Natural disasters

Irene, extraordinary, expensive - high maintenance lady

As anyone has likely heard, hurricane Irene is on its way. It will hit the coast of North Carolina today as a category 2 hurricane - but, will pretty itself up for a trip to Manhattan, where it will pull out all of the stops as at least a category 1, possibly a category 3 storm.

Why is this a problem? Well, New York is low lying, and in the Northern end of a well traveled storm path known as the Gulf stream. We are particularly susceptible to storm surges - which are arguably the most dangerous part of a hurricane. Thing is, we get tropical depressions and Nor'Easters, but we haven't seen a landfall hurricane possibly ever...and certainly not one close enough to do serious, serious damage since 1938....and that was a glancing blow.

Irene promises to be different. It is a very large and slow moving storm that will move over, what I now understand, to be unusually warm water surrounding the city. As you likely know, warm water = hurricane speed up.

Irene is special for another reason. New York is in the direct path of her crapness. What does this mean? It means the stuff you saw in the ill thought out godzilla remake in the mid-90s is actually happening. The city is simultaneously shutting down mass transit and ordering mandatory evacuations AT THE SAME TIME. I'm not sure if you will see people running back and forth around a big green foot, but the situation is serious enough that we've had to do three I didn't think I would have to do.

We had to make a "Go bag", an evacuation plan and an emergency connection plan

H and I are still working on the evacuation plan. His employers and I are in disagreement about the risk of this hurricane. Right now, they want him to report to work. If he insists on being there, maybe we will hole up in that building.

We made an emergency connection plan - if we are separated, we will meet at specific, public location.

The Go bag - unexpected expense - we dropped about $80 on it yesterday. I'm budgeting it into "household expenses". Our go bag contains

a) all important ID
b) water
c) first aid kit
d) all portable hard drives
e) toothbrush, toothpaste
f) energy/granola bars and tin goods
g) pet food
h) cash
i) my laptop = my dissertation
j) underwear
k) flashlight, spare batteries
l) medications

Beside that, we stocked up on food and water, and have a blanket and pillows ready for an evacuation.

Now we just need to settle that evacuation plan. So far, leaving the city and living this out in inland Connecticut is very appealing, but will cost a pretty penny.

Short post today - Thank you Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs will stay on as Apple's Chairman

...but alas has given the CEO seat to someone else. I do feel bad for Jobs and his family - particularly since I can see his clavicle under his sweater in this photo. I deeply suspect, like many others, that he is stepping into the chairman position because he will soon be too ill to continue as any executive. An intermediate move to chairman will help keep the company stable during what will be a very rocky end of week and months for the market.

He has been lucky. While most patients with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis get a few weeks, he has been very fortunate to have nearly a decade. I didn't think I would feel like this, because, well, I don't know him. I do genuinely feel remorse for Jobs and his family.

While Mr. Jobs and his family and company are preparing for his move to the backseat, I can't help but wonder what this will do to the markets Thursday and Friday. Apple is a cornerstone of the American markets right now (more money than the U.S. Treasury apparently). Thursday was predicted to be a swell of trading and setting up positions ahead of Bernanke's speech Friday. The Jobs resignation might change that - hasten it, introduce additional instability. It's odd to think that such a horrible event for one person and their family could actually affect what the exchange rate will be....how much money I will be able to put aside...what my retirement savings will be worth next month.

I'm not very consumerist, but I do enjoy having a stable and speedy laptop, a simple and tiny machine that carries my music, an apple store that I can walk into 24/7 to fix my computer problems no questions asked. My work life is easier because of simple perceptions of ease and subsequent alterations to personal electronics. It's kind of sad to see the master of taking the complex and sophisticated and making simple and accessible, step away from the helm.

Dear Mr. Jobs - my best wishes to you. In the last ten years, you have changed my life for the better. Thank you, and Mr. Wozniak and Wayne.

Breaking up on a really, really small budget

"You won't be needing that"

I've spent a lot of time writing about food and weddings on this blog. H and I are pretty tight with a couple who broke up a little while ago. The break up deeply shocked at least one member of the couple. I reminded me that I once broke up with someone I lived with in this city....and that, that break up almost financially ruined me.

Renting in NYC is damn pricey

It's no surprise that living in NYC costs a pretty penny. Rent is especially high, and tends to dictate a person's monthly allowance for "luxuries" like gym memberships and cable. I spend more in my rent monthly than my sibling spends in mortgage payments and insurance every month. Why would anyone ever do that?

Well, 55% of all New Yorkers rent their apartments. I would buy my apartment if I could, but alas a mere 350 sq feet in the cheapest neighbourhood South of 96th street will cost a body at least $200 000. Those 350 sq feet will cost you a lot more if you plan on living in any neighbourhood you heard about on Sex and the City or any other number of fluffy, syrupy television shows about New York. It costs a lot to buy here, about as much to rent. If you are low to middle income, it can be very difficult to gain financial ground. Many people live hand to mouth just to put aside an emergency fund, let alone a down payment.

Add to that the cost of moving - a minimum $500 for movers to schlep your stuff from 5th floor of the walk-up you can afford to the top for floor of the next walk-up you can afford, along with basic moving supplies, and the dreaded first and sometimes last and sometimes even an additional month's rent as security for the new apartment and a traditional move in New York for the lowest end studio or 1 bedroom apartment costs at least $2.5K, usually more.....definitely more if you include a broker's fee.

High rent +break ups = more to worry about than who is keeping the apartment

It's very hard to find affordable housing here. Until the 2008 market crash, most apartment dwellers earned their apartment by being taken to town by countless real estate brokers (15% broker's fees for low end apartments). It's even harder to find an apartment with a few desirable features like a partial kitchen, southern exposure or on site laundry. When you find that big apartment, with the echoey kitchen, short number of flights, southern exposure and maybe even a closet you can convert into an office, and slam down those broker's fees and down payments well...you'll fight to keep that apartment.

Most articles about apartments and breaking up in New York focus on exactly that - who gets the apartment? Such articles gloss over the harsh reality of live-in couple break ups - that is the end of a long term relationship can be financially devastating, even if you don't share any assets.

High rent + sudden break up = WTF do I do now?

What do you do when the break up is sudden? In the case of our friends, one simply left the other with literally minutes worth of notice. Moreover, the one that left makes many fold the income of the other and had been paying the majority of the rent. What do you do when you are mid-lease and caught completely unawares? What do you do when you don't have an emergency fund?

I found myself in very similar circumstances 6 years ago. In my case, my ex and I were olympian credit card users as well. For me, the problem became managing consumer and student debt on 1/3 of my previous year's income AND keeping the apartment. My solution was pretty simple - pack and move to cheaper digs until things emotionally and financially settled down.

How I broke up on a budget in NYC

For me (and I'm not a financial advisor) the best approach was to cut losses and cut losses fast. How do you do that? I took a long hard honest look at my money and fought to preserve it. Here is what I did that first week.

1) Listed all of my basic costs

It was painful, but I sat down and listed out every monthly expense I had

2) Listed all debts and assets - shared or otherwise

This was a really awful but necessary experience. I owed well ~100K on my own. He owed money as well. If I intended to financially survive after this hiccup, I needed to know what debts were due right now and how much I owed for the remainder

3) Listed all of my income coming in.

I listed all income actually coming in..not income I thought might come into my hands

4) Basic costs + debt payments - income = could I financially get by without him?

Nope. I very quickly realized that I couldn't financially survive for very long without some support.

and then over the 1-2 months I...

5) spoke to my landlord about breaking my lease

I told my landlord what had happened and offered to help find a new tenant for a few months down the road. They were very understanding and I was spared the cost of my security deposit.

6) found a considerably cheaper apartment - without a broker

This is important - I skipped using a broker. That meant a lot more footwork for me. In the post-2008 real estate market, many management companies are simply renting directly to the consumer - no fees attached. I stayed in the new digs for about 6 months while I got back on track. The switch to a cheaper place made a big difference in my ability to financially recover. Had I been really been with it, I would have found someone looking for a roommate - still, my new digs were cheap enough to let me pay the immediately bills and get my footing.

7) did not use a mover

I needed that $500. Are you kidding me? I borrowed and rent vehicles and enlisted friends to help move what remained of my destuffed stuff. On the odd chance that my friends could not help me, I threw out or sold well over half of what I owned.

8) cut unnecessary costs

I dumped gym memberships, stopped eating out and (after a brief spurt of insane consumerism) I stopped shopping. It was time to gird the wallet

9) did not ask my ex for specific property...in the beginning

I did not want to have to hire and pay a lawyer to fight my ex for my property, so I made the property a non-issue. I was not, afterall, fighting for the custody of a child or a major asset. I temporarily adopted the view that most everything could be replaced. Everything was packed up in storage and when we calmed down a few months later, we methodically went through shared property and decided who would get what.

10) sold and destuffed as much of my property as possible

Apart from being immensely therapeutic, selling some of the items that were just mine lessened the cost of my move (supplies, gas, vehicle rentals).

11) separated all bank accounts

I actually didn't do this right away. Perhaps I should have. It was done eventually though.

12) made a list of I owed him, and what he owed me

We were both very poor and very much in debt at the time, but we had both paid 1000s of dollars to each other for various expenses over the years. I had paid more to him than he to me. I knew that I needed to be repaid to settle some of the debt I still held from the relationship, so I made a list. When things calmed down a little between us I spoke to him about the debts and we set a repayment plan in place. This plan was only possible because our break up stayed above board - and very friendly.

13) increased my income

I quickly took on additional jobs so that I could repair the financial damage of my relationship and our break up. I searched craigslist, asked my current employers and aggressively put my name in at every place I could think of that offered pay and flexible hours. I took on odd jobs, contract work...you name it, I did it.

14) started my emergency fund

Yup, it took nearly being homeless and bankrupted by a relationship gone wrong for me to do - but that's when I start paying myself that 10% a pay cheque.

And eventually, I....

15) read up on personal finance - specifically for single ladies

Along with various "For Dummies" books about stock investing and value investing, I read "The Everything Guide to Personal Finance for Single Mothers". I am not a single mother, but it was the only version of the "Everything" personal finance series that I could get as an ebook from the New York Public Library. It might be the best thing I ever did. I had been given most of the financial advice made in the book at other times. I can't say I followed all the advice the book gave. What really change my life was the book's bottom line descriptions of poverty stats - that most desperately poor people are women (often widowed women). It is worth reading just for the wake up call. It also contains descriptions of how wealthy people manage their own finances (i.e. buy used, not new etc.).

16) started aggressively decreasing my debt and conservatively investing

This took a little longer for me to get rolling on that I thought it would. Eventually, I started taking a more active hand in lowering my debt and preparing for retirement.

How did I break up on a budget? In short, I ditched the apartment, cut costs and increased income as quickly as possible.

Have I recovered? Emotionally - yes....years ago. Financially - almost. It took me about 6 weeks to recover from the immediate costs of a the break up (moving, the many phone bills etc), in part because I immediately moved to reduce day to day and break up costs. It has taken me a few more years to recover from the debt acquired during the relationship...but that's a story for another time.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Rooftop bar

I heart art museums and rooftop bars, together at last

As you know, my cash and my time budgets are pretty limited these days. Occasionally, my bosses and the last heaves of my dissertation drive me so nuts, I actually leave my dissertation behind and enjoy a few hours out. I try to make those hours count, because, well they and my dollars are few and far between.

This past week I made those hours and bucks count by visiting the rooftop bar on the top of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yup, the museum has a bar...on the roof. It has been there for many, many years and attracts a fair crowd. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find it was not crowded - just happily full.

As you might expect, the drinks are pricey ($8.50 a beer - hardly a bargain), if you aren't a member you need to donate some amount of the recommended donation to enter. I happen to be a member, but if I wasn't I think I could justify $1 towards entry. The Met, after all, holds huge galas and gets big pay cheques for them...so..I'd be okay with letting Hearst publications and the like pay my remaining $13 donation.

So the drinks are a little pricey, but the view is amazing - Park-wide, 5th avenue - and because the hours are 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm, beautiful sunset views to boot. The Met frequently features an outdoor sculpture exhibit on the roof as well.

Tasty drinks and views

I don't know why I expected the patrons to have attitude or be of the beer pong, blue shirt, black backpack, young trader ilk - but I was pleasantly surprised to find a really friendly and sweet mix of people. No shots, or giggling girls re-enacting Sex in the City, just groups of friends, all ages enjoying the sunset on their way to some other location. The bar had a really nice vibe.

Here how is how you get there. Pay your donation at the main entrance of the Met. Ask a security guard to guide you to the elevators to the bar (hang a left in the main lobby, walk behind the security desk and take an immediate left through two or three galleries and you will reach the elevator bank in about 2 minutes). The bar is open from about April to October, depending on the year - so the Summer offers the longest sunsets, and the Fall offers sparkly city views.

Be forewarned - it is a simple set up. The bar is set up like a backyard wedding bar. There is no food, and it's a $11.50 for a glass of basic red wine. My advice is to sip that wine slowly and wander the perimeter of the roof and wait for the sun to set.

In anycase, it's a lovely location for anyone craving a low key rooftop on which to spend a sunset. You get the same sunset as someone living on 5th avenue, for $1 + the price of a drink, if you are so inclined. It's a lovely way to grab a little piece of fancy schmancy NYC while on a budget.

Awwww shine on little sun. I'll see you tomorrow

If I were postdoctoral funding.....

.....where would I be?

Short musing today on the decision all doctoral candidates have to make at some point.

How many more years can you stand to be someone else's b#$%^ for very little money.

There are three options for any graduating doctoral student in the sciences

1) quit academia for the lush life of cube sitting at an NGO/gov office/corporation and using that statistics course you had to take first year

2) quit research and go for a lectureship or company-based R&D

3) go into research as a post-doc in someone else's lab.

Number 3 can further be broken down into

i) interview for positions where you will be paid ~37K annually out of someone else's grant or start up funds and spend the next 2-3 years completing that research relatively hassle-free (extremely rare).

ii) interview for positions where you will be paid ~37K annually out of someone else's grant or start up funds and spend the next 3-10 years desperately trying to meet the requirements of someone else's research program......someone getting paid much more than you, to go home at night, see their spouse and read to their children while you, underling-being-paid-annually-approximately-$3000-for-every-year-of-your-post-secondary-education, sleep with your head on a bench and are subjected to lectures about how only very special scientists can manage a career and a life/kids and that you are clearly not one of those scientists (very, very common).

iii) interview with P.I.s with explicit interest of bringing your own research money to their lab, thus granting yourself some research autonomy by at least providing for your own wage slightly above 37K (rare).

Option 3-iii is the ideal. If I'm going to spend another 2-4 years in graduate-style poverty, I might as well being doing research that I want to do.

First, I must find the grants.

Stocking a kitchen for $5 meals

I heart food

Hey All,

Part of learning to live on a budget is learning to spend money in the right places. The "right places" might differ from person to person. For me, and I think for most graduate students in NYC, this spending the money to make a number of cheap meals a week and budgeting to eat in restaurants a few times a month. Even the lowest end food is pretty amazing here. You wouldn't want to live here and miss it.

With that balance in mind, I post the occasional $5 and $10 meals for 2-4 people on this blog. Part of making low cost meals is gradually building a pantry and fridge with basic goods.

It occurred to me that my list of must haves might be useful for anyone cooking $5-10 meals for the first time.

Pantry

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Good for everything but deep frying. I prefer Greek, as I use Olive Oil in a lot of cold dishes

Sesame Oil

A little indulgence I keep for Asian recipes

Basalmic, White Wine, Red Wine, Rice and White Vinegar

I use the first three of these vinegars in salad dressings, sauces and marinades. I use white vinegar for candy making.

Soy Sauce

For Asian recipes and sometimes as a replacement for salt

Tamari

A small luxury for Asian recipes

Tomato paste, Tomato sauce, Diced plummed Tomatoes (all canned)

I keep these stocked in the winter time for sauces, soups and stews where the featured ingredient is not tomato.

Black Olive Paste/Tapenade

Used for pasta sauces, sandwiches and entertaining

Honey

For baking, sweetening tea...stealing the occasional spoonful. I love clover honey, but I try to get wildflower (allegedly better for the bees).

Baking chocolate

For all kinds of bakey goodness

Fridge

Anchovies in Oil

I used these in dressings and pasta sauces..the occasional homemade pizza

Eggs

I try to get free range organic, cash permitting

Skim milk and greek yogurt

Drinking, baking and dressings

Miso

For Asian and Western soups and marinades

Red and White wine and beer

For cooking and entertaining

Bulgarian Feta, Sheep milk and Argentinian Reggiato cheese

For salads, snacks and pasta dishes. The flavours vary and these particular cheeses are very, very cheap. I usually only have one around at a time.

Butter (salted, unless a recipe really requires unsalted)

Baking, baking, baking

Dry Goods

Brown, Basmatic and Sushi Rice

For sides, main courses and - sushi, of course

Wheat berries

For protein rich salads and stuffing

Dry whole wheat penne and spaghetti

I often make fresh pasta, but some recipes really are better with dry pasta. Some of the top restaurants in NYC use dry pasta for some of their dishes...so if it is good enough for them...

White Unbleached Bread Flour

For cookies, bread and biscuits

White Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

For cakes. If I make a chiffon or angel food cake, I might pick up a few cups of pastry flour

White, Confectioners and Brown Sugar

For baking, coffee...top of oatmeal

Baking Soda and Baking Powder

For cookies and cakes

Cream of Tartar

I keep this around because I make candy and it is a good binding agent.

Cocoa Powder

ALL KINDS OF BAKING!! I usually have dutch processed kicking around, though apparently alkaline processed powder can be found easily now.

Oatmeal (traditional, not quick oats)

For breakfast and baking

Coffee beans

It is so much most cost effective to brew my own (50 cups for $14, versus $1.50 a cup at Starbucks). I have a soft spot for Dean and Deluca House Blend, but recently I've been getting the considerably cheaper Zabar's House Blend.

Spices

I accumulated these spices over the first 6 months of setting up shop in my own apartment in NYC. They get cycled out about once a year. The ones with a star beside them are the ones I bought on the first grocery trip - starter spices, I guess.

* Ground Cinnamon (occasionally cinnamon sticks)

Cloves (whole)

* Nutmeg (at the moment, ground)

* Coriander (ground and whole)

* Cumin (ground and whole)

Star Anise (a luxury)

Ginger (ground and occasionally fresh)

Tumeric

Green Cardamon (ground - whole when I can find it cheap)

Mustard (ground)

* Red Chili peppers (ground, whole and flakes)

* Cayenne pepper

Saffron

Fennel seeds

Caraway seeds

Kosher Salt (and sometimes sea salt)

Black Peppercorns

Allspice

* Bay Leaves

* Oregano

Garlic powder

Curry Powder (make my own)

Baking Goods

Raisins

Dry Cranberries (on occasion)

Chocolate chips

Almonds

Peanut Butter

Vanilla extract

Molasses

Basic Fruit and Veg

(This is the basic stuff always in my fridge. I supplement every week with various berries and cool veg when it is in season or on sale. I'm on a kick about white nectarines at the moment).

Roma tomatoes

Grape tomatoes

Bananas

Green Apples

Lemons

a lime

Bulbs of garlic

Basil or Cilantro or Tarragon or Thyme or Dill

Shallots

Cucumber

Onions (Vidalla or purple)

Sweet potatoes

Leafy greens - spinach, kale, red lettuce, mesclun mix and the like

Freezer

Chicken and Vegetable stock

made during the winter from my scrap chicken bones and ends of various vegetables

Bananas (and other fruit on the verge)

Luxury Items that come and go

(We buy meats opportunistically)

Soda stream flavour mixes

All sorts of fantastic but seasonal fruit and veg - like figs, pomegranites, rhubarb, fava beans

Prosciutto, panchetta and cured meats of the like

Marscapone, various fancy cheeses

Heavy cream

Pita Bread, Wasa crackers of Finn Crisps - most bread products

Black cardamon

Special salts

Green and Red Curry Paste (for Thai dishes)

Fish Sauce (for Thai dishes)

Fenugreek seeds (for Indian cooking)

Coconut milk

Sweetened condensed and evaporated milk (for holiday baking)

Agave nectar

Maple syrup

Anything else? What do you keep on hand

Wedding rings: make your own

Sometimes the most economic and heartfelt gesture is DIY

I promise to follow up with more on this later - there are a few services kicking around NYC that cost a pretty penny but allow you to make your own engagement ring. It occurred to me that there had to be workshops available through the fashion schools or a lapsmithing society that would teach a person much more about jewelry design and provide them with the opportunity to make an engagement ring.

So..if you are feeling crafty or want to test an interest in jewelry-making-for-real I wanted to let you know that Fashion Institute of Technology offers continuing education and workshops on jewelry design that would teach you a few of these skills.

For considerably less money, the 92nd street Y offers many different courses in jewelry design - from metal working to stone setting to lost wax work.

For more information on jewerly design courses near you, check out the information page of the Society of American Silversmiths.