Ask MetaFilter posts by t0astie

Help me stash my cash

t0astie — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:22:10 -0800

I am absolutely crap at saving and live pay cheque to pay cheque. This must change. Help me find the best place to squirrel away a small amount of cash each week, where I *won't* be able to withdraw it easily. Despite my general uselessness with saving, I've become quite good at paying bills. But only because I make micro payments on each bill, each week on pay day. So, I pay $60 for my car loan, $12 for health insurance, $5.50 for my landline… and so on with six or seven different bills. Hurrah! For the first time ever, I am not getting angry overdue letters from phone/electricity/credit card providers.

I've tried to do something similar with savings, putting money each week into online savings accounts like ING. But it hasn't worked, because, well, I can take it out.

I really want to find somewhere, or some sort of investment strategy, where I can put away $25-50 a week for an emergency fund, until I have $1000. And not access it. I mean, I'd like to be able to access it if it's life and death, but not overnight, or the next day, like with ING.

But I'm a complete investing novice and have no idea where to even begin looking for something like this, or what name / names it might have.

Any suggestions for what sort of place I should direct the cash would be great.

And can I just clarify – I'm *not* looking for general advice about being a better saver, like cutting out my daily coffee, or being more disciplined or whatever. I'm looking specifically for advice about *where* to put the small amount of surplus cash I do have so I can't spend it easily. ING and online banking are waaaay too easy to access, so no tips in that direction, thanks! And I'm in Australia, not the US, if that makes any difference in advice.

Help me write a statement supporting my request for a pay rise

t0astie — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:13:21 -0800

I recently got promoted. Hurrah for me! But I badly need help with how to word a statement supporting my request for a payrise. I applied for a job, which was a position that had been vacant for about six months, knowing that it paid lots more than the job I was in. Other people who have done and/or are doing the same job take home over $200-week more than I do after tax.

But when I got the job, I was told that, no I would not be getting a pay rise.

At the time I said, politely but firmly, that I thought it was reasonable to expect my significantly increased responsibilities to be reflected in my remuneration. My boss said he agreed and that I would get a pay rise in the middle of the year.

And he asked me to write him a short statement supporting my request for a raise.

I think I’ve got a pretty good case, but I’m not sure exactly how to word the statement. Especially the bit where I ask for A LOT more dollars. Or whether I should mention the extra expenses I’ve incurred in taking up the job.

These extra expenses are big ones. I’ve had to buy a car which puts me out of pocket about $150/week and move to another town where it’s horrendously expensive to live, taking on massive rent stress in the process. I estimate I’m about $300/week worse off, working five times harder. If I’m honest, this is the reason I want the raise. And it will certainly be the reason I leave if I don’t get it.

But I'm pretty sure it won't hold much sway with those higher up. Or would it? I don't know.

I'm not planning to threaten to quit in my statement. But I'm broke enough that if a decent raise (much more than CPI) is not forthcoming, I won't have much of a choice. I guess, I'd like to communicate just how serious the financial strain is.

And: the people who get paid much more have much, much more experience. So I might expect to be paid a *bit* less. But we do exactly the same job. And, if I do say so, I'm good at my job. I don't mean I'm the most awesomest ever. But I am good enough to be paid fairly for what I do.

Last: my boss is not a callous penny-pinching ogre. He helped me find a good deal on the car, so that saved me a couple of thousand bucks. And he organised for the company to advance me an interest free loan, which I pay back each week, so I could afford to rent a place in the new town. True, it's in the company's interests to get me here doing the job, but those things did help me, and I do appreciate them.

I am, however, still broke.

I’ve got as far as…

Dear Boss

Further to our discussion, I’ve outlined some points in support of a request for a pay rise from my current salary of $not much to $something I can live on.

Increased responsibility
Improved performance
Increased expenses
Increased cost of living

Sincerely
My Name

I was going to flesh out each section with one or two lines. Am I on the right track? Wildly off base? Should I put something at the end to say ''thanks for your consideration'' or similar?

Any suggestions about content and/or wording would be a big help.

That darkling brightness which falls… onto my excessively backlit pics

t0astie — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:02:22 -0800

Help me compensate for backlight in my shots. I often have to shoot with the light directly in front of me, outside, in very, very strong sunlight. Up close, I can use fill flash, but I have massive silhouette-stylee problems if what I’m trying to shoot is far away. Help me learn to adjust the exposure so that you can at least see the subject in the foreground of the shot. For example, yesterday, I had to shoot a queue of cars at sunset. The shot I needed (crowds of people outside their cars, facing toward me, so their faces were in the shot) had the sun setting over mountains behind the queue. I couldn’t take the shot at another time – the queue was happening at a specific time and I needed to get the shot right then.

I did try from different angles, so I had backup shots and it wasn’t a complete disaster.

But I really, really wished I had known enough about how to adjust the exposure to at least get a useable, if not brilliant shot of the cars the right way round. Because, today a queue of cars, tomorrow a parade at high-noon with exactly the same problem: people walking toward me with the sun behind them. Or someone with very dark skin in very bright light. And on and on. So I need to work it out!

Any tips, help, suggestions, pointers to tutorials, terms to Google would be brilliant or even what section of the (200+ page...) manual I should focus on would be awesome. I’ve tried “compensate for backlight” and “shoot backlit subjects” and various combos of those. Have come up with a bit about metering, but that has just confused me more.

I’m shooting with a Nikon D70 and a Speedlight SB-600 and I'd rate my expertise as Hopeless to Novice.

Dad-day gift filter

t0astie — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:46:07 -0800

It is my dad’s 70th birthday in a couple of days, and I need to buy him something super, tomorrow. But it’s severely complicated by my dad’s hard-to-buy-for-ness. Help me pick out the gift. Complications: my dad is the original grump. He does not like anything except reading and watching TV. Dislikes include but are not limited to: gadgets, games, food, alcohol, computers, the internet, new clothes of any kind, expressing feelings, and right-wing politicians.

He does like (well, tolerates anyway) riding his bike, reading the newspaper, current affairs mags, watching the news and documentaries.

Usually, I’d just buy him a book. But he’ll be 70. That’s a pretty big deal. He’s also quite ill and might not be around for long, so I want it to be something special.

Also out: book vouchers (he still hasn’t spent the last two); magazine subscriptions (I’ve already subscribed him to just about everything I can think of/afford/that he would like); stuff for the bike (see above, gadgets); DVDs (he won’t watch them); music (he hasn’t listened to the CDs I’ve bought him in the past and really only listens to news radio now); travel (too frail and won't go anywhere without my mum, also frail); ''experience'' gifts like hot air balloons (he might like this actually, but way too frail now); non-money gifts like vouchers for hugs or a day together (feelings, uncomfortable with).

Yet more complications: I am far, far away in another, remote, part of Australia. I will be visiting in a month’s time, but won’t be there for his actual birthday day. Whatever it is has to be buy-able where I am, in the next nearest city, or over the net. And it needs to be postable. Also, I have limited finances - $100 tops for a gift.

And some more: it will be my mother’s 70th a few days later. I’m planning to buy them *both* a fairly freakin’ expensive gift together(a family portrait). So this is sort of like a mini-gift before the big gift, later. Which thankfully, I will have some time to save up for.

I feel really gridlocked - everything I think of, it seems there's a reason he won't like it, or can't do it, or it's not special enough. Fresh ideas would be much valued.

Feeding the beast – on time

t0astie — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 04:00:35 -0800

Journalists of Metafilter – hit me with your tips for fast filing. My job (as a reporter at a daily newspaper) has gone really well and I just got a promotion!!!! Hurrah! But soon I'm going to have to do a lot more work in a lot less time. So I need to file my copy much, much faster. Now: I'm a reporter at a regional daily newspaper. I file 3-6 stories a day of varying length and depth, by 6pm. I meet the deadline, but usually by a panic stricken minute. Maybe one story a day is substantial – the others are usually pretty small. I do most of my interviewing over the phone. If pics are taken, photographers take them. If I go out to a story the photographer drives. I'm find stories through my round and phone calls, or media monitoring of regional and national media – but a fair few are diary-based, or fed to me by my boss.

Soon: I'll be working for the same paper, but out of an office in a nearby town, on my own, filing stories for the parent paper from the region surrounding the town. I'll need to file 4-6 stories a day, at least two of substantial length. I'll be responsible for taking photographs, and driving to and from the jobs as well. I'll also be responsible for finding almost all my own stories and maintaining a diary for the region. And if there's breaking news where I am (car crash, fire and so on) I'll have to drop what I'm doing and head out to cover that. I'll also have to build up new contacts in the region – and that takes a bit of time, in the form of phone calls, and meeting with people for coffee or a drink after work and so on.

This will be great! I hate being stuck in the office all day and the most rewarding part of my job, by a long shot, is when I break a story myself. I also find it much, much easier to write a story if I'm there as it's happening.

But I'm really, really freaked out about delivering essentially twice the work (taking the photographs, writing the copy to go with them) in about half the time (given that I'll be driving to and from jobs) and to a higher standard (longer, more substantial stories) as well as building all the contacts I'll need to break decent stories.

I know this is possible: two other people do the same job in different areas. However, both of them have 5-10 years experience on me. I have exactly one year's experience. And zero photography skills. What's more, I'll be covering a heap of different rounds I've almost no exposure to – court, police, council and politics.

I have about six weeks in my present job before I start the new job. What can I do to prepare myself for the increased workload – and to start filing faster, now?

.avi agony

t0astie — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 04:45:48 -0800

I have a couple of different .avi files I want to play… and for the life of me I cannot get them to work. Have spent about four hours downloading what feels like every codec and media player under the sun.

I have tried: VLC media player; DivX; ffdshow; AVI Movie player; Media Player Classic, Windows Media Player 10, the KLite Codec Pack (Full) and the XP Codec pack. GSpot doesn't recognise the codec. Nothing works.

I'd write the files off as a bad show, but they're from a couple of different sources, so I'm pretty sure it's something at my end, not the files themselves.

Also among the bunch of things I need to look at are some .mkv files. Those are from still another source. And VLC won't play them either.

Which sort of convinces me further the problem is at my end somewhere.

Can anyone suggest anything else at all before I start ripping my hair out in sheer frustration?

DIY Filter

t0astie — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:05:32 -0800

Should I paint my untreated pine shelves then assemble? Or assemble then paint? I'm afraid this is one of those questions that anyone with even the smallest bit of home improvement nous will know the answer to.

But, ah, that's not me. I've neither painted nor assembled anything in my life… these shelves (sort of like this) are my very first DIY project.

I'm going to buy some primer and some gloss white paint when I pick them up… I know I have to prime them first, wait for that to dry and then put the gloss coat on.

But I don't know whether I should A) paint all the bits individually, first, before I screw everything together. Or can I B) assemble the shelves and then paint?

B seems like less of a pain – the shelves will be all standing up and I can apply the paint all over in one go. But… I'll be painting over the screws and joins and stuff which, I guess, will make them hard to unscrew. And I might want to do that if I move.

A seems like a good idea… but fiddly.

Help me DIYmefites. Assemble/paint? Or paint/assemble?

What’s the best way to raise money to help someone?

t0astie — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 01:38:04 -0800

I’ve never fundraised for anything in my life. But as of yesterday, I’ve been moved by something I read to see if I can get some cash together to help someone. Help me work out the best way to go about it. There is some Yesterday I read a story about a young Burmese journalist who had her foot blown off by a landline in pursuit of a story.

She still wants to be a journo. This, I reckon, is pretty damn commendable.

So, I’d like to raise some money to help her out.

I’ve already contacted the bloke who wrote the story and he said anything raised at all would be appreciated.

But. I’ve never raised a cent for anything in my life and have no idea where to start.

Some other stuff that might be relevant.
1. I don’t have some huge ambitious goal but I’d like to see if we could get a couple of hundred dollars together for her.

2. That's a bit more than a walk-round with an envelope will net, I think. I reckon that might get me... $50?

3. I'm willing to put in a reasonable bit of time and effort.

4. Compassion fatigue is, happily not at fatal levels here, and everyone I’ve spoken to about it seems to think it’s a good idea.

5. Oh. I am a journalist and so are my workmates.

Things that bite in the night

t0astie — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:29:07 -0800

What the hell can I ask the doctor for to treat the 75+ insect bites I've just woken up and found myself covered with? Background: I woke up at 3am and found my legs and back literally covered with insect bites. I counted up to 75 before giving up to concentrate on scouring my bedding to find the culprit(s).

I found three very small pale brown bugs with wings. I killed them. Victory! No fresh bites for the last two hours.

But. The bites that were at first small, itchy raised white lumps, like mosquito bites have... developed. Into five cent piece size hives. One spectacularly awful hive near my knee is about 7cm across. They don't itch so much as throb. They're hot to the touch and there's a red rash around them.

I look like something out of a medical journal.

The second it's light, I'm trekking to the hospital.

I'd like to know what the hell I can ask for to make it better - if anything? This is way, way beyond calamine lotion. A previous thread mentions topical sulfadiazine, and I've also heard antihistamines can reduce insect bite swelling.

Batten down the hatches!

t0astie — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 01:08:52 -0800

It’s cyclone season where I am. There’s a pretty good chance we’ll loose power and / or water. What should I put in my emergency food box? We’ve done most of the preparations… batteries, lamps, waterproof baggies, evacuation plan and so on.

But I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to put in the food box.

Whatever goes in must be:
>Non perishable (likely to be no power fridge)
>Able to be eaten without any cooking (no stove)
>Be stored two months (at least – that’s about the length of the wet)

And there needs to be enough of it to last us through about three days without power or water.

Apart from heaps of bottled water, all I can think of is muesli bars, dry biscuits chocolate and vodka.

So. Help me stock up…

What should I be buying for eats in the cyclone?