I got my notice yesterday that the College will start making contributions to my retirement fund on June 1. Whooppee!! They will contribute 5% of my gross monthly income. I did some quick math, and that will net $10,000 for me upon my retirement, not counting growth.
I decided not to make individual contributions, because it is urgent for me right now to save in a liquid fund for a housing solution. I feel the best thing I can do for my retirement is to be able to make a huge down payment on a condo, so that my living expenses will be low. (Like my income!) Oh, by the way, I already have a healthy retirement fund from my previous job, where I worked for 23 years. This $10,000 is just something extra.
On the same day, my boss told me that one of the fundraisers was unhappy with some research I had done for her. That seems to be a theme here. Let me assure everyone, and myself, that I am a good researcher and I'm good at my job. Wouldn't know that from all the complaining I get! I think the problem is that we are staffed with inexperienced fundraisers, and they have very unrealistic ideas about what I can find out about potential donors. Come on! There are privacy laws! People don't have their whole life stories and all their intimate details sitting out on the internet for me to snatch up! Not under their real names, anyway! 
It just gets hard to keep on, sometimes, with all the lack of confidence. I miss my old job, where I was respected.
So I guess it was a good thing that I got my benefits notice to remind me that the reason I'm working now is to feather my nest, not please the unpleasable.
In other news, went to Wal-Mart last night to fill a prescription ($5) and also to scope out the blenders. I had done a lot of research on blenders, and, while it seems that someone hates every model on the market, the best-reviewed models are, of course, the pricey ones.
I went for the low end of the upper range, and bought a Better Homes and Gardens model for $79. ($85 after tax) Besides all its sound mechanical assets, it's red! I love that! I brought it home and tested it immediately on a batch of lumpy pea soup. Smooth as silk in a minute! I love it.
My greatest frugal heroine, Amy D. of the Tightwad Gazette, advocated plunking down good money for good tools, and I've always remembered that. Good tools will pay you back in service and function for years while the cheapies go to the landfill.
I see smoothies in my future!
Retirement benefits!
May 25th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
May 25th, 2011 at 03:07 pm 1306336022
A smoothie sounds great, too!
May 25th, 2011 at 03:48 pm 1306338507
Was just talking with a gardener friend about how sometimes when you try to buy a good tool, there just isn't one out there to be found. That can be just as frustrating as thinking the quality tool is out of one's price range.
May 25th, 2011 at 05:23 pm 1306344218
Have you saved $65,478 out of your wages since returning to work? Wow! That's impressive.
May 25th, 2011 at 07:56 pm 1306353406
May 25th, 2011 at 08:00 pm 1306353657
May 26th, 2011 at 12:41 pm 1306413667
The $65K is the stock portion of my current retirement portfolio. I count it as my "housing" fund because it is totally accessible and it is the basis of what I will use for a down payment. Right now my savings are going to the emergency fund and the car fund -- but both of those will go to housing if the right opportunity comes along!