Fruits of Their Labors

Are you familiar with Pillow Pets? I bet if you have kids in the 3-to-7 age range that either go to public school or watch TV, you do. They are HOT HOT HOT right now. Which means I am against them.

Thanks to Qubo channel's highly repetitive, persuasive and obnoxious commercials, which also have my children asking for Pocket Copters and LifeLock, the girls started begging for Pillow Pets right after Ginger's birthday. Which poses this dilemma - too late to get one for Ginger; if I get one for Hazel's birthday that leaves Ginger in the cold; but I am not just buying these things for no reason except the girls wanting them. What to do?

I looked a little closer at the things. Turns out that, commercials aside, they are not that offensive and even kinda cute. Their worst trait is being big, but they are soft, machine washable, no batteries, and not ridiculously overpriced ($20 average on Amazon.) And in case you don't know, they have a velcro strap across the bottom, so they can be a 3-D-ish stuffed animal or, when undone, a flat-ish pillow.
Still. We already have a lot of stuffed animals. So I made the girls a deal, having NO IDEA how it would work out. If they really wanted Pillow Pets they could earn the money for them by doing extra jobs around the house. Both were enthusiastically on board at first, which I figured they would be. I was interested in if there would be staying power.

I didn't dare deal in cash - guaranteed to lose it! - so we made a chart, with $20 in 25-cent increments for each girl, and stuck it on the fridge. Ginger took off like gang busters. Jobs, jobs all the time! First tier jobs were always cleaning or running - pick up the toys, pick up the newspapers, take this upstairs, etc. Second tier were things that needed my help - watering plants, cleaning the bathroom, sweeping. Third tier, when I was desperate or busy and couldn't think of anything else, were made-up jobs - things that didn't really need doing but wouldn't hurt - usually involving a spray bottle of water and a rag - wash a door, the dining chairs, the stairs, etc. Good stuff.

Well obviously you can tell from the pictures that they gained their prize. Ginger reached $20 in about 6 weeks. Hazel took a little more time and prodding but eventually got there. She is more lazy and not home as much anyway. But watching Ginger work towards a goal with focus and motivation was a phenomenon to behold, and a great insight into her little character.

When it came time to order, Hazel chose the dolphin, "to be friends with my mermaids." And Ginger chose a cream Easter bunny, "because it's new and I like it" (limited edition at Easter time, though the ladybug was a close second.)
Of course, they take them everywhere and yes, I even like to lay on them. And of course as soon as they had them, they wanted a new chart to start earning money for Happy Nappers (thank you again so much, Qubo.) But Ed and I had a bigger vision.

We recently attended a casual game night at our church - tables with sandwiches, board games, card decks, etc. (and the best white chocolate popcorn on earth, I am getting that recipe!) They also had a couple of rooms set up with Wii's that were supposedly under adult supervision. It ended up being kind of a train wreck because Ed and I were socializing or playing games and not really paying attention to where the girls were. When it was time to go, we found Hazel in a Wii room trying to get a turn among a bunch of kids who thought they knew what they were doing, and no adult to organize them. Then someone came in and unplugged it and said the game night was over. And Hazel never got a turn. She knew it was fun, but didn't know how to do it. And was probably the only kid there who couldn't go home and play her own Wii. Cause we don't have one.

So after the mother meltdown Hazel had, Ed talked to the girls this week about earning money for a Wii. It seems to be something Hazel really wants, so it shall be interesting to see which prevails: wanting or lazy. Each girl must earn $50, and we will make up the rest. So what do you think - will they do it? Or will we just break down in 7 months and get one for Christmas? Stay tuned, only time will tell...

Snapshot

Today, 9:10 am. Ed is sweeping the floor after breakfast.

Hazel: "Dad, can you play with me?"

Ed: "In just a minute - right now I'm doing some work."

Hazel, looking dubious: "But you're not going to work. Do you know what going to work means?"

Ed: "What?"

Hazel: "Going to work means you go to a big building and pass out lots of money!"

Disco Mom Goes All Financial On You (GAFOY)

Ed's a smart guy. He's also got a degree in finance, just finished three years with an investment bank on Wall Street, and owns a natural curiosity that spurns him to read and learn about things he's interested in: namely, elk hunting and finance. I'm no dummy either, but from an early age I've had an aversion to anything political, government or business related. Which, I see now, has put me at a mighty disadvantage to live and function in the world as an adult. With a big deal election coming up and the economy in an unprecedented state of chaos, I'm trying to catch up.

Two of my three siblings have expressed to me harsh distaste for political blogging (not that I could or would anyway), so, at the risk of making an idiot of myself, I go straight to finance.

Over the last three years my economic knowledge and understanding have increased through long discussions with Ed, so I have had a much better context for current events that I otherwise would. And with all that has been happening lately, and the addition of seeing Ed more often, our discussions have become longer and more frequent. Sometimes he emails me articles during the day and we discuss them at night. Sometimes I catch a financial blurb on public radio while running errands and - oh, rare but exciting joy of joys - get to tell him something he didn't know. Through our discussions I've gained a little confidence, enough to occasionally posit a thoughtful question or propose an idea or connection. (Of course they are usually things he has already thought of but he is very patient with me and gives me the praise I require for using my brain.)

So, no, I don't have any surprise economic analysis to share, and I wouldn't presume to be able to teach readers something new. The national and global economies are complex and I'm still learning. But I can share a few things that have been helpful to me.

There are three main parts to the current economic situation:

The Past, or how we got here. This article from 1999 about Fannie Mae's acceptance of subprime loans gives a brief but haunting report and prediction. The author, Steven Holmes, has every right now to say, "I told you so." It suggests political pressures to get everyone the American dream of home ownership, whether they can afford it or not, as one of the causes. But this Seeking Alpha article, The Great Consumer Crash of 2009, has been the most helpful to me so far, in laying out in charts and brief numbered points how the hell it got so bad. And what's happening now as a result. My favorite quote, "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked."
Conclusion: Americans have been allowed to live on too much credit, and that can't go on forever. Eventually you have to pay the piper.

The Present, or what's happening now. Again, The Great Consumer Crash article does a good job explaining this, though it's just one man's take, and certainly too simple to include everything. But it's a good start. Ed says it's a more pessimistic view than many analysts are willing to admit yet, but I think more and more are coming to that side every day. No one wants to cause panic, but I'd like to know, expect, and plan for the worst, personally. Last night Ed and I sat in our living room and listened to an hour-long BBC radio broadcast debate, "World economy on the brink?" We felt like we were back in the olden days, sitting by the fire listening to radio programs to learn what's happening in the world. But despite jargon I had to have Ed explain later, like leverage, recapitalization and contra-cyclical, it was well done and helpful. Ken in Hong Kong was especially insightful if only the moderator wouldn't have interrupted him so much. At one point they were discussing "who's to blame" for how we got here, and I was surprised that all blame was laid on the government and the banks. Not a single panel member mentioned the individuals living grossly beyond their means to be at fault. I wonder if the economy can ever stabilize until people become responsible and accountable again for their own finances, and learn to live and save within their means.
Conclusion: It's bad. No one knows what will happen next, or exactly how many of the wheels in motion will play out. In the least, several waves of ripple effects are still expected.

The Future, or how we can recover. Of course the President's bailout plan is on the table. Ed did a good job explaining this to me in terms of the savings & loan scandals in the late 80's and early 90's, of which I was completely oblivious. It worked then, but the scale now is monstrously grander. Everyone has an opinion - again the BBC radio show addresses this - but the reality is that the situation is unprecedented. A bailout could work or not work. The economy could swing back or fall deeper. Whatever happens, America is facing a recovery phase, and we have already dropped out as the global economic power we once were - Asia is king now, though I don't know exactly what that means. I asked Ed what the chances are of falling into another Great Depression and he pointed out that there are things in place, like the FDIC, that are supposed to keep that from ever happening again. But they are being tested, and will be tested further, and we can only hope they will hold up. Unemployment is at about 6.1%; during the Depression it was 25%. But life back then was more rural, and people found ways to survive. With our current two-income, commuter workforce society, it's hard to say what will happen if more people continue to lose jobs, lose health insurance, and lose homes.

Howard Marks is chairman of Oaktree, a large money management firm. He frequently writes memos about financial things as he sees them to Oaktree employees and clients, and those memos often get forwarded and passed around Wall Street and financial people. His views are insightful and well-respected. His most recent memo, dated Wednesday, explains the bailout, and it's worth reading.
Conclusion: If we haven't already, start tightening the belt. Lose the consumer mentality, cut expenses, save some money. Live within our households' means. Rough seas ahead. Words like meltdown, panic, crisis, collapse and worst ever are being thrown around.

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, none of this should come as a surprise. Our leaders have been telling and warning us for years, in fact decades, to live providently. And not just for kicks, but for safety and security in an unpredictable world, the world in which we now live. Elder L. Tom Perry's 1995 talk, "If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear," and Elder Jospeh B. Wirthlin's 2004 talk, "Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts" are just two examples of the constant counsel we have been given, and hopefully taken.

It's a fascinating, if confusing and scary, time to be taking home-based Econ 101. But, knowledge being power, I'm trying hard to understand as much as I can so as to be a responsible citizen and steward of my family.

Got comments? Please share - I'd love to learn from you.

Got questions? Call me. I'll give the phone to Ed.

Got Gas?

Last weekend we went up to Massachusetts for my niece's baptism. We filled up twice and passed lots of stations in different states. I heard on the radio this morning that the national average, currently $3.62, has gone up $.15 in the last two weeks and $.30 in the last month. Here's what I saw:

5/2 New Jersey $3.79
5/4 Worcester, MA $3.57
5/4 Connecticut $3.85
5/4 CT - NY border $3.97 ouch!
5/5 Brooklyn, NY $3.79

I'm not one for political-economic commentary on my blog, but I see that this is bad. It's also complicated. My dad looks at it this way - he remembers when he could fill up for $5. Now it's 12 times that but he makes much more than 12 times what he made back then, so he's ok with it. I guess any way you can find to be ok with it will save you some stress, but not everyone has the luxury. It makes me sweat to fill up but we can't complain too much because we drive so little relative to the nation at large - Ed commutes on public transportation and I walk almost everywhere. I also heard on the radio some people expect it to climb another $.30 before it peaks. I remember just before we left Colorado 3 years ago it was just breaking $2/gallon - an outrage! It helps to talk to Ed - my financial tutor - about things like this because he can put it in a broader, even historical, perspective. Even so, it's bad. Depression and inflation at the same time spell trouble. Boo for air travel going through the roof just as Dave moved to England! Hip-hip-hooray for food storage, paying tithing, public transportation and stockpiling rice and gas if that summer tax cut happens, which I am against, by the way. Even I can see it's pointless to solve a problem by causing ten more.

What's the damage where you live - how much are you paying for gas right now?

Money Money Money

UPDATE 10/25/07 - After 3 weeks I have made $302 and after 1 week my referrals have made $245 altogether!

So some of you have been kind enough to inquire in one way or another why I haven't been blogging so much lately. Well it's not that I've been sitting in front of the computer any less, I've just been doing something else - making some money from home. Granted, it's not much, but money is money and comes in handy for all sorts of crazy things.

Here's what I've been doing:
Two weeks ago my friend Jen (Price) Carver emailed me information on GPT websites. GPT stands for "Get Paid To". Her brother is in dental school and doesn't have time for a "real" job, but has made some good money working with them, and referred her. Then she referred me.

You know those internet "surveys", that often come in pop-up windows, that make you think you're really taking an opinion survey and it turns out to be a bunch of trial offers and sign-ups that you don't want? Well through GPT sites you can get paid for taking those surveys, without risk or cost, and if you know a few tips and tricks you can avoid all the spam and telemarketers, too.

I had some success my first week so referred a few friends, and they have also had some success. In two weeks I've made $200, and at least $40 of that has been bonuses, contest prizes or referral commissions. Yea, $200 isn't much but I'd guess that was for about 8-10 hours, and it's also $200 I didn't have before, and will be really helpful in the upcoming holiday season (especially after buying 3 plane tickets to CO!)

The sites are legal and legit, and if you make $600 you have to fill out a W9. This is especially good for students, stay-home moms or other people who need money but don't have time or availability for traditional employment. If you're interested, see below. If not, pass it on to anyone you think might be.

If you are interested: Comment or email me - I will email you a tutorial I wrote that helps you get set up and navigate your way through the GPT world. Reading the tutorial will save you a ton of time, it's worth it. It's about 6 pages so too long to post the whole thing here. Once you've read the tutorial you can go to the GPT sites and start making money. I would appreciate it if you use my referral links below (they are in the order I suggest using - Race4Offers being the easiest to navigate.) Feel free to ask any questions here in the comments.
Note: You must be prepared to register with the site immediately upon using the link, so the referral will be credited. You should start with one for awhile, then try the others as you become more familiar with the process.

Swat Cash
Race4Offers
Squishy Cash
My Doggie Dollars
Monster Pays Cash


So yes, I have been a little obsessive with this while reading the forums, exploring the sites, trying different surveys. I haven't forgotten the blog world, though, and have many posts floating around in my head. So as always, stay tuned.

Going Places: Parking Diaries II

So last weekend I got a parking ticket and sticker of shame, and this week I almost forgot to move the car to the alternate side...twice, so I figured it must be time to write some more about parking. This time we're talking about parking when we go places in New York, but let me just make one more comment about parking at home. I just got back from moving the car for sweeping tomorrow. And in doing so I left Hazel in front of Blue's Clues and Ginger in the baby swing. I walked out, locked the door, left the building, crossed the street, drove the car to a spot two blocks away, and walked home. Every single time I do something like that - leave the girls alone - either to park or switch laundry or get the mail - I feel slightly sick and envision all manner of horrible things happening, from a cut to a fire, and social services taking them away from me. Then I envision putting shoes & jackets on, taking them outside, buckling them both in car seats, driving two blocks, then walking them home (and inevitably receiving a tantrum from Hazel because she doesn't want to go back in) and I swallow hard and consider it worth the risk. It's just quicker and easier. I do try to do it when they're both sleeping, but sometimes I forget (or sometimes they don't sleep at the same time all day). Ok, enough from the guilty conscience.

I learned early on that when I'm going to drive somewhere in New York City, the biggest concern is parking (and traffic, but that's a topic for another day.) If possible, I call ahead and ask how the parking is in the area, and, if relevant, the street sweeping days & hours. Sometimes there is a parking lot or garage nearby. Sometimes there is meter parking. And sometimes there's just no parking, so I don't go. Once I called a store and they said street parking was crowded but they had an arrangement with a diner down the block that their shoppers could park there. Never would have known if I hadn't called. But for the most part parking takes time and money, and may be several blocks or more from my destination, so that also means ALWAYS take the stroller.

My ticket last week was an interesting one. I went to the grocery store at 8am on Saturday. This store has a small parking lot so I drove there, but over half of the spaces were blocked by big trucks making their deliveries in the back, and the other spots were filled. I noticed the meter spots on the street were mostly open; I attributed this to the early hour, and parked in one, sure to deposit my quarters. When I came out 45 minutes later I found a ticket on the windshield and sticker on the window. I was annoyed at getting a ticket undeservedly, and at the hassle I'd have to go through to contest it. Then I looked up at the parking signs and discovered that street sweeping on that main street is 8-8:30 every day except Sunday. After almost 2 years I should have looked at the signs - you always have to look at the signs. But I'd gotten lazy - I always park in the lot there, so I didn't know the rules on that street. And I'd never seen a daily 8-8:30 sweeping sign - they're usually once a week. There went $45 I could have used for laundry.

In my early days here, I had several experiences of driving to a place, circling for parking, becoming overwhelmed at the one-way streets, parking signs, and traffic, and just turning around to come back home. But I've gotten smarter as I've learned the patterns. For the most part, I know the alternate side parking for the streets around the pediatrician office, dentist, library and most of the parks we like that are too far to walk, and make my appointments and plans accordingly. Meter spots are always best because they're usually closer to where you're going, but always in demand. But I also learned the hard way that some meters are 2 hours, and some are only 1. Garages are always very convenient, too, but quite pricey. The few times I've driven into Manhattan, I've always parked in a lot or garage. Street parking is not worth the enormous investment of time spent looking for a spot you'll probably never find. For a couple of hours we've spent anywhere from $12-35, depending on the area, day and time of day. I think the most was $40 for a few hours in the theater district at night. Two hours on a Saturday near the temple was about $25. Plus tolls of course...

I could go on but I want to mention Dr. Donald Shoup - UCLA Urban Planning professor and author of The High Cost of Free Parking (call out to D-Pulse!). This guy has made urban parking his academic and professional focus, and in my opinion that's good. Parking could use him. I haven't read his book, but I have read a few articles and watched this film (which I highly recommend), so I have the gist of his ideas, which I'll lay out here:

Street parking either costs too much, or in more cases, too little, especially if it's free. A solution to many urban problems, including air pollution, traffic, pedestrian safety, cleanliness, and of course parking, is to find the "right" cost of curb parking. The right cost would be the lowest price that leaves 15% of spaces vacant at any given time. I assume in NYC this price would be more than 25 cents per half hour (what meters cost in many areas) and less than $10 per half hour (what some garages charge.) Revenue from this parking policy should go straight back into improving the specific locality - fixing up the pedestrian realm so it's a place more people want to be.

Anyone involved in the parking world seems to either be a Shoupista or Anit-Shoupista. I'm not so polarized, but since I already pay out my rear end to park in Manhattan, I'd be happy to pay whatever it takes if it means there are readily available spots. It's hard to imagine 15% of curb parking open in NYC, but I'm all for it, especially if the revenue goes to improving pedestrian conditions (or, say, um, putting elevators in more subway stations so I could actually take a stroller...)

Anyway, the point is that parking is a mess. What it means for me is that I go out less, buy less gas (usually one tank per month), walk more and shop online more. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but has taken serious getting used to for a suburban girl like me. Of course having two kids further complicates driving outings, whether parking is an issue or not. That's why all the saved gas money went into a v.e.r.y. s.e.r.i.o.u.s. d.o.u.b.l.e. s.t.r.o.l.l.e.r. Now what I need is a new pair of walking shoes!

Question: Watch the 6-minute film interview with Dr. Shoup and tell me - how do you think this would work in your town or city (or place you've been that has a parking problem...)?

Quarterly Addendum

I never did get back to the bank to cash those rolls of quarters back in, and it's just as well. My sister Tona's family of six just came to visit for a few days and they needed $30 in quarters to take the express bus into the city their first day here. If I hadn't had my stash they would have had to take the subway, a much less convenient commute.

They paid me back in bills, which I will apply to my laundry card.

The Big Apple Can Bite Me: Parking Diaries I

Parking in New York City. There's too much - too, too much to say about it. I've got to break it up or it will be so long and boring no one will want to read my blog anymore. But it's got to be said. My friends and family have got to understand the circumstances I'm expected to live under. Those that have visited have an idea. Let me shed some light for the rest of you...

Let's start with parking at home. Later we'll move on to going places, but for now we'll just talk about coming home from them. I live in a neighborhood of Brooklyn where maybe 75% of the population has cars, which is high for NY but we probably do have more street parking and there are streets where houses have driveways. But my street has lots and lots of apartment buildings, so street parking is a premium.

Here are the parameters I have to work with, or rather around: alternate side parking (street sweeping), the night rush, and other restrictions. And let me just clear up any questions - there is not a parking lot for every building. Some have a small parking lot with a long wait list (like years long), but most, including mine, do not. You're on the street, and you're on your own.

Alternate Side Parking
The entire city is apparently street-swept once or twice a week. Every street that allows parking at some time has signs that describe when that street will be swept, and you're not allowed to park there. This was a mind-blowing concept when I first arrived. "You mean I can't park here ANY Friday from 8-10am?!" Outrageous. Totally unjust. Now I don't even think about it. It's second nature to take note of the parking signs when I come home, so I know when I'll have to move the car. In our first NY apartment it was no problem. We lived on a corner - one street had Monday sweeping on one side, Tuesday on the other. The other street was Thursday on one side, Friday on the other. So if it was Monday night, I couldn't park on the Tuesday side because it was going to be swept the next morning, but I had three other curbs to choose from. In our new apartment, every street within 5 blocks is Thursday/Friday sweeping, so come the end of the week you need to really claim your spots carefully. For example, all week I've been parked in a "Friday spot", so this afternoon while the girls napped I snuck out and moved it to the Thursday side.

So what happens if you forget and leave your car where you shouldn't? A pain in the butt, that's what happens. Uniformed people in little striped cars that say SANITATION drive around and give you tickets for $45 and a bright chartreuse sticker on your back window that does not come off without much Goo Gone and razor blades. These are informally called "stickers of shame," and they inevitably draw knowing smiles from onlookers. We've gotten a handful of these. At least the sanitation people have the same attitude toward holidays as other government agencies - take as many as you can. And in New York you gotta take Jewish and Muslim holidays as well as traditional government days. So that's something.

My friend here Corey used to live in an even denser-populated neighborhood of Brooklyn and she would tell me stories of working around alternate side parking regulations. People would go outside the second it was in effect and move their cars to the other side of the street, double parked, and sit in them for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until it was over and move back, just to ensure having a spot. It's not quite that bad in Bay Ridge but still annoying. In Manhattan, oh I don't even want to think about it, but some people make it work. In fact, it's an even bigger part of life for car-owners there. For some, it is life (see The Alternate Side Parking Reader.)

The Night Rush
The most important thing to know about living here, and by "here" I mean our apartment building, and which we learned the hard way, is that if you come home after 4:30pm, be prepared. Have snacks, have stroller, have books, have time. You may be parking far away, and it may take a long time. During the day it's no problem finding spaces within a block. Enough people drive to work that there are lots of free spots. That makes life as a stay-home-mom somewhat livable. I can run an errand during the day and park when I get back (actually, I can't run any errands ever, but it's not because of parking - it's because of incompatible schedules of 2 kids!) But hypothetically, one could run an errand. When we first moved here Hazel and I drove to a park to play and came home around 5. I had to park 4 blocks away, and carry a sleeping toddler, diaper bag and 10 shirts from the cleaners on hangers home...while pregnant. I only had to experience it once to know to ALWAYS take the stroller in the car, just in case.

In general, I don't need to go out at night so it's not too much of an issue. It's not like Ed comes home at an earthly hour and I can go out to do something. But sometimes, on the weekend mostly, we do come home in the evening and the key is patience. I tend to drive around in expanding concentric blocks looking for spots. Ed double parks in a strategic spot and watches like a hawk for people leaving. He tends to get luckier than I do, but we have been known to wait 20, 30, 45 minutes - once I waited an entire hour and finally went and parked by our old place and walked the 15 minutes home. Time of my life gone that I'll never get back.

Restrictions

• You can't park near a fire hydrant. Nobody knows the exact distance, so everyone eyeballs it and crosses their fingers. And be careful because on streets like ours, packed with pre-war apartment buildings (=kindling just waiting for a space heater to spark) there are 4-6 hydrants per block.
• You can't overlap a crosswalk. It doesn't have to be a painted-lines crosswalk, just a dipped-curb-at-the-corner. We learned that our first week here with a $115 parking ticket.
• You can't overlap driveways, obviously.
• You can't park in front of a church. I'm still figuring this out, but every church, and there are a lot of them, has no parking signs out front.
• You can't park in front of schools because of the morning and afternoon buses. This is a bummer because schools are big and all that curb space goes open so much of the time.
• You can't park anywhere near where you want to. This is not a strictly enforced rule, but rather an observation. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they do enforce it.

Stay tuned for more on tickets, meters, and the Shoup philosophy...

A Quarter of Irony

An ongoing theme you may find here on my blog is what a hassle life in New York City is. Take laundry for example. Most urbanites have three options: 1) send it out if you can justify or afford it, 2) schlep it to the laundromat, or 3) if you are lucky enough to have a laundry room in your building, do it yourself down there. That's what I do. There are three machines and two dryers (don't ask me why, I ask myself every time I'm down there.) And each one takes $1.50 per load, in quarters only. With a growing family we have 4-6 loads per week so that comes out to $50-60 per month. In quarters only.

Quarters play a big part in my life here, being the currency of both laundry and parking. Parking in NYC is, you guessed it, a hassle. That is definitely a topic for another essay, perhaps a series. But between laundry and parking I find myself always desperate for quarters, hoarding them, saving them in a special pocket of my wallet separate from the other change. Rolls seem to disappear into thin air. And listen, obtaining a roll is no small feat. It involves loading the kids into the double stroller and heading out to a bank, waiting in line, sometimes two. Then inevitably the teller is put out at how many rolls I need and has to get the manager to come open a safe or vault or something so they can get more. Then one or both kids start fussing, needs a snack, dropped a toy, etc. Once I tried getting quarters at the customer service desk at the grocery store but it wasn't much easier, and it definitely took longer.

And don't even think for a second that it's an option to throw the kids in the car and just breeze through a bank drive-thru. This is NYC. Don't even think banks have parking lots, much less drive-thru's. No, any errands, from the post office to the library to the bank, are done on foot (or on public transportation but double strollers are not so welcome on buses.) See future article on parking. I just seem to always be in need of quarters, and never have enough to do laundry when I need to. One of the best gifts I received at the time of Ginger's birth was my Dad showing up with a huge pile of quarter rolls. Got me through a month without having to go to the bank.

So when our tax refund arrived I decided to finally get smart and take control of the quarter situation that plagues my life. I went to the bank and got $200 in quarters - that's 20 rolls. I was so happy and proud to have saved myself all the work and hassle of being constantly short on quarters. Now I could go months on that supply!

Then just last week there was a sign on the elevator door, informing tenants that the laundry room has installed a new "Smart Card" system - you use a refillable card, like a credit card, with the machines instead of quarters. No problem, I thought, I'll just put all my quarters in the machine that puts money on the Smart Card. But you guessed it, didn't you? I went down to check out the card machine and it only takes: bills.

So I'll be going back to the bank after all...