Baby Finances

I totally have to gloat about stating the obvious - then having the obvious come true! I am so smart S-M-R-T! TechCrunch reported that Mint's going to migrate everyone on Quicken Online to Mint.com. Clearly you aren't going to manage two products, one product being a crippled/less useful version of the first. Thanks Aaron Patzer for doing the right thing. Good job. Also Mint, please integrate with Turbo Tax faster. Love the idea. Go. Quick. Like bunnies. I want a financial program that can not only do my taxes - but do stuff like figure out what estimated taxes I need to pay right now based on capital gains income - or random income or whatever. So like Mint would alert me it was time to pay my Mass & Fed estimated taxes for the quarter - then automatically tell me how much to right a check for. Now that would be AMAZING! Patzer - don't take flak from the people saying that you "sold out." Fing awesome you did. Now, you can integrate TurboTax which ...

Can I just say - OMG Mint.com has a fitness tab!!!! I'm so excited! I know most of you probably don't have fitness tabs yet (neener neener neener) - they sent me some email asking me to refer it to three friends in order to get it. But it's there, and it's fun, and slightly buggy still. I've been trying it out for about a month now. I'm slightly confused by how it works. It tells me that I should have a three month emergency fund. Okay great - I already have one and it's in straight cash in a savings account. But apparently it doesn't recognize it? Last month I failed at having a 3 month emergency fund... maybe it takes three months to register it? I have no idea. Maybe it's a bug or maybe I'm not using it right. It took me like a month to figure out that I have to not budget for how much I save every month in order to have a thing on the right hand side of the planning tab to say how much I was saving each month. I still put it as pa...

Mint made out well in the 170M aquisition by Intuit. Intuit gets a great company and a great product. Intuit PR insists that Quicken Online isn't doomed - and that they are going after a younger market segment than Mint. This I find to be complete BS. Quicken is much more recognized by older users. The only reason that PR/marketing is saying it's for a younger user is b/c it doesn't have the additional functionality and features that mint has (like tracking investments.) I'll call your BS Intuit PR. You tried to market your Quicken online to your standard users (probably 40+) but found that those people were weary of online Quicken. Those willing were already eaten up by all the other online personal finances places - and really your dataset is younger than standard Quicken users - not younger than standard Mint users. B/C you have less functionality than Mint - you're trying to market it to a younger set than mint. I think that's failing. If the Quicke...

They've made my childhood horror story into a cartoon! A happy cartoon. When I was in first grade I sat next to this girl - I can't remember her name. We'll call her "Ashley" because Ashleys in my day still spelled their name with a 'y'. Now there's all this "Ashlee" and "Ashlie" and "Ashly" bull pucky. We sat next to each other in those great little desks that you used to have with the legs that had adjustable heights, so each grade your desk was a little bit taller. We had those huge plastic bins that fit inside the desk, so you didn't have to dig anything out of the back. You just had to pull out the tray light a giant draw with no track. I wonder if desks in public schools have changed at all - they should have tracks now. Do kids even have desks anymore? Anyways, in first grade, we did a lot of coloring. Of course, we weren't allowed to have the 64 crayon jumbo pack with 11ty thousand different colors ...

There's a huge national debate about Healthcare going on right now. No one really knows the details - everyone is worried about them and therefore spreading rumors. It's like high school all over again. Why am I disappointed? B/c David Axelrod the Head of Marketing US policy to its citizens has failed at marketing this one. Too much hype, not the right sell to the right people, and un-targeted marketing is pushing public opinion down quickly. The marketing department of the white house needs to pick this one up quick and get a grassroots organization to start pushing support of this bill. This grassroots organization could rial support where opposition has hit hard already. Don't go on the defensive, don't give up, and do what you did in the election. This is not a policy problem - b/c no one knows what's even in the policy yet. This is a marketing problem. Overpromising and delivering nothing so far. People are getting antsy. Please, for the love of healt...

Dear Mint, WTF is up with your investment shiznit? Every few months you seem to think it's a good idea that you put in my investment accounts TWICE so it looks like I have double the money I actually have. Then when I take them out, I can no longer compare myself against the S&P 500 or the DJIA b/c it looks like I WITHDREW the money - when in fact I just fixed your Eff-up. WTF? It happened again over the last day or two. On the added side, now it also thinks I only have like 2K in my accounts b/c it thinks that my investments are only the cash I have in the accounts. So now the negative is like super huge. WTF? Cheers, LIP Dear JustThrive, WTF is up with the account updating feature? One of my accounts hasn't gotten updated IN TWO WEEKS. Why have I noticed? Oh, that might be because I paid off my credit card last month, and it still hasn't been updated. So all of last month's purchases are on it - and you keep telling me to pay it. I can't pay somethin...

Or so the Our Lady Peace album goes. We as the crazy humans we are decide to "scientifically" study what makes people happy or not happy. As an analytical mind, I find them interesting to read, but I don't really buy into them b/c I think it's ridiculous to study and measure anything subjective. It's like asking your mom how lovable you are. It's ridiculous and quite a bit insecure to do so; it also weirdly reminds me of Tickle-Me-Elmo. I mean, I'm sure I could come up with a scale for lovability, and make people rate it, and come up with things like how much someone's eye twitches when they yell out that I'm 87% lovable. Some of this "science" we do, I'm not so sure about. I mean, didn't they tell us to stop eating eggs and butter in the 80's b/c they were 'bad' for us? What determines your happiness level? Apparently genes, giving away stuff, exercising, thinking happy thoughts, and being old are the 5 keys to...

Every year my company does this road race. Yes, that's right, running. I really didn't train for this one, 3.5 miles was pretty ridiculous in the humidity last night. I finished, and definitely I didn't finish anywhere close to last, nor did I finish anywhere near close to first. It was actually really good b/c my quads were really sore from what my trainer made me do on Tuesday. After running/walking the 3.5 miles they were a lot more loose; they're actually only a little sore today. Yeah, that's right, I go to the gym and have a trainer. No, I'm not from LA. It really does motivate me to go more often, and she pushes me harder than I would normally push myself giving me goals that I wouldn't have even thought of. It's good for me. You should get one too, it will be good for you. Just wait til your gym is having a special on it b/c of the recession, and they are trying to keep their cash flow the same. Let me just tell you, if you have a bit of...

After two of my co-workers bid on houses last week, a fire to re-look at buying a house had some gas poured on it. Of course, the two people in my life who have had many experiences (not many but a hell of a lot more than me) with buy a house is of course my parents. So I immediately emailed my mother with an email entitled: OMG I WANT A HOUSE! Being the practical woman that she is, wrote back saying that she hadn't used a mortgage broker before but had just gone to local banks, but that different areas of the country were different and I should ask my co-workers and friends who bought houses what they did. Then the kicker, she asks, Are you sure you want a house, or do you just want to keep up with your co-workers? That really made me pause and think for a couple days. I stopped obsessing, and started self-examination of my reasons. This brings me to a brilliant idea! Someone should make a website where you can compete with other people your own age over what your net worth is...

Two of my coworkers- count them, two different ones made bids on a house this week. It literally kills me that they are bidding on stuff, when I can't really afford what I want (about 20K more than I can reasonably pay for right now - so totally within reach in the next 12-18 months.) One of them recently got married. His wife is an awesome girl. Apparently with a really poor credit history. He's mentioned before that she's really bad with her money and just doesn't do what is necessary to manage her money (like pay off bills.) He knew it was bad when he married her. It's not a death knell for the relationship or anything. But it did make it much more complicated this week when they finally started trying to get pre-approval for a mortgage. He seems pretty responsible, so I assume that his credit score is near mine (760ish depending on what burreau you pull from.) Her credit is apparently so bad (sub 650) that she wouldn't even qualify for a mortgage, on...

Will Mint.com aggregate data and sell it/use it to entice advertisers?  They're considering it.   There's a whole ethical vs. not ethical debate going on.  A lot of people make wild acusations about how they are going to delete their accounts if Mint starts to do this.  A) most people won't realize mint sells their data - I mean really, who actually reads those agreements? and B) people - you're stupid and don't know the meaning of the word aggregate  nor apparently can you look it up.   On this blog post , Matt from Thrive commented.  Basically saying as a company they decided it with unethical to sell people stuff when they are trying to help people not spend as much. Clearly, this is not a problem for mint in terms of their philosophy b/c from the begining they've tried to make money by advertising to their customers.  Their message has been pretty clear, buy stuff - but be smart about what you're buying, and know where your money is going.  Buy less cra...

Today I was entirely grateful that I'm not using Rudder.com. Word on the street is that they emailed out about 800 people's account summaries to a bunch of there members, those names starting with a or b were compromised. So it looks like someone figured it out soon enough to stop sending emails out of their out book. So Rudder.com, why aren't you using the Google Aps with the 5 second rule? Outlook is entirely outdated, and now you've not only hurt the users that you've compromised and your own credibility, you've also made a huge blow to the credibility of the entire industry. Good job (note the sarcasm.) What makes me mad, is not the fact that someone did something stupid, but rather that there are tools already at your disposal to save you from yourself and stupid errors like this. Mint.com, please don't do something stupid. My trust is still in your ability to do things logically and the smart way, with a good UI. Please don't break that trust...

I don't normally say anything when I add another one to my RSS feed. Someone suggested the Foggy Monocle and it is indeed hysterical. If you like to read about drunken antics I would suggest it. If you need something more over the top, and haven't been on the internet for the last few years check out the supper ridiculous Tucker Max .

I went to NY for a trade show last week. I normally find NY great, I'm excited to go, there's always a ton to do. I didn't really want to go, I felt way overwhelmed at work - and taking a trip for work was the last thing I wanted to do. But I had to go, it was a trade show. We took the 8:30 Accela down, we get there, and I am so annoyed. Not just at traffic, but at the entire city. By the end of the first day, I was so over NY. I love Boston/Cambridge, but for some reason NY hit me the wrong way and all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there. It might have been the massive crowds on the sidewalks that you had to dodge around, it might be the fact that it's the beginning of tourist season, the stars might have just aligned the right way. In all cases, I really wasn't feeling it, and not just the part where I had to work. It just felt all the same, and I was completely uninterested. It made me feel old to not want to be in NY. In start-up land news, @J...

I'm not talking about traffic. Yesterday, the big boss wasn't in. Which means that all the employees go home on time. And by 'on-time' I mean we leave at 6/6:30 instead of 7. We're cool. I know. I got home and it was still light out. In light of the fact that my company is again running a 3.5 mile road race in June - I thought it would be good to go out and do a bit of running so that I don't embarrass myself like last year. In my defense of last year's race, I was told about the race about 5 days in advance and did zero training. It was pathetic none the less. I'm determined to be less pathetic this year. So, I'm out doing my thing, jogging along the sidewalks in Cambridge. Passing the walkers, all the other runners passing me. I start to jog by some couple. They are walking their dog and really not paying attention to me. When I get close to the lady she eyes my shoes first, then starts to look up at me. She gasps, and I can't help...

Dear Aaron, I They mentioned that you were going to come up with a numerical point system. Where you can earn points for things!!! OMG I LOVE YOU!!! I P.S. Please set up the point system so that it's weight in a way that I can beat everyone else.

Yesterday when I looked at the weather at about 5pm the report was that it was going to be like 73 and sunny. Yeah, it was totally like 85 today. WTF Weatherman? How were you more than 10 degrees off? Your computer models suck it up. Not that I minded.

I was being really lazy today and went out to lunch. I felt like crappy horrible for you chinese food and stopped by a local place I'd never tried before. I looked through the menu decided what to have - then when I went to place my order - there was a note that said $10 minimum credit card order. WTF? I looked at the cashier and was like "sorry man, I don't have cash, I need to go somewhere else." The guy turns to me and is like "how about buying something else?" I was like, ummm I don't want more than a $5 lunch. I don't need two. The guy started babbeling about how "just this once" he would allow the transaction. Then he starts on a tirate about how expensive each credit card transaction was. That it was the same price if someone bought a two dollar item vs. a whole meal etc etc. I started getting angry. 99% of places don't have a minimum and/or just charge you more as the transaction cost is part of the cost of doing busi...

I finished the fourth book tonight. That's right. The last Twilight book, Dark Moon, Bright Sun, DayStar burns, whatever it's called . It's embarrassing to admit that I was interested enough that I actually read all of the books. About three chapters into the last book, it got to the point where I couldn't suspend disbelieve any more. I couldn't enjoy it, it had just gotten too ridiculous. I literally put the book down and didn't pick it up, for about twenty-four hours. Then I went right back to it, and then I read the rest of it. The monstrosity that has been taking over my pathetic existence for the past week or two is over. Done. I can move on with my life. Thank you Twilight. At least you were a quick read and didn't waste too much of my life.

I've had a whole tax debacle with trying to get someone else to complete them. Needless to say, it didn't work out. After stressing about it for over a month I finally just showed up at their door and demanded a refund and I would do it myself. It was ridiculous. So this weekend I used Turbo Tax to file everything. Everything went great for federal, but for some reason I had some form that could only be filed by mail... WHAT?!?!?! you say? It's 2009 and you still have to mail in your taxes - in paper format? Apparently. So I got everything together this morning to pop in the mail, but when I read the instructions later in the day at work - I had to include copies of everything - like W-2s and 1099's. At the end of the day - to mail in my taxes it's going to be 20 sheets of paper. A) My taxes aren't this complicated B) It's 2009 - I don't care what form I have, I shouldn't have to file anything by mail C) 20 sheets of paper? Seriously? I'...

I've been struggling to get my taxes done for like a month now. Not because they're that difficult - but because I took them to someone to have them done. They made some errors on the return and it didn't get filed when they tried to submit it. They also had some errors on the return - and it was just a huge mess. So, like a month ago, the day I got my taxes filed I sent the lady and email to try to sort things out. I got an email back from her in a reasonable amount of time with an "I'm checking on it." Okay - whatever. I call and leave a message later in the week because she didn't respond in a reasonable amount of time. No response. She sends me an email telling me what day to expect a call from her. Nothing. I email her again with a "I haven't heard from you." Nothing. I leave a voicemail. I get another email saying that she'll call me this afternoon. Okay I think, she knows I'm really anxious about this - I told he...

I usually talk to someone just about everyday. Sometimes it's like twice a week, sometimes everyday. It works for us. Don't judge. No questions allowed either. I haven't talked to him in a couple days. Tonight, he asked me "Are you okay?" My thought was, hmmm, didn't burn myself glassblowing tonight (though I did burn some hairs off my arm...), made a fancy vase, I'm not driving in traffic anymore... "Yeah, why?" "Hmmm I don't know, we just haven't talked in a while." I thought about it, and it's probably been more like 5-6 days. Then I was like, I wonder why it's been so long? Hmmm, and I was like, OMG I've been avoiding everyone for like a week because all of my free time has been spent reading books. Not just any good for you literature should have read these in high school English kind of books. Oh no, these are angsty teenage vampire books. That's right Lauren - I read Twilight (thanks for sendin...

I got a response from some of the guys at Thrive (hey Matt & Colin- thanks for listening to your users!) I've got to be honest, I've used the site maybe once since Tree.com acquired you guys. I looked at the new changes you implemented over the last couple days - solely b/c of your comments. I've never used your site for my sole financial planning site, purely because it just doesn't have the right features. It's always been my MacBook Air of financial budgeting sites, a bit superfluous but pretty and nice. I feel like I'm one of those that you say you are targeting - a group of people who didn't have access to financial advice and is taking their first steps. I have the same thing most mid-twenties people have - the phone and the web, and I get the vast majority of my content off the web. I am taking my first financial steps. Saving for a condo, saving for retirement, I bought my first car and got my first subsequent car loan about a year ...

My company moved this week, about 10-15 miles north of Boston. The drive is annoying, and moving in general is annoying. I discovered yesterday while I was lying in bed, because to be honest, I barely moved out of it this weekend, that I had lost one of my earrings. The diamond ones my parents gave me for Christmas a few years ago. Shit! I lose/break every piece of jewelry that my parents get me. My mom refuses to buy me another watch because I've broken so many. So, it's been about two years without a watch, because my mom won't buy me one. And it feels super awkward, after the 10 or so watches she's bought me in the past for holiday or birthday presents to buy my own. So I suffer without. It's a quirk, just go with it. The move in not only annoying in the amount of time that I'm going to waste trying to get to work everyday, but also in the fact that I'm going to have to fill up the gas tank in my car more than one every other month. Clearly an ...

I was volunteering this morning at Food For Free , like I do every month. They were offering free tax prep services for low income households. I asked questions about what low income meant, and I guessed, oh so if you make like 30-40K that would make you low income. The guy literally started laughing. He was like, no, you'd have to earn less than that to qualify. That just made me think, how many of you make that little? It goes back to this class article by the NYTimes . I would guess most people reading this are in the upper middle to upper classes. I know that I don't do enough. I've been considering adding more volunteering. Once a month for an hour or two is not really a lot. I picked something that seemed interesting, fit in my schedule, and was reasonably convenient . I know, you're not supposed to pick something convenient , but let's be realistic, I knew going really far out of my way really inconvenient times was not going to build consistenc...

Hey 2nd Story Software, don't you think now would be a perfect time to buy Mint.com? I think it would send a signal that you are the exact opposite of Intuit. I think it would also diversify your product portfolio. Plus Mint did an awesomely amazing job by both having a product that users want to use, and having a built in revenue model from the start. Excuse me twitter, but what's the point of your business when you're not making money? I know that works okay in the valley, but that doesn't work so hot here on the east coast. Similar acquisitions happened recently with Tree.com picking up JustThrive.com. Let me tell you, out of all the online budgeting programs out there mint works the best and is the most relavent. Can it be improved? Sure. Does it have all the features I find useful? Not really. But it is heads and asses above stuff like wasabe, justthrive, & rudder. So 2nd Story Software, Go buy it.

Dear Semi-famous celebrity (enough that you have a wikipedia page about you but not enough so that you are a house hold name): Why are you following me on twitter? I'm not that interesting. Sometimes I am funny. But not often. I read something today that americans drink an average of 24 gallons of milk a year. (I think, don't quote me, can't find the link, probably on twitter.) Excuse me people, that's One of my roommates only drinks whole milk. Gross!

I think that the letter that Intuit (Quicken) sent to Mint just shows how they don't get it. I've got to be honest. I don't think it's any of Intuit's business how many users Mint actually has. It should have no bearing on their business or business model. Intuit should have a better product/advertising/marketing if they want more users. They need to learn to build buzz and build a good product vs. trying to trash someone else. I think the last thing that anyone wants in this economy is more trash talk. That doesn't build consumer confidence. Was the bad PR worth it Intuit? B/c I have to say if you get your lawyers involved to try to verify what your competition is doing, I don't really trust you to do the right thing when it comes to me as a user. What did Mint do? Oh, that's right, they provided pretty much complete transparency. So who am I going to trust more the company that doesn't trust it's competitors to do the right thing, or...

So I signed up for twitter finally. I have a few friends that have been using it for a while (1yr+). I haven't joined because I never really understood how it could be useful. To some extent I still don't see how it is useful. Part of it is the large amount of freelancers and self employed out there that generate a large amount of "spam tweets." And their entire use of Twitter is to promote themselves. I'm not sure if it is working or not for them, but obviously people wouldn't do it for some reason. Either it is self promotion, actually gets them business, etc. I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe I'm not getting the point and therefore not getting the most out of the twitter experience. To some extent I kind of feel like it's one big huge chat room. Lots of noise and very little actual good tidbits. So my questions is, are the tidbits good enough to be worth the noise?

Every few months I flip out about life. I did it on the walk home from work today. I just start doubting myself and my place in life and the decisions I've made and basically just the path that I'm on. It usually starts out with thoughts like, What am I doing? Is this what I really want? Is this what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I making a really big mistake with my life? It's not any specific event. It just is a moment of self doubt that lasts for hours. It's cool. Whatever. I had an awesome idea for a business tonight though. Awesome idea. I think it was fated. Telling me I'm on the right path. Or maybe not. Maybe I'm not supposed to work everyday but just stay at home cook, bake bread, grow gardens, and have babies. Maybe I'm supposed to be barefoot and preggers. Am I too focused on 'unimportant things' like financial security and my career and having fun, or do I really have the rest of my life to find stuff that makes me happy? ...

I have some baby plants! About a week into cultivating my seed babies and I see some sprouts! I have some onion and basil sprouting already! I'm glad the basil is coming in quickly because I really am interested in eating it as quickly as possible. Mmmmm fresh basil! My baby plants are (hopefully) going to grow up into big plants some day and feed me. I like plants that feed me. They're the best! I've started practicing a new piece on the piano. This one is by E dvard Grieg . (That's not me by the way, but I sound similar... I swear.) It's post romantic. My teacher and I had a whole debate over what song to play after I really learned the Bach, she was like what would you like to play? I was like "classical" and she was like how about romantic? and I was like "how about classical", she was like "how about modern" and I was like "how about classical", she was like how about more brouque? and I was like "how abo...

Is it more secure or something to sign in on a second page? Because it's really flipping annoying. Why the hell should I click a link just to sign in? Why can't the old sign in on the home page work? What's the difference of signing in on the home page and a click to login? I hate that click. So flipping annoying. 90% of the people visiting your site are signing in, so why torture them? Why not just get to it. Mint.com - your foreplay sucks.

So, I got an email today, as a faithful - though bitter subscriber to JustThrive.com letting me know that they had been acquired by Tree.com. They write this nice letter telling me how Thrive is still "thrive" and how nothing is going to change etc etc. Do they expect me to believe that bullsh*t? I can't believe that Tree would acquire Thrive for no alterior motive other than to just be nice. No, Tree wants to make money. LendingTree, RealEstate.com Etc are all there to make money. They are not there to just sit and do nothing and look nice. To be honest, I'm not really sure why they would acquire Thrive other than to joint advertise with their other site, and get people to pay them more money. Let's be realistic this is a business. So please, JustThrive.com do not give me more bullsh*t - I've gotten enough out of you already. You're below my expectations, and your canned response to getting acquired is just as expected. I expect that by 2010 there...

In light of the amazingly warm weather this weekend. (I totally got trodon out of his frozen tundra of a parking spot - finally!) I'm getting excited about spring, and therefore spring gardening! I am trying to be super organized this year with my summer garden after the semi-disaster of last year. Last year, I started everything with baby plants instead of seed, and I started them about a month too late. Then, by the time things were really starting to move along we had a really rough storm that ravaged the budding flowers on the plants, and basically gave me very very little yield. Between all of us we are going to basically have a garden on our back deck I think before the spring is over. I did a bit of research to figure out what I could grow other than tomatoes. And not very much to my surprise, I found that the tomato plants I bought from Home Depot last year aren't really designed for Boston weather. I looked up some other stuff to figure out what else would do well ...

In talking to one of my friends the other day I realized that I've been obsessing over money. I mean obsessing. Almost every waking moment lately I've been thinking about, how much I have, how much I can make with it, how I can make more. Where more is coming from, where/how I could lose it, etc. Note, I'm not thinking about spending money, all I'm thinking about is making, saving, and earning more with it. I think that's kind of crazy. Most people do the opposite. I think I should take a month long money break. Not to go out and just spend frivolously, but to really just relax and stop thinking about it. Stop checking mint every day, stop looking at justthrive once a week. Don't look at my investments, don't do anything for one month. Maybe it will be like going cold turkey on a p0rn addiction. It might be difficult. Maybe I just need to distract myself with other things, like playing piano? Or maybe I should learn to juggle. I know in my head t...

I think it's absolutely hilarious that more people are looking at going back to school - specifically going to university. People go to university in hopes of getting a higher paying job. The problem is that many people think that just getting a degree, any degree, will make them more money. This logic is extremely flawed. I totally subscribe to the fact that college is not for all people. If you are going to school for a program that does not directly lead to a position that pays well, why are you there? I'm sorry but a program in Art History is not going to get you a higher paying job that what you would get out of high school. For some reason, my parents generation looked down on trade schools. I'm not sure why the social shift. But it was a terrible idea. The reality of the situation is for the kids that aren't motivated or smart enough to get university mostly paid for - I really don't think they should be in university. If your first year's salar...

One of my friends and I have a debate about shower order. Do you clean your hair first then your body, or do you start with your body and end with the shampoo & conditioner? Personally, I've always ended with the hair. But I think that's a historical thing. My parents operated that way when I was a kid. Mostly, I think because they didn't want the tears from the shampoo to start any sooner than absolutely necessary. But logically, it would make sense that you would wash off any hair dirt that stuck to your body after the shampoo freed it from your follicles . He's all about the logic. Hair then the rest. I think it decreases the usefulness of the conditioner. I like illogical sometimes. It's fun.

Mint.com just made a major update to their site. It absolutely rocks. They allow you to put in your full net worth including your car, how much it's worth, real estate & how much it's worth vs how much you owe. It is pretty freaking cool. I've been wondering for a while if there was a way to really calculate my net worth since the value of my car wasn't included. Now there is! The only real feature I want Mint to add yet is a savings plan. So that I can set up goals. Not only can I see everything in one place, but actually being able to set up financial goals other than a monthly budget would absolutely rock my world. The only thing in this update I'm not sure about is that everything is down to the cent. I'd rather round up to the dollar. But that's neither here nor there. The updated ways to save is rocking too. I love that it compares so many places at the same time. It bites that I just opened an ETrade savings account and now there is a D...

This is the third start-up I've worked at. One has become rather successful, another was a complete flop - more of a flop for me than in terms of the business..., and the third one is going well. I imagine it's a very different environment than large corporate offices. I don't have a well defined job description. I don't have a lot of perks like vision insurance or corporate sponsored retreats. I don't have a set budget - as it varies with how well we sell things. Plans change on a monthly, if not weekly, if not daily basis. We are pretty 'tight' at work. We don't get yelled at for being a couple minutes late, or having to leave a couple hours early. We regularly go out for beers together. We are fast-paced and agile in the market, easily making and enacting changes based on the changes in the market. We get to do a lot more than what our job title implies. We get to make big decisions that will be lasting and far reaching in terms of the compa...

It was a long day at work. Finally got stuff out the door. I was very happy to be home. To get through the day, I listed to Nickelbacks "Animals" about 80 times. I love dirty songs. Gives me that special tingle. Got home. Took off my clothes and climbed into bed to a fine night of laying here, phone calls, and potentially some hulu. At about 8:30 tonight I get a knock on the door. I put on pants and a sweatshirt to go outside, and the hallway is full of fucking smoke. I walk into the kitchen where the smoke is coming from, and it's so dense that you can't see across the room. For some reason the smoke alarm didn't go off. No clue why. It went off last week went I burnt toast. How come it goes off for toast but not when the entire kitchen was full of black smoke???? It turned out that one of my roommates put something in the microwave. She thought it was in for 6 minutes, but she really set it for 60. There were still 27 minutes left on the microwave ...

Cambridge weather today has been more difficult than anticipated. It started this morning with some snow. Nothing too bad, maybe like 3-5 inches. Then, weather retardedness started. It decides to start getting warmer, and raining buckets of rain. BUCKETS! So, now the snow is melting in the rain, and it's raining. It's melting & raining so fast that it's not draining properly. Plus the snow is blocking the water from getting to the drains. So, now there are slush puddles. That are the size of Texas. TEXAS SLUSH PUDDLES!! I had a hat on, my winter hat, which is wool. So, it's raining, and it's getting caught in the ribbing of the wool and staying on my forehead. And it starts dripping down my face between my eyes. Ice cold water. Dripping down my face == Chinese water torture. It was difficult.

bThis is the first 401K rollover I've ever had to do. When I moved to Boston, my first company didn't contribute to my 401K, so I just opened an IRA and contributed to that. I was a little lazy and didn't immediately rollover my old 401K and Roth 401K into my new IRA account. So lalala I finally figure out this fall that I should stop being lazy and try to start the process. And what a process it was. It took me like an hour of phone calls to figure out how to get the form to fill out. Then another couple days to get in contact with either the account place, or the account manager in order to figure out how to fill out the form. Because you could check two boxes - IRA or Roth IRA rollover. I had both. Like a week later someone gets back to me and tells me to just check both boxes. I turn the paperwork in, and expect things to happen. Well they didn't happen. Nor did they contact me. So a month goes by, and I'm like, where is my f*** ing money? I call the...

So here's the current debate. Weigh in. I've been taking piano lessons for a couple months. Probably since about Oct/Nov of 2008. So not long. But, I played the clarinet in high school and was rather good at it. So I pick things up quickly. To start out I bought a really cheap, I feel like not having a real piano is starting to hurt my development. By not having the same feel, it's kind of difficult to practice and get the same/right sound out b/c I'm not developing the motor skills really required to play. So, I've been looking at getting a digital piano. One with weighted keys so that it feels like a piano, but digitally sampled sound. The problem is that they are really freaking expensive. I mean like the very bottom on the line I'm looking at about $500. I've looked at ebay - but to tell you the truth the deals aren't all that great after shipping. At most I could save about $50-75 off the ticket price of a model that is three or four year...

For a long time I'd been lusting after this gigantic textbook/cookbook by the CIA (Culinary Institute of America... not that whole Central Intelligence Agency... anyways...). It's this Signals and Systems Engineering Textbook sized cookbook / howto / basic of hot cooking. Instead of telling you that you should take a salmon fillet of 6 oz and use this kind of poaching water for this amount of time. It's more a a general here's how you do something. Take 2 parts of stock or water, with some spices like one of these, and then heat the water to this temperature and cook until salmon is done. I LOVE these kinds of books. I know the basics of cooking. I've been helping my mother in the kitchen since I was in diapers; and been successfully feeding myself for close to a decade. (OMG has it really been close to a decade already...) And if any of you actually know me in real life - you know I'm a starving ethopian child. It's awesome and horrible all at the sa...