{ Top Five Ways to Tick Off The Bookkeeper }

On January 28th of any year there are a few ways to tick off a bookkeeper. They are:
1. "Is my W-2 ready yet?" (The answer is no because they aren't due for 3 more days.)
2. "Can't you just run my really fast?" (The answer is no because the printer will eat 3 for every 4 that it prints.)
3. "I know you're really busy but..." (Seriously, you could follow that up with 'the Publisher's Clearing House people are on the phone' and it wouldn't matter until Feb. 1st)
4. "Can't you just run it without my social security number?" (Ah...no.)
5. "Is my W-2 ready yet?"

Be nice to your bookkeeper this week and don't call them until after Feb. 2nd.

{ A Grandmother's Foretelling }

For the last several years, every Saturday morning I call my grandmother...sometimes, perhaps, earlier than she would prefer but I rarely miss a weekend chat. Today's conversation inevitably turned to the recent state of affairs in our respective towns. She shared the stores that are closing up, I did as well. We discussed the growing rate of unemployed persons in each of our states. And collectively we agreed that we haven't seen the bottom yet...it will most likely get much worse before it gets better. But then my grandmother shared her true fears and I knew it was something to pay attention to because she gets a sound in her voice and her tenor changes. She said, "you know, I am so afraid that you kids (meaning my generation) just don't understand what it is that we lived through (meaning the depression). You think this is a recession but really, it's nothing yet. It can get so much worse." I was silent for a long moment, letting the textbook and documentary images of the 1930's roll through my head. More than pictures, I recalled the stories of her being a child and moving from place to place as her father looked for work and the constant uncertainty. I realized that is what she was really talking about when she said 'it can get so much worse.'

The other fear she expressed, one that I actually share, is that my generation doesn't truly know what it means to suffer or sacrifice...at least not yet. Many of my age group have gotten into this place of falling back...falling back on credit cards, home equity lines and even their parents. ALL of those lines of credit are drying up and we need to live not just within our means, but below them, so that we are saving for the day when there is no income. We are in a new era and you can choose to adapt or can choose to deny but either way, change is coming.

{ A Letter To My 'Kids' At A Moment In History }

January 20, 2008 marks a moment in this country's history that I didn't ever really believe that I would live to see. Like the fall of the Berlin Wall (Papa has a piece of it on his bookshelf, btw), tomorrow marks the end of an era that I hope you will only have to explain to your children in the context of a history class and not as a way of life. While we celebrate a moving forward, I remind you that it is your generation who will bear the fortunes and follies of all of the yesterdays, todays and tomorrows. We have difficult years ahead as a family as we all work to not just survive the economic storm, but to thrive in spite of it. You will both be completing college and endeavoring on new lives at one of the most dynamic and uncertain times in this nation's history. When I cast my vote in November, it was for the leader I thought would bring your future more hope, more joy and more promise. In my heart of hearts, I think it was the right choice but only time will tell.
ILYBTTWWFTSAB
~Auntie

{ A Long, Late Night of Reflection }

It's way past my bedtime but the piles of client work still cover most surfaces in my office...January is always this crazy. For my faraway late night friend (how is Hannah, tonight, Rob?) I'm listening to mix of 80's music...at the moment Joan Baez's "Biko" is playing softly in my office. Such an ironic song on the eve of such a historic moment in my own country. I recall so clearly attending rallies and writing letters and boycotting companies who refused to divest holdings in South African countries. I recall so clearly being about 11 walking to the corner store with my best friend and being stopped by an older white woman and chastised for being out in public with a black girl. What a sad day when my mom had to explain what that woman was saying to me. And now, my own niece and nephew get to live in a world where these things are history to be read about in books and no longer the norm.
Off to bed with hope on the horizon.

{ Food Inventory -High, Production - Low }

True confession time: food prep in my January busy season has gone to hell in a hand basket. This is the one downside to living a life of from scratch, local only food...you gotta make it. The soups and pasta sauces have been great but they are getting low in quantity. Our next quarter of beef comes next week and we're not done with the soup bones or roasts from the last one yet! Monday is a holiday for the other chef in the family so hopefully we'll get caught up. Menu planning and prep will be a top priority this week. In the meantime, I'm off to the bakery for bread and to Mukilteo Coffee for a good breakfast made with local food. Thank goodness, for Chef Jess!

{ Tax Prep }

While I am in the middle of prepping all of my clients for their taxes, it is a good reminder for me (and you) to begin your tax prep NOW. My CPA's packets arrived via email the other day and I have put Sunday on the calendar for "Mis En Place" - everything in it's place day. Tax Tip #1: gather your financial items into one place. I find a basket works well. Have it in a convenient location for when all the 1099's and W2's begin arriving in the mail.

{ Breezy But No Flooding }

I've had a lot of emails checking on our weather here. While my mainland friends have much to be concerned about - rising river waters, melting snow, flooded streets - with the exception of gusty winds, we're all safe here. Thank you all for your concern!

{ Year End Fiscal Inventory }

Admittedly, I get side tracked from my Keeper of the Pennies theme when I have holidays, two feet of snow and a family member wandering around the house with two weeks off from work...but I'm back now and ready to embrace the New Year! Taking stock of where I've been is crucial to knowing where I am going in 2009. As many of my friends in retail have done or are doing in recent days, I have taken a fiscal inventory of my life.

Our current debt load is as follows:
Mortgage with taxes and insurance (30 year fixed at 5.5%): consumes 22% of our annual gross income.

Credit card : We decided to take on debt mid-year by taking advantage of a 3.00% for the life of the debt offer. Our thinking was to complete home maintenance/reno projects that would complete our 7 year remodel. We drew down a fixed amount of money with a 24 month pay off plan. This debt when incurred consumed 22% of our annual gross income. It puts us over our debt to income ratio of 35% of gross income but we treat it as a short term loan with an aggressive payoff plan. We purposefully decided against a home equity line because they are too tempting to keep open and drag out.

Other "Overhead" Costs: things like utilities, car insurance, gas and food another 20% of the gross income.

Taxes and health insurance comprises about 26% of our gross annual income. This is a new fiscal earning year for the self employed half the household so we're not sure if we have paid enough to Uncle Sam yet.

The remaining 10% gets divided pretty evenly between short term savings and retirement savings. In the coming 18 months it will need to stay that way while we pay off the debt but once that is gone we need to bulk up the short term savings in a BIG way.

I feel good about doing my inventory. It gives me a foundation on which to stand in 2009. I encourage you to not avoid your numbers and spend a couple of hours this week doing your own inventory.

{ Play After a Winter Storm }

The family photog was out snapping photos the other morning hours after a large winter storm blew through and captured a group of sailboarders out in the frigid waters of the Puget Sound. This gentleman was the smartest of the bunch because he wasn't IN the water! The outside tempature was around 39 degrees. Brrrr....
Happy New Year!