Back in the Day, Savings Accounts Earned Interest!

In part of my quest to declutter my home and my life, I got out my old savings account books that I had with the Richfield Bloomington Credit Union back in the 80s. Although there's absolutely no reason to keep these - the account was closed decades ago - I held on to them. As I flipped through them, I realized there were some observations I might want to hang onto. Here they are!

• I opened the account in 1982. At the time, I worked at McDonald's. I remember my mom had me deposit alternate paychecks into savings. (I got to cash and spend the other weeks' checks. I was and am proficient at spending, so I'm glad she "made" me save, too!)
• The interest rates were insanely good back then!!! $20.53 on a balance of $992.70 (12.31.1982) $22.99 on $1377.20 (3.31.1983) $38.23 on $2581.09 (6.30.1983) Dude! No wonder my savings account was a big deal to me back then!
• I tried so hard to keep track of "my" money and my parents' money. They deposited into that account . . . it somehow escaped my notice that it was supposed to be my college account.
• When I withdrew a bunch of my money to buy Louie a sailboat for his birthday in 1985 (we still have and use that Sunfish!), my mom was furious. Even though I used "my" money and not hers, the whole idea was to save for COLLEGE, not buy a $1,500 boat for my sweetheart.
• A lot of the deposits were loan repayments from Tom and from Louise. I'm not sure what money my parents had loaned them, but it's interesting that my parents chose to deposit the money in my account. Later, Louie and I borrowed money from my parents to have the well and septic installed at Strawberry Lake. I remember how good it felt to get that paid off!
• My parents were very generous. Besides paying for my college education (both bachelors and masters), they paid for a lot of our wedding expenses, some dental work, etc. They were amazingly generous.

I could probably make more observations, but my alarm is telling me it's time to go. I am so very blessed. Sometimes looking at and dealing with the clutter in my life is a good chance to remember and appreciate my blessings. The maximum amount in this account was $16,734.58 in January 1985. My mom deposited her unemployment check for $2,178. Wow. This brings back more memories of that time in our lives . . . for a different blog entry.

Earn More, Spend Less, or Both

Here are some of the things I jotted on a slip of paper:

• less driving
• fewer groceries
• homemade gifts
• no toys for Titus (one year old dog)
• make do with current clothing
• use spending money more carefully ($20 / week . . . use it for non-splurge things)
• stop eating out / only drink water in restaurants

If I register for the MQ show, I can use my spending money for three weeks to cover the cost of registration.

I have NO idea what to get Louie for his birthday.

This is becoming a bit too stream-of-consciousness and my scrap of paper can be recycled. Moving on!

Finance and Learning

I'm not very smart about money management, but I am capable of learning. I have been frustrated with Merrill Lynch as I try to "help" my dad with his investments. Now his accounts are being changed to Merrill Edge and I don't really understand why . . . he was already upset when we had to deal with Amy instead of Veronica last year after my mom died.

So I go online to read everything I can about Merrill Edge (only not on the Merrill site or the Bank of America site - of course they're going to blather about how wonderful it is). Although I still don't understand a lot of financial "stuff" - brokerage, managers, advisers, bonds, stocks, indexed funds, etc. - I do understand people's reviews and experiences. This site http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/merrill.html made me think it's time to get all his money away from ML and move it somewhere else! I realize that consumer affairs sites often draw the comments of people who are unhappy, but I'm not finding much balance in terms of satisfied customers.

But at the same time, what do I know about a better option? How much time and energy do I want to spend on this issue? If my dad is okay, why should I care what he does with his money? Sigh. Time to read and research some more.