Financial Freedom

Last week a newly hired sista, employed with my company for less than  two months, decided our company was just not the right fit for her. She showed up to work that morning as usual and by lunch time she had her bag on her shoulder never to return. Well, I was flabbergasted. In these days of recession, who just walks out? 

That got me to thinking. Although I believe I am mentally and financially able to handle loosing my job tomorrow, I am still not signing up for a pink slip with my name on it. Who knows when these times are going to turn around? You must be pretty dang okay or insane, to just walk away.

So I ask myself, mother of none, sista living on my own... what would be my price? What would be my limit? How much would I be willing to tolerate to keep my job? A pass on a well deserved promotion? Unequal division of workload? Sexual harassment? Who knows? Many have sucked up a lot worst to put food on the table but me, I don't know. Maybe, I haven't pushed to my limit yet. I have wanted to quit so bad that I have taken a mental health day and planned my exit strategy, which by the way has never been to come in and walk out for good.

This chick, has really got me thinking. Recession or no recession. 

A friend of mine, always says "Don't get attached to your job/employer, your employer/job are not attached to you. Remember that!" 

I guess she has a point, but if I had to pick a hero of the week... this sista who I didn't even have time to have lunch with, is my pick this week. Granted I don't know her financial situation and I am not even sure what was so terrible that made her walk-out mid-day without notice, but I do admire her gumption to walk-out.

Until the day comes that I possess such courage, shout-out to the sista, I wish you all the best... much luv, peace :)

P.S. I am SO happy that Maxwell is back and I am loving the new look and single. Smooches Max! =D

Back to Basics?!?!

If there is one thing, I don’t have is first-hand experience of handling is a recession. Sure our parents can give us advice and our grandparents can tell us how it really was…but what do we really know? We, as in us 80s babies.

A couple of months ago I was telling Amaretto, I don’t know my gut tells me to put a lock-down on the amount of spending I am doing and save even more. And she says to me “Stop acting like you are one step away from being homeless.” (chuckle) That is true I am nowhere near that step or am I, really? So to ease my anxiety, I paid off my undergrad student loan and paid my car insurance in full for the year. Phew…I love it when there are only a few bills to be paid monthly.

Now fast forward, to two weeks before Christmas, my company decides to clean house a bit. URGH!! There goes one of my closet friends, who just bought a house last year and is a single parent with a teenager daughter off to college next year and pre-teen son. WOW! I felt the ground below me shake. But let’s get this straight, the ground wasn’t shaking because I thought that I would be throwing my Gucci purse over my shoulder and walking out the door before lunchtime never to return. I’ve got that covered…I will be fine for a year if things go sour. The ground was shaking because if I had children this would be a different story. A year saved up, plus six months of unemployment wouldn’t be enough for them not to have to wheel me out on a stretcher.

O-kay...get a grip Courvoisier, crazy chic is rearing her head. Either way I am just saying that in today’s economy where next to nobody is hiring and the number of people applying for unemployment is increasing…I am a little uneasy. That is right, I wasn’t uneasy with the mortgage crisis, and I have two of those. And I wasn’t uneasy with job security until last week. I always knew that advertising was the first budget cut but when you work with pharma, an industry that supposedly thrives during recession, I figure, I would be sitting pretty. Oh no, that ideal was shattered last week. Our CEO told us, that even though our sector of the business is growing we needed to show our commitment to our parent company’s need to cut back due to the lost their two biggest clients, one of big 3 and Amex, which to him meant going back to the basics…simple accounting, spend less than we bring in.

I hear you CEO! I think I might do some going back to basics myself…one, cut out cable time and increase the reading. Two, cut out personal internet – I spend more than half my life online at work and lastly three, as basic as it gets, I am officially bartering services!

Extreme?!? I don’t think so…but apparently some 70’s babies tell me it is. And you know what? They might have a point because although this is NOT my first job, it is my first time of potentially being on the chopping block. So paranoid I may be but broke I cannot. Sorry, I know a lot of people were depending on us single, childless well-paid gen-Ys to try and hold it down for the economy but I have to slow my roll on the spending.

(deep sigh) Much luv until next week…and some change? :/
Courvoisier

the homestretch

The final debate will air tonight and I’m actually looking forward to it. Only for the simple fact Barack has finally presented an economic plan with concrete points that middle America can digest hallelujah! I’ve been trying to get him to give a 5-point plan over the summer, but I guess his plan has come right on time. Although, some folks are disappointed about him willing to allow Americans to tap their 401K without penalty up to $10,000—I know for some folks that’s all they need to hear. Remember elections are all about winning, particularly in the United States with this winner-take-all system. Many Americans are single issue voters something Democrats tend to forget. And considering the US economy is cash strapped, that economic point will resonate with voters.

Now, Bellini ain’t nobody’s fool—the latest polls have Obama up by 14 points per CNN. I talked to two different people last night and one guy heard he’s up by 12 points and another woman heard 10 points. Something in the milk ain’t right. Although, I never was surprised about the strength of Barack’s candidacy—he’s still a black man and for him to command these numbers when race is still the humongous elephant in the room ain’t settling right with me. Either pollsters aren’t asking the right questions or they aren’t probing for the right answers. It is evident that there is a solid electorate that won’t pull the lever or touch the screen for a brotha. However, this same electorate that won’t vote for a brotha hasn’t really indicated what they will do on election day. See, many of them already feel Obama will win and that maybe cause for some of them to stay home hallelujah! And eventhough that is wishful thinking on my part, since day 1 I’ve expressed that this election will be close. But like Michelle Obama told urban radio a few weeks ago, this election can’t be close – it’s got be a decisive win. Either Barack wins or he doesn’t, nothing muddled in between.

And trust me, McCain is definitely helping Team Barack by resurrecting ol’ business. This Ayers stuff is old news, but you can count on the GOP to resort to their tactics. There’s just one problem with executing that plan – it’s the economy stupid! White folks could care less if the brotha was the boogeyman. Perhaps, I should have George Will expound on it...

"This, McCain and his female Sancho Panza say, is demonstrated by bad associations Obama had in Chicago, such as with William Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist. But the McCain-Palin charges have come just as the Obama campaign is benefiting from a mass mailing it is not paying for. Many millions of American households are gingerly opening envelopes containing reports of the third-quarter losses in their 401(k) and other retirement accounts -- telling each household its portion of the nearly $2 trillion that Americans' accounts have recently shed. In this context, the McCain-Palin campaign's attempt to get Americans to focus on Obama's Chicago associations seems surreal -- or, as a British politician once said about criticism he was receiving, "like being savaged by a dead sheep."

And if you know me, you know that George Will can get my blood boiling at times, but in his op-ed piece McCain in a Bear Market – he got it right.So, with less than 3 weeks out it’s about to get ugly. So, tune in tonight, be’cuz surely tonight will be the barometer for the madness that we will ensue in the coming weeks.

cheers,

Bellini

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

This Just In! The word is that America is having some teeny tiny pesky economic problems. Ho Hum! Sound the alarms! I mean for years factories have closed, jobs have been outsourced to India and now you have to have a freaking PHD just to be somebody’s secretary! I wonder as I wander what was the news outlets’ first clue that something was wrong? Well now that the sh*t has hit Wall Street’s fan, the epicenter of all things Capitalism, folks have started to care because well it’s directly hitting them. Never mind about the po folks who got sucked into the American dream with adjustable rate mortgages who have been struggling for years. I mean shame on them knowing they only made $10 an hour, but double quadruple shame on the greedy folks who approved them for $250k mortgages.

But as for me, a single girl, who rents, and has her 401k in some “secure” government plan somewhere none of this is hitting me on “Main Street”. I mean for real for real, I’ve been broke for a long time so I’m not having suicidal thoughts nor am I writing my Congressman about approving the bail out plan. I’m just trying to exist and survive, but what else is new?

Now, I have noticed that my dollar doesn’t stretch like it use to. That now it costs a little extra for my tacos at Chipotle or for my Dove body wash, but that’s just the way things go. There are always periods of feast and famine. And regardless folks are always going to find a way to eat. As for me, I’ve decided to supplement some of my lunches on the town with some good ole peanut better and jelly samiches at my desk, just keep a few coins in my savings account and such-not to buy gas or anything. But to my surprise when I went to the PB&J aisle at the store the pickings were slim. I’m talking like communist Russia or New Orleans September ‘05. I wondered aloud to my grandma if everyone was starting implement the negro diet of peanut butter jelly, chicken ramen noodles, fried bologna sandwiches and red Kool Aid?

Hmmmm. Is anyone else seeing what I’m seeing? Maybe there is a new business opportunity here. I could help school some of these newly strugglin’ folks how to live their life like a have not. Teach them how get the cable hook up, or make a pack of bacon feed 30 folks. I could help them learn that there is really no different between orange juice and orange drink. What a success I’d be! Waaaaait. Damnit! I can’t get a loan for my start up Capital! This blows! Stupid banks and their stupid overestimations!

I’m writing my congressman...just as soon as I finish this sandwich!

See You In Seven

Tryin to Make a Dollar Outta Seven Cents

For a small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight

Call it lean, mean, mean green

Almighty dollar

I know money is the root of all evil

Do funny things to some people

Give me a nickel, brother can you spare a dime

Money can drive some people out of their minds

- For the Love of Money, Ojays

Times are a bit hard right now. People of every race, creed, and socio-economic status are feeling the sting of the our economy's current state. The "experts" have finally admitted what us regular folks' pockets told us months ago: we're in a recession.

My dollars just ain't stretchin' like they used to. And I am quite the expert at making a small amount of my money work big for me. Clipping coupons, shopping at discount retail outlets, carpooling, and conserving energy (to keep utility costs low) are just a few of the budget savers that I incorporated into my daily life long ago to help me hold on to a few extra dollars. But the tricks of the trade aren't paying off like they used to. There's a global food shortage crisis, gas prices are effin' expensive, the national unemployment rate recently increased at a record rate, our nation is in humongous debt and we're being taxed everywhere to help re-pay it. And if I hear about one more celebrity going into foreclosure... Like I give a damn! I'm a hard working thousandaire trying to pay my own mortgage on time. I could care less about Britney Spears or Ed McMahon losing their mansions.

The bottom line is I don't need Dow Jones to tell me that the almighty dollar ain't what it used to be. The only thing mean these days is just how lean the green is. You know the saying about desperate times... It's only a matter of time before you start seeing clips of folks brawling at the gas station. A couple of days ago, I saw two women buck at each other over who arrived first and who's turn it was to pump their gas. It was not pretty. Watching them made me ask myself how has this weak ass dollar affected me and my everyday life?

• No more specialty shower gels and bubble baths. They are not cheap and never have been. A bar of soap will clean me just the same. I shall leave it to the lotion to make my skin soft.


• No more paying bills by mailing in payment. Stamps add up, quickly. And they just went up another cent. Online bill payment is quick, easy, environmentally friendly, and FREE.


• Only buying food for one or two meals at a time. I realized how much food I waste on a weekly basis because I could not eat it fast enough before it went bad. Being a single housewife on the run, I don't spend a lot of time at home. I started buying 8 eggs vs. 12, smaller sized milk cartons, 2 apples instead of 4, etc...


• No more cover charges to enter a club or lounge. This has always been a personal rule of thumb, but I was willing to bend it if I felt that a specific occasion or event was worth it. Today, none of them are worth it. If there is a cover, I will party somewhere else.


• Making bus transfers. I don't own a car, so riding the train and bus is part of daily life. The bus is $1.25; when you board you get paper (or electronic) transfer that is valid for two hours of riding. I take an expired transfer with the current date and glue it on top of a transfer from a past date that has more "time" on it. Thus allowing me to ride all day without paying the all day fee ($3.00). Yes it's illegal, so don't tell nobody.


• Happy Hour chez Dark & Stormy. If me and the ladies are hitting the town for a night of fun, I get the party started at home. One drink at the club = a six pack at home. And my chicken wings taste better than theirs anyway. By the time I arrive to our destination, I'm ready for a coke and a dance.

The Ojays said don't let money change you. Always easier said than done.

Has the lean green changed your ways at all?

Tumultuously Yours,

Dark & Stormy

Analog Girl Interrupted

The world has been watching television for damn near an entire century. Like any form of technology, the appearance and functionality of TVs have evolved with time. It is human nature to continuously attempt to revamp and rework the wheel, even if there is no need to reinvent it. So I guess something like the upcoming digital TV conversion was only a matter of time…

I am sure most of you are aware of the pending death to analog broadcast television, mandated by Congress, expected to take place on February 17, 2009. The switch to digital broadcasting will improve the quality of television broadcasts and provide more programming options, while freeing the analog airspace for public safety communications.

I am one of few folks I know who still watch TV sans a cable or satellite hook up, a.k.a. free TV. I am a proud, card-carrying member of the rabbit ears crew (REC). There are still a few million of us around the U.S.

REC membership has many benefits. I do not have to wait at home for cable repairmen who never show up at their scheduled time. A small thunderstorm or light winds will not chop & screw my reception. A lesser selection of channels and programming has a direct effect on our CP status…CP stands for couch potato (I know what y’all were thinking). The more time we spend on the couch watching TV, the less time we spend being physically active. And why do they call it the idiot tube again? That's another entire blog entry right there...

But the number one reason why the majority of us REC members even joined the club is money. Poor folks and cheap people ain't feelin' such trivial expenses. REC members save beaucoup cash annually by avoiding service fees, monthly subscriptions, and the purchase of big-ticket items that come in large, flat boxes with words like "HDTV" on the front.

I own one television. We been hangin' tight since my freshman year of college in 1999. It was the first item I purchased for my dorm room. All black, 13" screen, remote control - pure beauty. Cable ready (just in case I got the hook up) and in color, of course. Been faithful all these years... Why give up a good thing? Many times, I've contemplated an upgrade. But I could never justify the outrageous price tags. (Outrageous by my standards, okay?)

I recently started looking at copping a used set from an ad on craiglist. You gotta admit TVs last a long time, if you don't beat 'em up. You will usually outgrow them before they outgrow you. Therefore, a 27" priced at $65 is my kinda deal! I don't mind if someone else wants to pay thrice the price and break it in before I... But if an older TV is not equipped with the new digital conversion technology, should I even bother?

Retailers are selling converter boxes for us REC members to use on our older models. Uncle Sam has even sweetened the deal with coupons for $40 off the price of the converter boxes; each household can receive two. The average price of the box is $50-70. Still a lil' steep if you ask me, but I always appreciate a coupon.

Most people I know could care less about this conversion crap because whatever they're watching is a few light years ahead of my '99 Sanyo. But I am irritated because I do not feel that all the kinks have been worked out concerning this conversion. There are already legal battles going over the patents for the converter box. And I don't believe the b.s. story about a need for airspace for public communications. Turn on your radio right now and start turning the dial... I promise you will find many settings that are pure static. That means no one is using the frequency dial. And some of the airspace will be auctioned off to wireless service providers. Doesn't sound like a public "need" to me.

Shot out to my REC members.

Tumultuously Yours,
Dark & Stormy

Uncle Sam Wants You to "Hurrrry Up And Buy!"

Every person living in the U.S. has been affected by our nation's current economic crisis. Poor, rich, black, white, urban, rural, short, tall... Folks of all walks are feeling the crunch. Some blame the mortgage lending disaster; some point the finger at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan whose costs we cannot afford, ignore, nor deflate; while others attribute our financial woes to the weak dollar combined with this country's shaky relations with various industrial nations. Personally, I'd say all of the above and then some plus a f**ked up karma means we are S.O.L. and will be for quite some time. But have no fear. Congress and resident White House H.N.I.C. are going to help us po' folk by way of a rebate check coming real soon to a mailbox near you.


Basically the idea is to give the people a lil' extra money which they will in turn spend ('cause we clearly don't save), thus fueling our sinking economy. Sounds cool, right? Hahaha... Those of us who've been bamboozled before know better. Well I can only speak for self, but I hope y'all know a rat when you smell one. And this shit stinks to me.

Rebate and Donation are not synonymous.

Since we're such a great and wealthy nation, why can't Uncle Sam dig into his pockets and and throw us some change? Make a list of all citizens (and legally permanent residents) ages 18 and over and get busy? That would be way too easy. Instead a complicated system has been devised which bases your rebate on the amount of taxes you paid in 2007. It is a system that will confuse many and possibly leave out millions of people. Ah yes, the American way.

This quote from an L.A. Times article about the rebate sums it all up for me: "If you are going to give everybody a check and call it a tax rebate, I don't know how you do that without a tax return." Those are the words of Clint Stretch, managing principal of tax policy at Deloitte & Touche.

So you must file a tax return to receive the rebate. It is payable to those with an adjusted gross income of less than $75,000 individual/$150,000 married. The exact amount is $600/individual and $1200/married couple OR amount of tax paid in 2007, whichever is less. $300 for those truly po' folks who barely earn a dime or live off small change like social security. And up to $300 per child.

Why hasn't anyone addressed the fact that this rebate will be considered taxable income when we file our 2008 tax returns?

What if you owe the IRS or your local government for unpaid taxes?

What if you're on the IRS Most Wanted list due to unpaid student loans, like me?

What if the majority of this nation's citizens are so far in debt and way too underpaid that these few extra pennies are damn near non-existent by the time they cash them in?

I'm no Mellody Hobson or Suze Orman but I can read, write, and do arithmetic. And I have a great sense of smell. Fishy odor on the horizon...

I could possibly just be paranoid. Which is completely expected from a jaded tax-paying wage earner such as me. But just in case, here's an idea. If you receive a rebate check, write "return to sender" on the envelope and send it back. Tell Uncle Sam we want relief, not a rebate.

The rebate veto of '08.

Whatcha think 'bout that?





Tumultuously Yours,

Dark & Stormy

Introducing a Possible...Courvoisier

Courvoisier: Straight from the islands, I am a married lady living in the United States. I strive for knowledge, innovation and perfection in this world; though I’m keenly aware no one is perfect…not even me. I enjoy the simple and exquisite things in life. I believe every life has a purpose and I am eager to fulfill mine.


Besides being the best birth month ever, January is always the month of new beginnings. It is also the month that we celebrate a great man, Martin Luther King Jr. It seems like we celebrate it the same way every year…take that day off (if your company gets down like that) donate some of our personal items and use this time to remember one of our greatest leaders.

This year I stumbled on an article written years ago “The Martin Luther King You Don’t See on TV”, which compelled me to look into the subject some more. This article discusses the years of MLK’s life from 1965-68. There are so many points made in this article I could probably post for days.

I am simply going to touch on one point… "The Poor People's Campaign” created by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1965-66. It was a campaign designed to address the urban riots at the time and focused on black employment, housing and education opportunities. It is said that MLK believed that economic inequality was the reason that many of us African Americans were suffering. Essentially what he was proposing was a more democratic socialized society instead of one rooted in capitalism.

Was this somewhat communist ideal entertained? What happened to this glorious plan that few people know about? Well, MLK was assassinated April 4 1968 and Rev. Ralph Abernathy took leadership of the SCLC. On May 12, 1968 he led the campaign’s effort to lobby the Economic Bill of Rights which was intended to decrease the poverty levels of all races. The campaign was not considered as successful as the movement had dreamed...

So now that we know even MLK acknowledged that it is more than a black/white issue but economic inequality, what's next people? How do we strengthen our economic power in this capitalistic society to which we have been integrated?

There are so many ways and I plan to work on strengthening our community by supporting more black owned businesses in ’08. All I ask is that we step up to the plate, open up our wallets and support our community.

Courvoisier

P.S. Happy B-day MLK!