Three observations from the weekend:

1. Cheap wine can be good, but then again, the phrase “you get what you pay for” has some merit.

2. My kids are much richer after I cleaned the house this morning, depositing any loose change except for quarters in their piggy banks. I use the quarters for parking meters.

This really isn’t fair to Matt, since the coins are most likely change from his pocket.

Sometimes I think I should start us adults a piggy bank and bust it open after a year for a splurge. If I had the coins right now I’d buy sushi and beer (or better wine).

Coinstar says there’s $10 billion in loose change in American homes. Their latest pr campaign wants consumers to go on a hunt for hidden treasure in their homes. Then high tail it to a Coinstar machine to count your loot. The machine usually charges a fee, but you can get the fee waived in some instances. Some Banks will do it for free too.

3. I stopped my 401(k) contribution on Friday after agreeing with many readers that my financial focus should be on beefing up my emergency savings account.

This move is not for everyone. Here’s why it was for me:

• I know I’ll start it up again as soon as the dust settles and I’m not just saying that.
• I’ve been contributing to a retirement plan since age 22 and have more saved than most near-retirees.
• I do not get a matching contribution from my employer.
• My husband is still contributing to his 457 account.
• I continue to max out my Roth IRA.

Believe me, it’s not a decision I take lightly. But it feels like the right one considering we have a pretty thin cash cushion.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 14th, 2007 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Kara\'s finances, Main, cash. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.