Waste Not, Want Not

Cherishing every last bit of my Sugar in the Raw. Does this make me thrifty or just really cheap?

Gotham on the Upswing?

Oh, life on Wall Street…the glamour of it all.

I’m not joking, the mere stature of the architecture gives me a retro-Gilded Age contact high. As our guide pointed out on the Circle Line boat tour, the tall buildings built on narrow streets create the true ‘Gotham’, filled with canyons, the bottom of which sunlight doesn’t reach.

(In case you’re wondering, Superman’s “Metropolis” is Midtown, with the plain ole skyscrapers. In a vintage comic geek showdown, I choose Batman, hands down. And hello? The Sixties TV show with Adam West? Amazing. Hours of my childhood spent in front of those reruns. …Now if only I could find a partner to dress up with me as a hot Batman/Catwoman combo for Halloween I wouldn’t feel like those hours were quite such a waste. Though to critics who think that kids shouldn’t watch hours (and hours) of television a day- three words: Pop Culture education. Where else are you going to get it?)
Back to geeking out about architecture, not comics...

Many of the buildings on or around Wall Street were built in the 1930s for such venerable institutions as the The Trust Company of America, The Bank of Manhattan Trust and the City Bank Farmers Trust.
Bank, bank, bank, money, money, money…Oh those were the DAYS.

Not that the 1930s were known as a heyday of money but by the looks of the architecture you would think it was. High, gracious and delicate curves etched with gold coloring inside and out. Embellished but not gaudy. Streamlined.

Speaking of our own money grubbing days, does anyone else feel the pressure of the recession?

My jobless friends have found work, I’m no longer insecure about my job (because I made a conscious decision to change positions to something less sexy and more, how do we say, stable) and the stores were ever clogged this holiday season.

So, recession? Anyone?

Yes, I think we have a-ways to go to financial solvency (Solvent: able to pay all legal debts) but we’re getting closer. Maybe my company will even decide it’s not imprudent to give raises again. I mean, the Financial Industry is back giving bonuses.

Damn, that argument won't work.

Farm Economics

I write from my parents’ land in the country -- the Middle of Nowhere, TX-- where life is a little different.

To put my life New York life in perspective, out here, sixty acres is considered small for a family plot of land. I live in a 'spacious' 420 sq ft studio.

People here live purposefully, own possessions with purpose. Even the most necessary objects- like say, a car- better be able to pull their weight (SUVs focus on the Utility more than Sport) and the most important possession of all, land, has a definite purpose.

Ginormous plots aren’t a vanity like a large suburban lawn, they’re needed to grow hay or to allow cattle to graze. And by the standards of other Americans’, those in this community might appear to not have much, but they have what matters most- a commodity. (Commodity: An economic good, as a product of agriculture or mining. Something useful or valuable.)

Not to say I’m one for silly possessions (who has room for them with only 420 sq feet of living space?) but as far as these farmers are concerned, I’m surely a silly girl who spends an unimaginable amount on dinners, wine, Kettle & sodas and $8 beers as she lives the ’normal’ life of a young, employed Manhattanite.

And while I adore my petite apartment, I might feel a little asinine trying to prove that it’s good for anything beyond keeping me warm, housing my wardrobe and hosting dinner parties (the third point being most crucial).

What I find really amazing out here (other than the low price of a domestic long neck) is that they still barter. Meaning they trade possessions for objects of equal worth. Two of my parents’ surrounding neighbors traded pieces of land. Just completely exchanged ownership on massive chunks of acreage!

I wonder what would happen if I tried to barter for my Bliss Betweeny wax with my interior decorating know-how? Or attempt to exchange a Ted Gibson salon haircut for a homemade (and delicious) six-person meal of coq au vin?

The Magic 8 Ball would say, ‘Outlook not so good’ but I should really put some thought into this.

The closest I’ve come to a barter was offering my place as a pied-a-terre to Delaware friends as payment for the labor of painting my walls. But this was a childhood friend and her obliging husband. Until my cooking or one of my other –numerous- skills garner demand in the marketplace, I suppose I’ll remain a lowly consumer with nothing to offer than a Chase debit card.

Talents be damned, I have plastic.

Did I Really Think There Would Be More Summer Reading?

Ok, so what I was going to suggest as additional summer reading (for those languorous days in the Hamptons) oh, so long ago, when I still wrote on this thing called a blog, was a little ditty about the ups and downs of our good ole financial system.

Yes, you too can follow along as the author shares research and insights on the roller coaster that is the US economy in Panic Profits.

Though to be honest, it's a wee bit over my head. Or at least better suited to Wall Street aficionados or true economists (really nerdy ones at that) rather than little ole me, the wannabe. No matter how many times I've cracked the book, I get distracted just a few pages, and line graphs, in. I am more adept at following the ups and downs of the big personalities that created the US financial system in all their glory and gluttony, especially if there are glitzy side bars on illegitimate children and the like. So basically I stick with broad Vanity Fair retrospectives on the subject.

But Mary, why even bother sporadically cracking said text instead of relegating the spine to serve as a decorative piece to entice said nerdy economists? Well, the author is (was) my grandfather and I would feel quite high brow and pleased with myself if I were to truly comprehend it. Though as he's no longer with us, I won't expect a pop quiz any time soon and I can feel ever so high brow and pleased with myself because rather than just reading about it (and glazing over by the 4th line graph), I'm living in the midst of it all.

Yep, I traded the quirky, creative vibe of Nolita for the awe-inspiring, over the top grandeur of days past to presently reside on Wall Street.
The Stock exchange, Federal Hall and Trump Building are my closest neighbors who beckon absurdly stereotypical camera-toting tourists to mill on the cobble stoned streets, nearly bumping into fully automatic-toting NYPD while focusing their viewfinders on the glistening and gilded words, Tiffany & Co. or 14 Wall Street, perhaps failing to notice that 2009 Wall Street looks more like 1979 Belfast.

But those tourists, like the men in suits, boys in blue trading jackets, women in pantyhose and that big old flag, are all part of the scenery here on Wall, my new home sweet home.

And even with my illiteracy for economic literature, perhaps Poppa would still be proud.

Panic Profits: How to Make Money When the Market Takes a Dive by John Dennis Brown

Summer Reading

I’ve been a little light on the blogging over the past couple of weeks but it’s summer, lovelies! Everyone should be out and about on wonderful holidays. I haven’t been jaunting too much since gay Paree but that suits me just fine. I’m enjoying NYC in all its sticky, humid grandeur.

So while the rest of you are lounging by the water in St. John, the Cape or your kiddie pool, here are a couple summer reading suggestions for you….

1. The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

Perhaps a little heady for the summer months but this amateur economist likes it that way.

In the 1980s Novogratz set out as a young, idealistic girl with a head for figures to Africa where she worked within local communities and with prestigious organizations to develop some of the earliest microfinance programs. Her very plain spoken yet compelling tale spans decades and continents, having worked in Rwanda, Kenya, India and Pakistan, lending a personal perspective of some of the most dire events in modern history. (I was brought to heavy tears by her description of the Rwandan genocide. You should have seen me in Hotel Rwanda, a complete, bawling mess).

Dedicating her life to marrying financial know-how with a charitable spirit, readers begin to understand how positive change is possible from even the bleakest socio-political and socio-economic beginnings.

And as it relates to this blog, as it relates to me, me, me, I cherished her story because it reminded this New Yorker how so many across the world survive, subsist and flourish with so little. How on an income of a dollar or less a day, determined workers were able to make personal and social change with just a bit of entrepreneurial spirit. While ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ still reminds me of the Silicon Valley heyday, I realize that it is little more than the desire to do something in a better way when an avenue to do so doesn’t immediately present itself.

I live in a city that is at its core a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit (BTW: currently reading Island at the Center of the World) though I can easily forget the determination and ingenuity of the Dutch, English, Irish, Italian, Chinese, Jews, Poles and every other punchline-ready immigrant group who came here to make a better life when I walk on my fashionable street and agonize how I’m going to make my corporate salary stretch to include every haute meal I have in my social calendar.

Thankfully I haven’t fully succumbed to consumerism but the desire for More and Better can be as thick as the humidity, even among those with oh so much. (cough…Wall Street meltdown… cough…)

As much as I would like to justify an Indian getaway, a trip around the world isn’t required to view the world differently. From Novogratz’s experience even here in New York, it goes to show that we can recalibrate our perceived level of Need if we begin by viewing the city through the eyes of those with very little, as opposed to very much. And for those who care to help, the gap between the haves and have nots might diminish all the more quickly if we start by opening our eyes without fear of opening our hearts.

Stay tuned for your next assignment....

I lost my budget virginity in Paris

In May I did something for only the 2nd time, go to Paris.
And for the very first time, I budgeted for travel
(sacré bleu!)

Yes, yes, our little girl is growing up…

Turns out it’s quite simple, really.
Here’s how it goes:

1. Have money.
You can’t imagine how many times I’ve skipped this step. I have the distinct memory of being twenty-four, unemployed and traipsing to summer weddings and weekend jaunts, all involving air travel and hotel stays. It was the economic sage Mike Cunningham (my father) who aptly, if not strictly, advised- STOP TRAVELING, MARY.

Hhhmmmmm, that hadn’t occurred to me.
Interesting concept, but lack of funds wasn’t a convincing argument. “ …But why, Dad? I can pay for it, I have a credit card.”

Oh, my youth.
*For the record I don’t regret any of the travel.

Ok, back to being a fiscally responsible traveler…

2. Decide how much you will spend while on the trip. Realistically. This, boys and girls, is called creating a "budget." Even busing down on a weekend trip to Delaware I can manage to grossly under estimate this. Simply because I don’t want to think about the amount I spend in an average weekend, much less on a weekend getaway.

3. Prepare yourself- Convert that amount into local currency before you travel.
When faced with a foreign ATM, I tend favor my internal conversion table which is reminiscent of the outdated Franc/Dollar exchange. Turns out the Foreign Exchange market thinks differently. There are just certain things that I would rather forget and the Dollar’s weakness to the Euro is one of them.

4. Withdraw that amount. Withdraw slightly less than that amount.
And try this- JUST spend that cash. Oh la la.
I mean really, unless you find an amazing gem at a gallery or boutique that you absolutely must have, chances are you’re better off by sticking to a budget.

Speaking of conversion rates, the mirrors seem to change as well when you return stateside. "How did I not notice this muffin top when I was in the boutique? Damn you, post-lunch wine buzz!"

With budget guidelines in mind, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t swayed by the allure of French boutiques. And why should I not?! This is Paris after all and I am a female. It’s a woman’s given right to indulge when in the City of Light: in beef tartare, in Bandol, in truffles and in shopping. (Definitely not the world’s worst To Do list).

But remember ladies- France’s premiere exports don’t become less expensive just because you buy them local. Honestly, if local produce isn’t less expensive at the farmer’s market, you can bet that Louis Vuitton and Chanel aren’t either. So no, I’ll pass on the ultra chic global brands in favor of seeking out those truly unique fashions that maintain international flair amid the globalization of fashion that has brought Sweden's H&Ms, Spain’s Zaras and Britain's Top Shops to hometowns around the world.

There was one little dress that was just simply Oh la la and for which I would have jilted this budget-thing but alas, I couldn’t negotiate the correct undergarments. Note: brassieres and satin don’t always go together. And yet no bra and satin is, um, precarious, to say the least.

So our little girl left a budgetary woman even though she did want to give it up just a bit.

And by Passe I Mean...

Passe as in pixie haircuts, cosmopolitans, cropped tiny tees and the light blue/chocolate brown color palette. All simply fabulous for a moment in time or for those who can really pull it off, but not meant for mass consumption.