jadexvsq: Being Right or Making Money

Have you ever made a large cash withdrawal from a banking machine only to wonder a few days later where all the money went? Think for a moment: Where did the last $100 you spent go? Stop for a minute and write it down. Chances are you can account for most of it, but there may be five, ten, or twenty dollars missing from your list.

Why You Should Track Your Spending

What does it cost you to live each month? Some people under-estimate their expenses because they forget the things that don’t occur every month.

Did you include your gym costs even though you pay them once a year?

How about your house or car insurance?

Did you include the cost of your haircuts, your contact lenses, or your vacation?

Do you pay someone to shovel your snow, clean your windows and carpets or do your taxes?

What about your vet bills, the flowers for your garden or patio, your best-friend’s birthday present?

Some people under-estimate their expenses because they actually don’t know how much they’re spending on things like take-out, clothes, and coffee. Over and over when I show folks how much money they’re spending on the non-essentials of life, they’re gob-smacked. Well, the only way to make a budget that will work is to know what you have been spending so you get some sense of what you’re going to have to change.

One of the best ways to gain a perspective on your spending habits is to keep a log of everything you spend, each time you do a transaction. The idea is to figure out where you’re spending all those dimes that seem to go missing each month. It’s also about learning more about yourself and where your place your priorities. This isn’t about shame, blame, or deprivation. You don’t have to change anything you don’t want to change. But you should at least know. With a spending log, you’ll have a clear picture of what you’re getting for your money.

When you do all your money management in your head, it’s very easy to forget things — sometimes important things — that will have an impact on your overall financial life. You’re always guessing how much you have left. And you shouldn’t really be surprised when your account is overdrawn. After all, if you don’t know how much you have, how can you know how much you can spend?

If you don’t believe you can find the time to maintain your budget — collecting receipts, entering details onto your budget, adding it all up and balancing it out — think about the time you have to spend solving the problems that arise from not taking care of the details. And think about all the money you waste on overdraft fees, interest costs, and ATM transactions. You’ll have to decide whether you’d rather live life peacefully, or continue waking to the specter of financial worry rattling his chains at the foot of your bed.

All right, so we knew former Bell officials were bellying up to the public trough. But is there a difference between a pig and a hog?

I decided to check after reading about this e-mail exchange between former Bell Assistant City Administrator Angela Spaccia and Randy Adams, who was about to become the police chief:

ADAMS: "I am looking forward to seeing you and taking all of Bell's money?!"

SPACCIA: "Okay … just a share of it!! LOL … well you can take your share of the pie … just like us!!! We will all get fat together … Bob has an expression he likes to use on occasion … Pigs get Fat … Hogs get slaughtered!!!! So as long as we're not Hogs … All is well!"

Bob, of course, is Robert Rizzo, the former city administrator who made nearly $800,000 a year. Bob is looking at 53 felony counts in the alleged looting of the city of Bell, so I think you could say the slaughter has begun.

Adams was paid more than $400,000; and Spaccia, who made $376,000, is charged with misappropriating funds. They all got fat together, in other words, and whether you use the term pig, hog or wild boar, what can you say to any of this but oink, oink, oink?

The exchange between Spaccia and Adams was released in the midst of Monday's preliminary hearing, and Spaccia's attorney Russell Petti wasted no time in putting a cloven hoof into his own mouth. He told Times reporter Jeff Gottlieb we shouldn't get the wrong idea about those e-mails, because Spaccia was actually "trying to save the city of Bell money."

Thanks, counselor. I'll believe that when pigs fly, as they say.

Petti also said: "The intent of that is, 'Look, we're all very well compensated by the city and let's not be pigs about it.' "

Yeah, sure. Spaccia tells Adams they'll all get fat together, Adams ends up making more than police chiefs in Los Angeles and New York, and she's out to save Bell money?

But I digress. Is there a difference between a pig and a hog?

Apparently so.

The dictionary says a pig is "any of several mammals of the Suidae family." Or, "any person regarded as being pig-like, greedy or gross."

A hog is defined as a pig weighing over 120 pounds, and also as a "self-indulgent, gluttonous or filthy person."

So are they pigs or are they hogs?

To be safe, should we just go with swine?

-- Steve Lopez

Photos: (Left) Randy Adams in June 2010. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times. (Right): Angela Spaccia in October 2010. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

bench craft company

jadexvsq

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Being Right or Making Money

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

Psychologist shows why we “choke” under pressure – and how to <b>...</b>

Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In

» BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker <b>News</b> Conference–Leftist Protester <b>...</b>

No comments:

Post a Comment