Your Money Friday: Money and Dating

13 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 13th,2012 | Finances, Relationships |  Comments Off

Dating is one of those areas where personal finances become tricky. Should a man pay for all dates, with the woman reciprocating with homemade meals? Should it be split as close to 50/50 as possible? Does it matter if she makes a lot more than he does? Or what if they make roughly the same amount?

Many don’t discuss finances on a first date. Is it okay to alter the financial terms of the relationship (such as who pays) when you do reveal your salaries? And how would you do that without seeming like a jerk? Any thoughts are welcome.

Penny Arcade on KickStarter

12 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 12th,2012 | Finances, Technology |  Comments Off

Back in April, I wrote about micro-investing. I highlighted the Order of the Stick KickStarter project which raised over $1million, just so the guy could reprint one of his books. As loved as OotS is, it’s small potatoes. The big guns of online comics now have their own KickStarter project. Penny Arcade is raising money to make the site ad free for an entire year (and still be able to pay all their bills).

They are looking for $250k by August 15. Given that in one day they were over halfway to their goal, I’d be eyeing those stretch goals.

The Family Graveyard

11 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 11th,2012 | Science |  Comments Off

Before property lines, deeded lands, even before the written word was common, how would you show that land belonged to you and your family? Perhaps by showing where your ancestors were buried on the property? But what happened when one family married into another and the land now belonged to both? No one wants too many bodies around, so how about taking parts from multiple bodies among the families, binding them together, mummifying them, and then burying them?

Sound too strange to be true? It’s actually one of the theories surrounding mummies in England that are composed from multiple people.

Mono Lake Does NOT Contain “Alien” Life

10 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 10th,2012 | Science |  Comments Off

Back in December 2010, I wrote about Terrestrial Alien Life- referring to a study that claimed a specific microbe could replace phosphorous with arsenic. When we think of what is essential to life, most lay people don’t think of phosphorous, but it is one of the major chemical building blocks.

As an update to that post, two new studies have now been released that dispute the original claims. They do believe the microbe is significant for it’s ability to grow using very little phosphorous and survive in an arsenic rich environment, but it does not re-write the playbook on life.

Thunderstorm

09 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 9th,2012 | Weather |  Comments Off

Last night we had a thunderstorm inSeattle. Sudden rain is not rare, but it’s not often we get thunder accompanying it.

I grew up with thunderstorms in easternMT.They were a staple of the summer months. They often came with tornado watches and warnings, and plenty of thunder and lightening. In some ways, I miss a really good thunderstorm (though not the high winds).

Last night’s storm was not much compared to what I grew up with. I heard only one or two cracks of thunder, and don’t remember the sky being lit up by lightening at all.

Blog Feature: Anne the Dog Photographer

07 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 7th,2012 | blogging, Dogs, Pets, Writing |  Comments Off

I love Anne The Dog Photographer’s site. In addition to posting great pictures of dogs in need of adoption in her local area (and she is an excellent dog photographer), she’s started posting stories about her adventures with her own dogs, including this week’s “It Felt Like a Death March”, written from the perspective of her dog, Ollie.

I absolutely love the booties that were made for Ella, and Ollie looks beyond happy being carried. That’s just the goofball kind of grin that makes you fall in love.

So head on over to check out the pictures and the stories.

Your Money Friday: Using Community Service as a Career Stepping Stone

06 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 6th,2012 | Work |  Comments Off

It starts in high school. Kids are told that being straight A students isn’t enough to get them into a good college. Extra curricular activities are not enough. And work experience doesn’t count. But volunteer experience? That’s where the money is- or at least the scholarships.

That attitude is carrying over into the work world. There have long been organizations that do charity work where you could make professional connections, but now, many people feel that they need to have volunteer experience on their resume. Sadly, it does not always lead to good things for the organization they volunteer for.

Television

05 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 5th,2012 | Television |  Comments Off

Today our cable gets upgraded. And I’m sad. We have to have a home phone. Going without one is no longer an option, so we’re upgrading from limited basic cable (we got local broadcast, PBS, and Discovery) to regular basic. We’re going from 13 watchable channels to over 100. I know that should seem great, but there’s a reason we dropped down to the limited to begin with. And we’ve really liked not having the TV on all the time.

Let’s hope our new habit of only turning on the TV when there’s something we want to watch can hold.

Affordable Care Act- the 80/20 Rule

03 Jul

Erin Shanendoah |  July 3rd,2012 | Finances, Healthcare, Politics |  Comments Off

You may hate parts of the Affordable Care Act. You may think the individual mandate is unconstitutional, despite the Supreme Court. (Lots of people think this about income taxes.) But there are parts of the ACA that everyone can like.

One part of the act you should like- the 80/20 rule. This rule says your insurance company must spend at least 80% of your premium on healthcare costs. Only 20% can go toward administration. The company must make visible exactly what those percentages are and issue you a rebate if they don’t spend enough of your premium on medical costs.

Blog Feature: Bog of Debt

30 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 30th,2012 | blogging, Budgeting, Debt Reduction, Finances, Writing |  1 Comment »

I love the name Bog of Debt. It just so fully encapsulates the feeling of being stuck in debt, and believing it’s hopeless, like there’s no way out. But just like Bear Grylls will strip down to his skivvies to show you how to get out of a real bog, Bog of Debt is mostly about THE PLAN. The Plan that will help her get out of debt and no longer feeling mired in.

One key way to motivate yourself is to write out the things you want to spend your money on. It looks like things are on track!

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