Blockbuster Blues

The neighborhood Blockbuster by my house closed down. I am sure many of you have experienced the same thing. This Blockbuster closed down almost a year ago - but I am still mourning the lost. (For the record, I hate when people use their blogs as a place to whine, but it IS my blog right? and you have free will to stop reading it and watch the latest Gangum Style remake video on youtube at free will). I simply miss the days of driving up to blockbuster and picking out a movie just for me. I had a method. I would walk the entire back wall and collect any titles I thought I would want to see... then decide. If it was a bad month I would wander aimlessly through the countless old (but cheap) movies.

Someday we will tell our kids "There was once a store that had movies from floor to ceiling and you could borrow any movie you wanted, read the back cover. You know, back cover, movies back then were physical DVDs and came in boxes. Too bad they went out of business because people were too damn lazy to go return the slightly overprice, but worth it for a better selection, movies." Man, I feel old. Is this what getting old feels like?

I have an issue committing to Netflix. You mean, I might not have instant gratification of my movie? And I have no idea how to do all the set up stuff. PLUS who wants to commit to HAVING to watch a movie or 2-3 each month to feel as though I got my money's worth. Watching a movie should NOT be a chore. (I know everyone and their mom has jumped on this bandwagon, but I'm still reminiscing about the glory days)

And redbox? who ever finds anything you really want to see in the super limited selection. And I get anxious when there are people in front of me that they are going to take the very last movie. Odds are, I will get stuck behind the world's slowest movie-picker-outer ever. AND you still have to return it the next day. Sometimes, I think "eh, its only a dollar" if it isn't convenient to return.... but then, after a week, I might as well have gone to Blockbuster.

Please, please tell me that someone out there also misses the golden years.

Oh Blockbuster, you will always remain in my heart and childhood.

The Curse of Instant Gratification

Welcome to the generation of the Ys. We are from the generation where MTV told us that if there wasn’t change and excitement in every 2 minute clip to change the channel. We grew up watching TRL which was only 60 second clips of the best and most exciting part of a 3 minute music video (really? We coudn’t watch the whole thing?) We love bullet points (Quick and to the point right?) Don’t grab my attention in the first 30 seconds? Good luck keeping my focus. We read headlines only. If that. Don’t like your job? Quit. Fighting with boyfriend? Dump him. If we invest, we want money instantly. We want to lose weight, we want it now. We want fast and exciting or we are bored. Instant gratification. Attention span of a 5 year old.

I’ve probably already lost your attention.

When it comes to investments we have such a short focus – which is exactly opposite of the approach we need to take. If we put money in stock or a mutual fund, we expect to make money that year (You might say: “THAT YEAR!?!? It better be that week/month!”) but that is not the point. Long term focus. If you look at charts of the market, every fund fluctuates.  Leave it in there for 20 years and you will have plenty of money from it. It is that need of instant gratification that hurts our generation’s investing habits.

Another approach. If you put $150 into an IRA each month for the rest of your life you will be set for retirement.  Whoa. OR you can use that money to buy a new pair of heels. Did you hear me ONE new pair of heels. That may give you blisters or potentially go out of style (since you are so cutting edge) or you may simply step in the crack of a cobblestone sidewalk and break the heel. Someone is bound to spill something on it if you wear it out. 15 years from now you wont have those shoes. But 15 years from now you will have made interest on that IRA and have a more secure future.

Don’t quit on your investments if the market goes down (unless you are playing the stock market). Don’t refresh your mutual fund screen every day hoping to earn more money. PATIENCE. It is a virtue and one that is completely missing from our generation. Be savvier than that. Kick that curse of instant gratification in the face and set yourself up to be a rich girl down the road.

Tax Tuesday: The art of procrastination

This topic is only fitting since I am writing Tax Tuesday on Wednesday. I am sure everyone was anxiously awaiting Tax Tuesday (since everyone loves reading about taxes) and were extremely disappointed when Tax Tuesday was not posted yesterday (that is, if anyone even noticed). The beautiful thing about having your own blog, and not getting paid for it, is that you can write Tax Tuesday any day of the week that you want.

However, doing your taxes is not QUITE the same. We have the wonderful deadline of  "April 15th". Now, there is this thing you can file called an "automatic extension of time to file." If you are a huge procrastinator (such as one of those people who would write Tax Tuesday on Saturday), you can opt to file your taxes by October 15th. Honestly, I think this is just silly (for most people). You would have to fill out a form to file and extension so you can fill out a form later.  PLUS it is only an extension to FILE, not to PAY your taxes. You still have to pay by April 15th. (For those ultimate procrastinators who thought you didn't have to pay until October 15th- you can send me half of the penalty fees I just saved you)

But why wait until April 14th to file? (for those people who would wait to write Tax Tuesday until 11:50pm on Tuesday) There are many benefits to filing your taxes early! Maybe even this weekend?
(1) Faster Returns- The IRS sends refunds back in the order that the returns are received. There are ALOT of procrastinators out there (guilty) and many of them will be waiting until the last second to file. That means you are waiting in a HUGE line to get your refund. This is like going shopping on Black Friday when there isn't even a financial reward. Why do it? Efile, Direct Deposit, and get your money back NOW! (then you can go shopping next weekend with your refund check!)
(2) Peace of Mind- Then when everyone else is freaking out last second about getting their return in, you will know that you already did it. You can treat yourself to a glass of wine and read all of the frantic facebook posts from your friends trying to do their taxes last second. Plus you have bragging rights in the office when people complain about still needing to file. (You can take yourself guilt free shopping with your refund check without "doing your taxes" hanging over your head!)
(3) Room for Error- Realize you forgot your W-2 from that random summer job you had for a month? Guess what, you still have time to get the form. Have a major tax issue? You still have time. Time is money.... possibly literally this time.
(4) Planning time- You get to the end of your taxes and you see that final number. Whether you owe $1500 or you will be refunded $1500, it helps to have planning time. If you owe the money, you can use your extra few weeks to save your money, beg your friends for money, or start selling boxes made out of Popsicle sticks door to door so you can pay up by the 15th. OR if you are one of the lucky ones, you can do some online shopping and plan how you want to spend your refund!

So what have we learned? Better late than never, Tax Tuesday should be done on Tuesday, and getting your taxes done early is definitely a good thing! Thus, ending your motivational speech of the week... go out there and do some taxes!