Baby Finances

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...