A few weeks ago, my name showed up on the California Unclaimed Property Register. Like other states, California holds onto unclaimed money for a set period, then deposits anything not claimed into their general fund. I happened to look and discovered to my surprise that there was money in my name that dates back to when I lived in Fremont. Claiming ( Read more... )

At least one of the people who I know follows my journal is also someone who I've been supporting on Patreon. That's why it pains me that I feel obliged to cut back on a lot of my optional expenses, which includes Patreon and other subscriptions. This latest auto expense is something that is making me re-evaluate where I've been spending my money. ( Read more... )

This morning, after a nice take-out breakfast from the Wigwam, running over to Grocery Outlet for perishables, and updating the Westercon 74 website with new COVID cases (alas), I buckled down on a very important task: collecting my receipts, sorting them by Westercon 74 budget areas, scanning them, and submitting to the Treasurer for reimbursement ( Read more... )

Last night, Lisa was clearing out some boxes of stuff that hadn't been touched in ages (probably since before we moved here) and found something unexpected.

( We're In The Money )

This afternoon after lunch, I took a bottle of propane over to Hanneman Service to be refilled, and while they did that, I walked across the street to get the mail and to go into Family Dollar where I needed to pick up a small item. The item cost, after tax, $6.16. I did not have exact change, but I wanted to minimize the amount of change I got ( Read more... )

I don't write a whole lot of checks anymore. One of the usual places I have a burst of them is at Westercon and Worldcon, as I typically pay my voting fee/advance supporting membership and conversion fees by check. I also had to write a check to Lisa's osteopath last month, as he doesn't take insurance or credit cards.

( Kevin the Bad-Check Bandit )

I wrote yesterday of being highly disappointed with the offer I got for the gold crown and that I walked out on it. Near my soon-to-be-ex-home is another sell-your-gold place that only recently opened. I went for a walk this afternoon and decided to see what they'd offer me for it. They ran a rub test and weighed it, confirming that the crown ( Read more... )

It's really a bit sooner than I normally would get a haircut, but because I'm leaving Monday and I did think I was somewhat at loose ends, I stopped by my regular barber's shop on the way to work and got a trim. He charges $16 for a haircut and I usually leave a couple of extra dollars as well. Imagine my embarrassment when I opened my wallet and ( Read more... )

About a month ago, USD1,020 would buy you JPY120,000 from Bank of America. The "wholsale" exchange rate (not the rate you and I would get) was around 122 Yen/Dollar ( Read more... )