try again.... Baby steps to touch the gift card....

Anyway, here's the floral pattern:


Yeah, I must be getting old or something to think that this is a nice design on plates.... The bowls are straight lines though.... And the cups are actually Chinese stoneware, not American Vitrelle like the dishes. I wonder if they're microwaveable? Or do they still leech lead or something? Anybody know?

Bed
While I had the camera out, I thought I'd take a snapshot of something crazy I came up with late last night. I was trying to sleep and couldn't help but notice that it was much colder than usual. Even my face, ears, and especially my nose was cold enough to be uncomfortable.

Rather than turning up the heat some more, I thought that if there was only some way to just create a much smaller space, I could use just my own body heat to stay warm.

So *cough* this is what I came up with:


Well, it seemed like a good idea last night! Of course, lots of things seem like a good idea when I'm half asleep. It's a good thing people don't try to sell me volcano insurance during late nights.

Yeah, I know. I'm too old to be building forts with mom's furniture. But you want to know something crazy? I think it actually worked well! It was just enough to take the bite out of the cold air and let me sleep comfortably....

I'm planning to put it back and try something else though, but before I do, I thought you guys might get a kick out of a picture of it first.