I’m sitting watching Paranormal State on A&E and scaring the shit out of myself, even with all of the lights on and everyone awake in the house.  I’m not sure why this show scares the shit out of me so bad, but it does.  I’ve read negative criticism that the show doesn’t seem real enough because the characters are too “herky-jerky” and seem to be “not camera-professional”.  And perhaps that’s what makes me think that it’s real: because these kids are just doing something of great interest to them, something that they really believe in, and aren’t trained actors, so they won’t seem very professional on cameras. I don’t believe it implicitly, but like all of the “paranormal” and such: I truly believe that people are experiencing what they are experiencing, but whether or not it’s “real” – time can only tell.

But that’s just me.  I like Paranormal State; The Boy just rolls his eyes and lets me believe it for myself.

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Anyway, I did open my online savings account, according to my 101, with ING Direct, using some gift cards that I sold back through Gift Card Buy Back. [As a note about GCBB: I like the fact that I can unload gift cards that I’m not going to use, and get “free cash” I didn’t have before, but I don’t like the fact that they take a huge chunk out of the value of the card, and that amount is based on how in-demand the cards are. Apparently, the cards I had were lame.]

Looking back, I could have saved up some of my start-up money in my credit union savings account, and gotten a $25 signing bonus, but I was impatient to start saving. I could have had a little more self-control, but I think the fact that I am excited to start saving is unimpeachable.

My plan currently is to put 1% of my gross paycheck into the account, regardless of what’s happening with my finances: it’s just another place where my money is being distributed. The Boy likes the idea of saving 1% of the gross salary, because it’s a realistic amount: it’s not a huge sum of money that you’re likely to cut off because you can justify spending it elsewhere.

In addition, a $50/pay period loan that I’ve been paying back to my mother for the last six months has finally been paid off; so instead of writing the check to my mother for $50 per pay period to my mother, I’m going to essentially “write the check” to my savings account, thus saving more money.

None too soon: I was involved in a fender-bender about two weeks ago, and even though I wasn’t cited and my insurance won’t go up, I still have to pay $500 deductible, unless my body man can “bury” it for me. Keep your fingers crossed.