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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

My Summer (Financial) To Do List and Scary Financial News

At the end of the summer, I am always filled with sadness over things left undone. There are always many. But as I was cleaning up--as we prepare for our last family visit for the summer--I found a list.

RETURN STUFF TO LANDS END
RETURN STUFF TO LL BEAN
TAXES!!!!!!

Yes, I did all those things. Thanks to the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which covers college textbooks, we got a hefty refund, all of which is going to our next summer's travel. Returning unsatisfactory items to LE and LLB is being a conscientious consumer, something my Frugal Dad would have been proud of.

The scary financial news coming every day is reminding me of the dreaded year 2008. Honestly, all I can do is focus on my little frugal ways.

Are you scared by the news these days? How's your To do list?

1 comment:

Shelley said...

I haven't done 'to do' lists in a while, as I've been disheartened by my failure to DO them. They become a real burden rather than the inspiration they once were. Bill got into the habit of enjoying a good whinge about the US debt crisis and the closure of Minnesota - just after we left there in June. He worried about how the US financial crisis would impact the rest of the world as things are rather shakey over here in Europe as well. I asked him what he would like to do differently: buy gold? stock up on tunafish? stop spending on anything but barest necessities? grow more food instead of flowers? None of these interested him. So I refused to discuss the 'scary stuff' with him. Those sorts of things are out of my personal control and unless there is something functionally useful I can do to prepare, I don't want to sit around and worry about it. Write to the politicians and tell them to quit being stupid - then again, they all define that term differently, don't they?