Being a responsible adult sucks

Okay. My cousin and I threw out an idea to go to NYC. Now I looked at hotel prices and figure we'll hop on the cheap Chinese bus. I'm willing to throw down a few hundred for a good hotel room. I've done too many cheap stays, hostels, primative accomodations in London and Prague to bother with cheap NYC stays.
Then there is the other issue. I'm supposed to be paying off the stupid loan that I took out for my sister's house (legally my house). Goal- pay off in one year.
Oh other goal- pay for Florida trip in March. Desire- Stay at the resort we stayed at last time, which I'm determined to get a two bedroom costing $500 for the stay and plane tickets. I expect others to feed me and feed me well.
So a NYC trip may cost $500, a FL trip that may cost $700 and $4K that still needs paying off. The adult says hold off the trips till the loan is paid and save up for a possible event that may hopefully come. The irresponsible adult sayz throw it all on the Mastercard and get tickets to Wicked.

Entrepreneurial Me

For one who works for Big Brother, I mean Uncle Sam, I must acknowledge my entrepreneurial streak. It's there, but it doesn't play a obvious role. However in my dating of The Help (MH), I'm becoming more aware of it. Early on I told him that he was so occupying my thoughts I was thinking of charging him rent. Amazingly he didn't run screaming from me. Last night I told him of my middle school antics of where I was a gum dealer. Not only did I LOVE gum, I sold it to my classmates against school rules. I bought gumballs around the corner for about .03 or .05 cents then, resold them to classmates for about .10.
With my home I rent out my extra bedroom and sleep in the smallest room. Heck if the cellar wasn't so frickin cold and creepy and damp, I'd camp out down there and rent out my room. I see an empty bedroom and I see money that can be made.
I see my front yard and I see produce that can be bartered, and I do barter.
I walk down the street and sometimes I see money, literal, actual money.
Then there is the housing mojo, which I have discovered can be used for other people. With the house it is more of a discount than a money falling out of the sky thing. For the longest while I had a 3.75% mortgage. Fixed. Also got the house before the market went crazy. And my annual real estate taxes are crazy low. PB2G.
America, land of opportunity, if your actually looking for it.

Closer to freedom

I came close to canceling my one credit card.
I honestly and truly want to cut it up and close the account I've had since undergrad. I've had this stupid credit card for over 15 years and like the Highlander it is the only one.
I have debit cards and I tend to use those exclusively. I can even get points with them. A few more signed purchases and maybe I can get a $25 gift card.
Anyway, I called up the credit card company, and asked to have the credit limited lowered to a couple of thou, down from $14,000. I don't need a $14K credit limit. I don't want to owe that much. Sudhir (not his name) somewhere at a call center in India warned me that I couldn't get cash advances now. Good. I rarely used the cash advance thing anyway. Then he tried to get me to transfer my balances... what balances?
I'm one summer roommate away from fully funding an emergency fund and being able to comfortably call up the credit card company and telling Sudhir or Shanti to cancel my card forever, freeing me from one more account to keep track of.

The economy is like a....

Supermodel who is coming down from a 10 year high on heroin, who had been overpaid and living in a Manhattan penthouse, who has just been dumped on a deserted street in Detroit with no money, no drugs and whose cell phone is about to die and whose last call is from her agency firing her for one too many diva moments, and for being over the hill.
The party is over and we're going through some nasty withdrawal symptoms.

Don't Loan Money to My Sister

I'm still opposed to the bailout/rescue whatever because it still wants to keep credit available to people like my sister. I love my sister, but she's broke, and to loan her money will only make her broker.
Giving my sister more credit, so she can have credit debit does not make her rich. My sister has bad credit. Credit so bad I had one of her collectors call my house. I was so pissed at this I called mom.
But I know, even with sis' bad, bad credit, someone wants to loan her money. And when she fails to pay them, they get what they deserve, nothing and a bunch of unanswered phone calls. And we're in this mess because banks and others kept lending money to people like my sister.

On a side note my roommate said that it was a small but local minority against the package and he didn't know anyone against it. I'm against it. But I didn't call my Rep. because I have no vote in Congress. But you know, I think we all hang out in our own little echo chambers, sticking with like minded people, drowning out or silencing opposing views. This is worrisome for information gathering. Who's going to win the election Who knows? People who dislike Obama for non-socially accepted reasons, won't say. They'll say what they think you want to hear and do their own thing.

What me worry?

My Wachovia stock is down to the value of a take out order of sushi from the medicore sushi place. The lossed value is equal to that of eating out at a really good restaurant or Cafe Atlantico's minibar for two, with tip and a bottle of wine. Not the bottle at the reasonable price that allows you save face with the waiter, no the higher priced wine, the $150 bottle. But I'm ok. It's a good price to pay to not be liable as a tax payer for something the government was going to screw up. As for the loss, I'll just write it off my taxes.
I looked at my Roth, it's crap. And then I looked at my TSP, it is fine. It's down, but it has been down for the past 6 months. And I'm not retiring for another 20 years, so no big deal.
I'm thankful for my guvmt job, my fixed mortgages, my paid off credit card, my credit union, and my health.