Monthly Archives: January 2011

I am in insurance hell. Mr G’s workplace changed from one pharmaceutical provider to another another and what I thought was awful has transformed into dismal.

The story I have to tell (which will not be today) is incredibly sad. It will make you scream for healthcare reform and it will show you why our insurance companies keep people sick.

I spent $1,919 for my Simponi this month. If I work at it for a half dozen hours I might be reimbursed. But then again, I might not.

Jane asked me about makeup. I won’t tell you which kind, just that she’s asked to start wearing it.

If done tastefully I think it’s okay, but since she’s 12 I’m pretty sure that it won’t be tasteful.

What have y’all done? I’d like some input please.

As a total aside I’m absolutely obsessed with nail polish. I hadn’t worn it in 13 years and I am hopelessly in love with all things OPI. But really, back to Jane. I ‘d like to know what y’all have done or plan to do.

Last week 9,000 students at LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) were kept at school until after 5pm. A LAUSD police officer had been shot, and the shooter had not been apprehended. There is a lockdown protocol in place, and students in nearby schools were kept in their classrooms. Neighborhoods were shut down and parents worried about their children.

That is what we do. We worry for the safety of our children. Nothing could be more normal.

This was an extraordinary event. A much more common emergency (around here) would be an earthquake. During college I remember hearing about tornado warnings, but I had no idea what part of the state I was actually living in so I worried a little less than a smarter girl would have.

I have a dozen earthquake kits scattered around the house and one in each car. They have blankets, first aid kits, water purification tablets, MRE’s and manual flashlights in them. I also keep cash in the house (but I’m weird about it so you’ll have to see the video to see just how weird) as well as a gun. I figure if the LAPD is on tactical alert I’m the only one who will take care of my family (well, Mr G will once he’s home) so our Lady Wesson isn’t for everyday but she’s part of the kit. I keep tons of bottled water as well as canned food, and I never let my prescriptions run out. I think being a refugee’s kid makes me a little over-prepared.

I’m very bad about keeping gas in my car. I know you’re supposed to do that.

My questions for you are twofold, what is your emergency and what goes into your emergency kits?

Also, watch the video for a really important tip on how to plan.

And then you do a blog tour about how to discipline a child with love and laughter. No? This doesn’t work?

Or first you’re Con Agra, and you defile America’s Food, lobby to get masses of corn derivatives into everything, rename high fructose corn syrup, donate some left over bags of Slim Jims to shelters, and then ask the mommy bloggers to support you.

WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE DOING? Ladies, your children are being poisoned, they are fat, they have diabetes, and their expected lifespan is shorter than ours. Don’t punch your kid in the face and then give parenting advice.

Last week Jane had a school soccer game. The night before I’d reminded her to pack her soccer bag and school bag, and to leave it all at the front door.

I got a, “Yes Mom.” And then she did whatever she wanted. She is twelve after all.

The soccer game was at 3.30 and I showed up at school at 3. Jane came running at me, “Mom I forgot my cleats can you run home and get them?”

“Yes I can, but I won’t. You’ll have to play in your school shoes.” I said.

“But the ref won’t let me play in these shoes.” And she tugged on my arm.

“Then you’ll sit on the sidelines and watch your team play. This will probably be the last time you ever forget to your cleats.” Was my firm but compassionate reply.

“Mo-om, please mom please they can’t play without me. Moooooooommmmmmm.” She was begging.

Just then her coach walked by, and asked what the problem was. “My Mom can’t get my soccer shoes so I can’t play.”

“Correction.” I said to him, “I can get her soccer shoes but I won’t. She forgot her shoes so you’ll have a cheerleader today.”

And then the coach went to the trunk of his car and pulled out a pair of cleats for Jane to borrow.

Our version of the right thing is wildly divergent.

Recently I was introduced to SmartyPig.com. It’s an online Piggy Bank for people who are saving for specific financial goals. Which means…. what?

It means that SmartyPig is not only a fabulous way to save for something you’re longing for (or need), but it’s also an incredible way to teach your kids about money. I try to teach my kids about money, but I’m pretty sure that I fall into the same trap as a lot of parents.

I just buy them stuff.

Which strips the kids of the opportunity to learn how to save money, how to wait for things, and how to spend money. SmartyPig is a perfectly named site. It’s a smart piggy bank. Do not let the adorable icons and pink and green fool you, this is real banking. There’s a twist though.

I used to take my kids to the bank every Monday and they’d deposit a portion of their weekly allowance into a savings account. But, like I said before I buy these kids what they want, so they never really cared much about the money. Oh, except when they have friends over, then it’s like, “I have twenty bajillion dollars in the bank and I’m going to use it to buy an electric guitar and pop rocks!” And then their friends say, “Oh wow, that’s great. We have eighty three gazillion dollars in the bank and we’re going to make a whole house out of bubble gum with it.”

After the boys are done comparing how rich they are Alexander asks me to buy him an acoustic guitar. He promises he will practice every day. This I’ve heard before.

For something like an acoustic guitar SmartyPig is great for kids. Each savings goal has to begin with a $25 minimum deposit (this is the only bummer for teaching kids) and then you enter the amount that you want to save, and a timeline for the savings to occur.

What you do is decide that you want something (or your kid wants something) and you create a savings plan with about four clicks on SmartyPig. My son really wants that acoustic guitar. It’s $300. I’ve started a SmartyPig savings fund for him, and I’m giving him the first $25. Now Alexander can earn money by helping out around the house, and his allowance (remember that thing he didn’t care about?) can go straight to the guitar fund.

He sat with me while we figured out the math, and determined that he’d need $24.90 every two weeks. We made a list of jobs he could do around the house to earn $12.50 a week, and we’ll just check them off the list. The money will be automatically deducted from my checking account every two weeks. Understand that you don’t have to have any sort of automatic deposits. You can deposit as frequently or infrequently as you like. if you have a windfall add more, if it’s a tough week, deposit a dollar.

Here’s what’s great about saving in this manner:

• You untrain your kids to use credit cards. This is a HUGE GIFT. Teaching your kids to pay for things with money they have, as opposed to money they hope to have is the single most important money management lesson we can teach.
• Interest: Remember home ec? Remember when we had savings passbooks and we’d get a few pennies of interest and we felt rich? I know that interest rates aren’t exactly soaring right now, but even at a modest 1.35% $1,000 will earn you another $13.50. That’s money you didn’t have.
• Cash back on a prepaid debit card: If you use the SmartyPig  prepaid debit card you can earn up to 10% cash back. When I was an ebay seller I lived on paypal and I remember their debit card gave me just 2% cash back. At the end of the year I’d do my books and 2% was a LOT of money. Not all the retailers give 10%, it seems as if the bulk of them are between 4-6%
• Bonuses from National Retailers: When you complete your goal you can get gift cards from national retailers complete with instant bonuses of us to 10%. Yes, Neiman Marcus is on the list. Hold. Me. Now.
• FDIC Insured: Although online complete with widgets and the opportunity to be social, this is banking and it’s FDIC Insured.

I just set up my SmartyPig account and it was as simple as can be. Social Security Number, Driver’s License, Checking account number, and you’re done. They make two small depoisits to your account to verify it, and then they withdraw the same funds (both of my deposits were less than a dollar). In order to verify your account you have to enter the deposit amounts with Smarty Pig. The only glitch I ran into was that I entered the amounts without a zero in front of the decimal point. I entered $.43 instead of $0.43 and had to reenter the amount. If this happens to you do not panic, you just need the zero.

Redeeming matters. I remember the first time I opened up a brokerage account. I was 22 and bought some oil stock. I sold it almost immediately because I was 22 and I did not understand the stock market at all. I was confused and annoyed when they wouldn’t give me my money for five days. Although SmartyPig is savings tied to goals, it’s not holding your money hostage like a certificate of deposit or a brokerage account. It’s all there for you, and if your needs change (leaky roof or a medical emergency), you can cancel the savings goal and transfer money right back into your checking or savings account.

It’s really very smart. In setting up the goal for Alexander I started rethinking my own personal savings, and Smarty Pig is a good option for amounts up to $50,000. At $50,001 they stop paying any real interest, but that’s probably not cash that belongs in an account like this one anyhow.

Although SmartyPig is pioneering a new savings model for today’s connected family, what they’ve created is quite conservative. Bankers should love this, educators and parents should love this.

Oh, and my husband’s going to love this too, because I’ve gone ahead and created an account for us to take a tropical vacation.

This post is sponsored by SmartyPig. They know my readers are smart and fun, this is the perfect match.