Do Women Earn Less Than Men?

This came up in discussion on 2/15...Steve Horwitz does a good job explaining the economist's perspective. Links to articles can be found in the comments if  you watch the video on its youtube page.

Greg Mankiw just had a blog post showing that a college degree is worth more for women than it is for men.

Frugal February, Days 22 & 23

No spending either day!

Pick #335

Matt Wertz - "Carolina"

I've been into this kind of music for the past week.

Also, don't forget about my grooveshark Pick of the Week playlist. I don't have everything from ever on it but there are about 73 songs at the moment. One day I'll put as much as I can on there.

Frugal February Catch Up

On Feb. 13, I bought bananas for $1.28 and some battery goop for $2.99.
On 2/14, I bought and a battery terminal head for $4.39 because my old one had broken.  I had planned on having a milkshake with Erin on Valentine's Day so I stopped by Arby's and spent $3.11 on a peppermint shake and drank it by a nearby retention pond...there were so many birds around there it was incredible.  I might have to go back and visit again, maybe on a run.
I went to Jimmy John's on the night of Feb. 15 because I had a coupon for a free sub.  I paid $1.08 to upgrade to a bigger sub.  My justification is that I would have spent at least that much money making something for myself at home.
I spent $13.12 of my own money at Publix on the 16th in addition to using a $25 gift card.

No expenditure from Feb. 17-Feb20...but I did use a nearly expired groupon for a pizza on the 20th.

I was able to negotiate a lower bill with Comcast.  It used to be $93/month and I'm on a 6 month promotion right now at $77.50.  I paid my share of that today.  I will be going to a chiropractor on campus because my back hurts in the place where you can't scratch it.  I feel like it needs a good pop.  It's one of those things that gets irritated if I move my arm or neck the wrong way so probably best to nip it in the bud.

Pick #334

Cage the Elephant - "In One Ear"

Frugal February, Days 11 & 12

No spending either day, but I did have my Netflix bill of $8.62 on the 12th.

Frugal February, Day 10

Went to Publix today and spent about $25.  So far this month, I've taken my bicycle to Publix and put the groceries in my saddle bags.  I knew I would drive my car to Tampa, so I didn't bother driving it to the grocery store.  Nothing else exciting.

Not So Frugal Trip to Tampa

So, aside from the $100 I spent on gas, I ended up dropping $155 on a car battery and $16 on Friday's dinner.  I guess that's not so bad given that I had free lodging and didn't pay for any other meals except $2.50 for Taco Bell on the way home.  Also, the car thing could have been way worse.  My old battery is under warranty still so I intend to return it.

On the plus side, my Friday dinner was provided as were breakfasts and lunches.

The conference was amazing.  So glad I went.  I've been a bit sick, but did a decent job of not coughing all over everyone (with the help of some Tylenol Cold...awesome stuff w/acetominophen, DM, & phenylephrine).

Pick #333

Heinz Kiessling - "Temptation Sensation"

Frugal February Day 5

I spent $208.34 on graduation related junk today.  There was a $10 savings if I bought stuff before tomorrow, so it made sense to save the money on something that I was definitely going to get anyway.  I ended up with 25 announcements and thank you cards.  I didn't think that I needed to send announcements.  I think that everyone who knows me well enough will know that I'm graduating.  I feel like they're a plea to send me money or something.  However, both my parents said that I should send them to select people.  I guess some people like to hold on to that sort of thing for some reason.

In the name of frugality, I cut my own hair.  I normally cut it when it's short, but today I trimmed the sides and the top is a little too long.  If I get a fly out, then I will get it cut by a pro.  Over time, the relative length between to top and sides will equalize a bit.

Now I just have to wrap up my dissertation and get it to my committee by Feb. 19.  That's a manageable task but I will have to put in some more serious time and effort on it.  It's mostly just clarifications and citations and cleaning up type stuff.  After that I'll have a month to prepare for the defense.  Some time in the coming weeks I hope to get some calls about job applications.  I'd like a fly out from a place I already interviewed at, but a new interview would be welcome too.

Frugal February, Days 3 & 4

No spending either day.

Frugal February, Days 1 & 2

I made a spreadsheet so you can follow along with my expenditures this month.  I didn't spend any money on the opening day of the month.

I got up really early on Feb. 1 to take a job candidate out to lunch.  It was freezing (probably wind chill in the high 20s) for the bike ride.  I forgot my wallet at home and had to turn around from about 4 minutes away (adding about 8-9 minutes to my trip).  I also had a wardrobe malfunction with the zipper of my windbreaker being stuck in the up position.  I was really sweaty when I got to campus.  I cooled off really fast.  We had breakfast at the hotel.  I ordered an "Eggs Tallahassee" or something like that with Tallahassee in the name.  It was good.  I had a parfait on the side.  This meal was paid for by the job search committee.

On Feb. 2, I got up, went for a run, went to school, and spent $30.20 at Club Publix.  Turns out that they close at 11pm now!

Twice as Cold Riddle

I heard a riddle and was not happy with the answer given to me...here goes.

Question:  If it is zero degrees outside today and it will be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be tomorrow?

Unsatisfactory answer:  it will be zero degrees again because 2 x 0 = 0.

You can think about it a bit, then read my better answer.  Let me know if you agree or disagree.

Pick #332

James - "Getting Away With It "