one stilleto at a time

This is reality stuff - women earn less than men over their lifetimes and live longer. They are more likely to spend their golden years in poverty. Take a glance around and you know what I mean. Of course, we don't see bag ladies (homeless women who carry their belongings in shopping bags) in Brunei but we see some reduction in quality of life when a woman is widowed or divorced. It is a lesson to learn.

Women need to learn as early as possible that real life has no prince valiants to save them from poverty. Women should know the basics: spend less than you earn; pay yourself first. Know the virtues of an emergency fund; don't be debt-ridden; use your credit cards responsibly; have a moratorium on clothes-buying now and then and of course, as they say, "one stilleto at a time". Then, perhaps we will never worry about being bag ladies.

photo by: flickr

riding the gravy train

Today, I learned a metaphor that would explain the leechi-ness and glue-like characteristics of some people. I am talking about pachyderms who go for free rides at the expense of others. Riding the gravy train is very much akin to parasitism plus insensitivity.

"To ride the gravy train" means to secure an ongoing situation that provides good pay or other benefits with little labor or trouble, the equivalent of "living on Easy Street." It may be that the phrase originated among hoboes and other vagabonds who hopped trains as a way of life and for whom "gravy train" would be a likely metaphor for an easy existence.

Just as in avoiding the drama queens, there is a way to rebuff these unwanted free-riders of the universe. Don't give them a hoot. Deworm your life. Watch your money like a hawk:).

can i afford it?

On most weekends, I'd grab a chance to watch the "Can I Afford It?" segment of the Suze Orman show on CNBC. I enjoy the show because of the tongue-lashing that she gives to callers - she is so "mataray" and raises her eyebrows so high, your guilt over overspending just oozes from your pores. I would mentally guess what her verdict would be by the look of her and would race with her pronouncements of DENIED!!! Denied - is what is always the case (nine out of ten). You can't be buying things when you have enormous mortgages, when you have credit card debts as high as a mountain or when your savings are zilch!