Right now, playing the stock market is an extreme risk for all but the most experienced and most prepared people. It’s still quite volatile and there’s no way to know when a rebound is going to stick. If you choose to get into this market, be prepared to stumble a few times before you succeed. But to keep to a minimum your failures, make sure you go in armed with as much knowledge as you can.

You can’t just look at the NYSE section of the newspaper anymore. You need to find a company that will help with statistical analysis and make sure you have real time access to the current numbers. Check your Forex charts (find people who will give you the charts) and diversify.

You’re a brave soul – this market isn’t for the squeamish. Good Luck

If you’ve been injured and are unable to work, did you know that you may qualify for social security disability?  You don’t have to be of retirement age for you to get social security payments.  Just paying into the system can mean you’re qualified for disability payments.  If you find that you are no longer able to work, you may want to look into this option.

I’m definitely a person in search of a bargain.  My cost cutting measures have reached the point where the only place left to make significant cuts is the food budget.  I’ve got the cheapest car insurance, no cable bill, gone on the time-of-use plan for electricity, cut my gas bill in half and even switched to skim milk (cheaper than other milks at some stores).  But how do I make significant cuts and still feed the kids who see a fruit and then hoover said fruit.  It doesn’t matter how much fruit they eat, they want more.   And fruit is expensive.  I think we’re going to become “popvegan” (yes, I just made that up).  That would be people who eat no meat or animal by products – just butter free popcorn.  On special occasions I’ll let them add salt.

I HATE paying the bills.  It gives me a burst of negative energy that makes it difficult for me to be civil.  It’s not ME being a total meanie – it’s the bills that are MAKING me be a total meanie.  With an ‘ie’ and not a ‘y’.  I should know better than to try to come up with a budget on my daughter’s birthday.  So I officially am putting this away (just as soon as I make one vital money transfer that will keep us afloat for an additional week).  Oh how I long for the days when I could feel as if $10 in my account meant I was free an clear instead of living in this weird mire that makes me think $200 isn’t enough to cover the spending I’ve forgotten about.

Mr Toad visited Wall Street today. You know – it was a ‘wild ride’. Down about 1000 pts and then rebound but not to where it was. Greece is freaking people out. Somehow the fact that they’re trying to accept a bailout is a bad thing. And then there was some ill explained glitch with Proctor & Gamble stock that added to the freak out. I don’t think we can expect anything good from tomorrow (that’s my 10 hours in advance prognostication. Take that to the bank.

I’m updating my finances and through some strange method of balancing the books I have managed to have enough in my checking account to cover the bill to the tax man without dipping into my savings.  I’ve checked twice (and will probably check a dozen more times) but somehow my cash flow is looking…good.

Now I’ve jinxed it and some bill I forgot about will materialize and have to be paid immediately in order to keep living – like a breathing air bill or something like that.  And a part of me hopes that happens anyway because there’s no way I live in a reality where I can write a check and expect it to clear with no problem.  That would mean I’m *gasp* upper middle class! Ich!

During our outings to look at houses (yes, we move again) we saw a house with a flier that pictured a beautiful blue pool. When we saw it, of course, it had been awhile since the picture had been taken and the pool turned a bit green. I remember when we were selling our house and we had to keep it spotless everyday. We slaved to get it done and now the economy has turned and people have given up hope. So much so that they don’t even try to clean their pools or change their spa filters or skim leaves off the top after a storm. It’s really a very sad state of affairs.

I got my W2 the other day (making $5000 less in taxable income than I thought – OH YEAH!) and now I’ve got to get around to finding forms and filling them in. I like to start out by doing an estimate (over estimating all income and underestimating all deductions thereby freaking myself out) and then I make a list of all the documents I need to get actual results. Then as those come in I place them randomly around the house so that I can’t find them until April. I might modify the practice this year so that they are all in one place but that the place is secret so that I still can’t find it till April.

The worry of never finding what I need and having to file an extension gives me a little thrill.

In tough times like these you may be looking for ways to downsize or bring in some extra money.  One person in my family found that life was more green (as in flush with money) after getting rid of her car and thereby eliminating the car payment and the insurance payment as well.  It makes sence that the bigger the car the bigger the payment so you can imagine that many people are thinking about how to sell motorhomes that they no longer can afford.  Sure these things have lost value because of the price of gas but if you own yours outright, you are in a position to sell at a low, low price and still make a good deal of money. (Maybe not compared to what you paid for it, though.)

I bounced a check. It’s embarrassing to admit since I had the money in my savings account. I’m also quite willing to blame them since they took over a month to deposit the check. But still….

So now I’ve decided everything costs to much and I’m cutting costs. I’m getting a couple insurance quotes and I’ve resolved for the millionth time to drink more water (free at my local drinking fountain).

Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s so bad that I’ll have to stop going to movies and returning with my witting and sarcastic remarks about them (or maybe you wish I would?)