Yesterday I attended a financial talk presented by our wellness program. It was pretty much the standard stuff -- lots of encouragement to save for retirement, not much info on budgeting or how to save on a small income. It did encourage me to take one step -- I called TIAA-CREF and closed the money market account that wasn't earning anything, and I arranged to have 5% of my paycheck go into my new retirement fund. My employer already puts in 5%, so in essence, I am "matching" my employer.

The new fund will never pay out very much -- it is so small, and I have so few years left, but it is better to put the money there than into something that's earning nothing.

I'll put the $989 from the money market into the credit union and that will become my personal savings for a down payment (along with the $65K in stock). It will be harder to put money there with 5% of my income going into retirement, but it will remain really important to save for a down payment. The bigger I can make it, the less I will have to pay in a mortgage. I would LOVE to find a foreclosure that I could pretty much pay cash for, but that would take a lot of luck.

A free lunch was provided -- mini ham sandwiches and crudites. At the end of the lunch, the organizer encouraged us to take leftovers, since the department had already paid for the food. So I took two more little sandwiches and put them in my freezer last night.

Also, yesterday, I went to the book talk by Sara Paretsky. I went early and had a seat right up front. She gave a prepared talk, which she mostly read, so I didn't get a sense of her as a person until the Q&A session. Clearly writing, not speaking, is her venue. But she seemed so nice, like a lady you might meet at a garden club or a mother-daughter tea.

One interesting thing she shared was that when Disney made the movie "V.I. Warshawski" they bought the rights to that character, unbeknownst to her. Because the movie flopped, they are not interested in making another, but no one else can make a movie using that character. That's too bad, not only for her, but because many of her books would make wonderful movies.

So just another lesson, always read what you're signing!

No spending yesterday.

Meals:

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ brown sugar
Lunch: Ham sandwiches & crudites, iced tea
Dinner: Meat Loaf and Potatoes, cherry tomatoes
Snack: Gingersnaps