Wall Street, Vegas...same difference - 24 days to 35 - Buying stock

I have a confession to make. I am not good with money. And this is hard for me to admit given that I am usually at least marginally good at most things I try to do. And, classic overachiever that I am, those things that I am not good at, I keep working at until I am. This has not been the case when it comes to managing my finances. My idea of budgeting has typically been spending money until it run out. More than once the calendar has rolled to the 27 or 28th and I've checked my checking account balance like a gambler rolling the dice with his last twenty, hoping for the jackpot. Needless to say I am not much of a saver either. I have opened three savings accounts in my lifetime....all of which were eventually closed for low balance and/or inactivity. I like to think of my savings account as my purse collection (after all, I could theoretically sell one of my Coach or Dooney and Bourke bags, not that I ever would, but the possibility of getting back some cash is there!).



Like most Generation Xers, I blame my problems (for me. my lack of financial skills) on my parents. We never really talked about money in our house. As far as we kids were concerned it was just there. Mom and Dad's philosophy was that as long as we went to school and got good grades (nothing less than a B was acceptable and only one or two of those would slide by without raising eyebrows) we could pretty much have anything we wanted. So like trained seals at Sea World Darlene and I got near perfect grades throughout school. So yes, we were a bit spoiled. When we left for college we really didn’t get much financial advice either. "Don’t spend all your money and don’t get any credit cards." Yep, that about summed it up. Not a whole lot of direction for two kids on their own trying to figure out how to pay the electric bill AND buy new shoes. Something had to give and too often it wasn’t the shoes.


So, recognizing my fiscal handicaps, I knew that I wanted to put something financial on my list. Since I had already tried (unsuccessfully) to keep a savings account, I thought that perhaps I needed something a little more adventurous, a little more fun. Now I know next to nothing about the stock market. In fact, what I DONT know could just about fill the Grand Canyon. But I decided that indeed stocks were the way to go. I like the idea of putting my money somewhere and checking back every day to see what happened. Sort of like my own private soap opera. But since I would only be playing with a little bit of money (not enough to ruin my life if I lost it) it would be a soap opera without all the drama. A little low stakes gambling, just what I need to spice things up.

After some conversation with friends, and several conversations with Darin explaining that I was buy stock for FUN (he has actual real investments), I decided to buy 5 shares of Mattel. I figured, people are always gonna buy toys. Plus in a recession, more people are staying in, spending time at home, so we are looking at an inevitable baby boom in the next couple of years. Barbie will be hotter than ever! And maybe my "fun" stock will have me laughing all the way to the bank.