lornagrl

3:365 I want to buy a house

3:365 I want to buy a house
Originally uploaded by lornagrl.

I want to buy a house. Not an apartment. (even though I would probably settle for one) a HOUSE, with a yard, and preferably detached. AND I want one in Brooklyn. Now, it will probably be awhile before I could make this dream a reality...but it doesn't hurt to dream. Does it?

On my way home from church today I decided to walk around Prospect Park and I came upon an open house on Reeves Street. I decided to take a look. It was the strangest open house ever because NOBODY was there. Just a blank piece of paper with a pen next to it that I presume was put there so people could give their contact info.

The house needed a lot of work. There was a lot of paneling circa 1970 all over the place, and it needed new appliances. If I were buying the house, I would have knocked down some walls.

But the biggest surprise was the cost $799,000!! If the house was in "move in" condition, I could see someone paying that price, but this place has to be gut renovated.

I guess the housing crisis in NYC is over.

2:365 Two Headed Cow

2:365 Two Headed Cow
Originally uploaded by lornagrl.

I went out for a walk today and ended up in Coney Island. There is a new freak show on surf avenue. I paid $3 to see some freaks. There were two headed turtles, and hairless dogs, and this two headed cow. If you look real close you can see the smaller head by the ear.

It was a little sad really.

1:365 Burt's Bees

1:365 Burt's Bees
Originally uploaded by lornagrl.

Because I need a creative outlet, and I'm not in the mood to take self portraits, I decided to participate in project 365 on Flickr.

Pretty simple really, just take a photo every day...and post it. (I pretty much do this anyway.)

Right here is a photo of Burt's Bees. I bought this hand salve while I was on chemo. It worked best with my radiation burns. It was buried in a drawer and I decided to bring it to work.*

I will very likely be posting a lot of shots from work because the light is so much better that my dark apartment.

Coney Island from the Astroland Tower in 2007

I took this photo in September of 2007. It was the last day that the Astroland Tower was open. I made sure I got a ride because I thought it would be the last chance to take a photo of Coney Island from this viewpoint.

View it large with a black background.

Paying my dues..

I had a blast from the past today.  I had to go to A.F.T.R.A to pay my dues.  I hadn't paid them for awhile, not since 2006.  That was the last time I worked. (as an actor that is)

I knew I was behind on my dues, but as I've written before, I wasn't exactly focusing on my finances.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I've been doing some belt tightening lately and as a way to save on banking fees, I thought I would open an account with the Actor's Federal Credit Union.  (they offer free checking accounts) To qualify you have to be a member in "good standing" of one of the actor's unions (S.A.G, A.F.T.RA and or Equity).   My Equity membership is frozen and I knew I owed money to A.F.T.R.A. I wasn't sure if having a "frozen" membership would qualify me as "member in good standing". It does not. So  I knew that either way I would need to fork over some money to one of these unions, it was just a question of which. When I called A.F.T.R.A I was told that too much time had gone by and that my membership had been suspended. If I wanted to restore my membership I would have to  start over and pay the  initiation fee -  $1,300 - again. 

I felt the bottom drop out from under me a bit when I heard that.  I came to NYC to be an actor.  It cost me a lot, I gave up a lot to do it.  I've lived in places I did not want to live, took jobs I didn't want to take to stay up here.  Now here it is ten years later, and I have just learned that I have been kicked out of one of the Actor's unions.  I should have been devastated, but I wasn't.  I even thought about just letting it go.  But I didn't.  I couldn't.  I asked the woman on the phone if there was anything that I could do?  Did I really have to pay the initiation fee again?  Couldn't I just pay what I owed? 

In the end she took pity on me.  I actually didn't need to beg too much.  She let me back if I paid what I owed..$470. BUT I had to pay it before the end of April.  Now you may ask, why would you pay $470 to save on some banking fees?  It's not just the banking fees.  I think it's important that I maintain a good record with the actors unions.  I may not be acting now, but who knows?  I could fine myself unemployed somewhere down the line and may want to pick up some acting work on the side. 

So yesterday, on my lunch hour, I walked over to Madison Avenue to pay my dues.  Something I had not done for a few years. When I walked into the lobby of 260 Madison Avenue, I saw a bunch of excited seventeen year olds holding some A.F.T.R.A welcome packets.  They were about to graduate from an acting program, and had come down for a field trip to join.  The guy at the membership counter was still talking about them when I got up there.  While I was waiting for the form to sign, he handed me a contact sheet that listed all the television shows I could submit my head-shot too.  I took a look at the sheet.  Some names I recognized, some I did not.  I thought for a second of sending my postcard to one of these casting agents, but then I remembered I didn't have a current head-shot, and I probably didn't have time to audition anyway. 

My plan is to update my membership, join the credit union, then freeze it again.  But I was thinking that maybe I would reinstate my Equity membership?  Maybe I could audition for some plays?

Spring has sprung...and bounced...and flipped.

I was exhausted from work this week, and spent this past weekend doing...well not much of anything. Except play on Second Life. I did go out for some air on Sunday. Saturday was miserable and raining. Sunday (Easter) was sunny but very, very windy. There is a Jewish center on my block, and maybe because of the holiday, or just for the heck of it, there were one of those inflatable castles that they have at street fairs. There were about 8-10 kids inside, all under the age of six, bouncing up and down and laughing with glee. I peeked inside as I walked past and smiled. It looked like so much fun and a part of me wanted to go in and jump around with them. 

When I reached the corner a felt a gust of wind, and for some reason I looked behind me towards the castle...that's when I noticed that the castle had been flipped over on it's side.  The wind was so strong that it picked the castle up and turned it over.  I could hear the children screaming and crying and before I realized it, I was running back toward them. 

Now as dramatic as all this sounds all was well by the time I got there.  The mothers had pulled their children out very fast which was a good thing because the wind had pulled the castle away from the air pump and was quickly deflating.  I looked at a little girl who was sitting with her relieved mother and asked  "was that fun?"  She timidly nodded yes. 

Pinching Pennies

my life savings
Originally uploaded by lornagrl.

I had a very rude awakening a few weeks ago. 

I'll admit I have never been the wisest with my finances.  But I've always paid my bills on time and I have never defaulted on a loan or a credit card.  I was never a big saver but I have managed to sock some money away in a mutual fund. 

Not to complain but I've had some hard hits these past few years.  And while I've gotten through them emotionally, financially is another story.  It started when I charged the vet bills when I had to put Onyx down.  Then my landlady put the house on the market, and I had to move and the landlady refused to return my deposit.  Then I got burglarized twice and had to replace the items that were stolen, then had to move AGAIN.   Then I got cancer.  Not sure if I broke a chain letter, or a mirror but I sure hope that seven years is up by now. 

I don't have much family.  My father is deceased and my mother is totally out of commision (let's not go there).  My brother helped me when I was on chemo.  Helped me loads, but he is not made of money either.  So aside from my brother's help I haven't had much family to lean on. 

But Aunt Visa, Uncle MasterCard and my good ole' cousin American Express was there,  and I whipped those babies out when I needed them.  Now granted I did make some bad choices, and bought things I probably shouldn't have.  So I'm not completely innocent.

When I got sick. I stopped looking at my finances because there was nothing I could do about them. I was employed at a non-profit organization that steadfastly refused to give me a raise or a promotion in spite of the fact that I was doing a completely different job with a lot more skill and responsibility.  My salary was static and there was nothing I could do.  Looking at my finances were stressful, so I stopped looking.  I knew I would have to deal with it someday.

That someday came on March 28th.  

When I switched jobs, I had to go on a COBRA plan for two months.  That COBRA plan cost me $593 a month which is a big expense and I HAD to pay it. (Not having medical coverage could be life threatening for me).  To make matters worse COBRA does not and will not accept credit cards, only checks and only by mail.  (huge pain in the ass) In order to make these payments I had to pay the rent a little late those months, and I never got back in cycle.  Since then I've been paying my rent on the 15th instead of the 1st.  My landlord never complained. 

I also recently transferred almost all of my debt to a credit card with a very low promotional APR.  I have excellent credit and get these offers all the time.  The caveat about a promotional rate, is that if your late even one hour, they take that promotional rate away, pimp-slap you down Broadway and jack your rates to sometimes as high as 24%.  This could turn my low manageable monthly payment and raise it to one I could not afford.  These promotional APR's can be traps so buyer beware.

So I have two main expenses each month, rent and this credit card payment.  These are payments I make as long as there are blood in my veins. 

Here is what happened in March.  My credit card payment was due on March 2nd.  So I paid it.  Then I paid my rent on the 15th.  All was well with the world..so I thought. 

One Friday night after I had gone out to dinner with some friends I found a notice slipped under my door.  It was a "pay us or else" notice from my landlord.  My immediate reaction, was that I had forgotten to pay my rent on the fifteenth and now she was complaining.  I sat down and paid my rent immediately on line WITHOUT looking at my checking account thoroughly.  If I had I would have noticed that I DID pay my March rent.  I pay my bills online so I had a record.  My landlady just hadn't received the check yet.  (more about that on another post)

The next day I got another billing statement from the low APR credit card. (Chase).  The bill was due on March 30th.  MARCH 30th!! Because I had paid my rent twice I didn't have the money to cover the credit card bill in time for the March 30th payment. (I don't get paid until the 31st)  I was over-drawn.  I was fucked. 

I did call Chase and explain the situation.  How it was unfair that they had billed me twice in one month, and could they please just change the due date a few days until after pay day.  Could they please I have had this credit card for years and have an excellent track record.  I begged, I cried, I even pulled out the cancer card, something I almost never do.  They wouldn't budge. 

In the end I had to borrow the money from a friend and got it covered.  I've been able to pay the friend back.  But this experience has forced to take a close look at all my finances and about to do a major budge overhaul. Which is why I haven't posted in few weeks.

On another note, I can't help but think that Chase's billing practice was strategic.  I have been making a payment to them for years and NEVER has a payment been due before the first of the month. They must know that most people get paid on the 15th and the 30th and by changing their payment schedule this way, while I have this promotional APR, appears that they are "banking" on my missing the due date so they can raise my rates. 

Fuckers.