I do like to write, but it seems like I either don't have the time to do a decent job at something I'm working on, or I revise, revise, and yet again revise, never reaching a final acceptable result. The moral of this little story is: Just Do It. I will never produce deathless prose. Maybe I'll regret not fine-tuning something I've put on paper (or in this case, on screen), but if it never gets written it was never going to be of use anyway. This won't help anyone save - heck, it's not helping me save either. But I'm in the process of trying to work out some of the kinks in my life: Weight, clutter, career stuckedness, and of course, the desire to do better with my finances. All of it has become related in a sort of "personal clog" and I've been working on a grand plan to get all of it unstuck. More later. For now, I'm throwing caution to the winds and posting an entry to say, I'm still alive, still kicking, still trying to figure out "what's it all about?"

I can't believe it's been so long since I had a chance to post an entry here. I've been missing in action since early summer. If anyone read my first two entries and was hopeful for more, I hope to get back on track now. I have a number of topics I've been thinking about; I just haven't had time to put them into print!

I am not an extremely frugal person; I refuse, for instance, to wash and reuse ziploc bags, However, I do like to save money wherever I can. I am the daughter of a very frugal man who left brand-new shirts in his drawers when he died because he hadn't yet worn out the ones he was wearing, and who was comfortable shopping at rummage sales for old radios (he had dozens) and used books (he had thousands). Saving's in my blood. The one thing I wish my dad had taught me was the magic of compounding and how to invest. All I ever saved for once I got out of college was a down payment on a new car. Somewhere in my mid-thirties it occurred to me that I had absolutely nothing saved for retirement. I bought a house, and it became important to put a little money aside each month in what I call my "house account" to accrue funds for the inevitable improvements and repairs that crop up. I also began to save for retirement at a furious rate, after reading some articles that convinced me that I would be doomed to poverty in my dotage if I didn't start saving. At my current savings rate, I will probably be okay, but everything I read about saving for the future tells me that the earlier you start, the more your account will be worth when you're ready to retire. I'm trying to make up for that lost time. In future posts, I'd like to talk about some of the books and financial authors I have read, and discuss a few strategies that work for me. Some of my methods may not be suitable for everyone: For example, I always pay my credit card bills every month - why pay interest if you don't have to? And you'll never catch me at Starbuck's. I'm too cheap to spend so much money for a cup of coffee. Still, I have picked up some great suggestions over the years, so I'm going to jump in and post some here in future blogs.