Da Fenucci Roll Call

So. $85 million to AIG. A whopping $87 million to Lehman Brothers, via Chase, and Lehman Brothers is still going bankrupt while selling some of their assets to the British bank, Barclays. That Federal Reserve is into some serious pocket change if they can bandy about that much money over a weekend. Makes my planned splurge on a $10 burger at Big Juds on Friday seem like a piffle. I, for one, do not feel bad about all the tax deductions I can claim (legally) every year. And if the stock market continues to tank, I'll have to learn about how to benefit from those losses as well. Sure there's a way somehow. I may have to look into pumpkin futures myself. Just remember to sell them before Halloween, before!

All this economic instability has me pretty grateful we're not grossly into debt. We're paying on the house, of course, but own the cars free and clear, and have less than $1,000 in credit card debt. And on student loans. We both worked our way through school; I came out with the most student loan debt -- seemed massive then, but compared to what others come out of school with, $1,500 is paltry. True, we don't live extravagantly, nor is it likely we'll be able to afford a vacation this year. But times certainly could be a lot worse. We've also had additional expenses these past two years -- I'm going to grad school and all, and that's taken an average of about $2,500 a year. Fortunately, that's almost finished; one more semester and I'm through. I'm also looking forward to a COLA adjustment when the new fiscal year starts up. WOn't match inflation, of course, but at least it's better than nothing.