Life in the Cheese Drawer

http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=16581
i submitted another shirt to woot.

i put the entire economic stimulus toward bills, and my credit score went up almost 30 points!!

LONG weekend. omg.

i took thursday off to be with angie (the reason this entry is locked, actually). i called in to work around noon and asked if it was busy, and it was dead, like usual, so i took the day off. we hung out, then went to tgifridays. i hope she enjoyed my company!

friday i went to caitlin’s wedding with charlie (we were liz’s dates). it was in mankato, so that was a jaunt (and a hit on the pocketbook- ouch!) but it was fun. i always enjoy weddings. yay dancing!! plus i got to try out sarah k.’s lensbaby and fisheye lens, as well as her awesome flash that i have been eyeing for quite some time and now want passionately. pics to follow when i’m not so  beat. i drove back to st. cloud that night, got home and passed out. which was sad since nate apparently wanted  something something, and fher and make more money than me. (it’s a sad state of affairs for me when a teacher makes more money that i do.)

so now there’s a week of work, then a long weekend again, then a short week, and another long weekend because i took my bday off!! yay bday!! i will be 29, so that’s a little disheartening, but i’m hoping it will be fun. next year’s the big one!

i have a simple IRA left over from my newsleaders days, to which i contributed no money. all the money that was in there when  i left was contributed solely by the company. when i left, there was maybe $200 in there, and now it’s at about $765. last year it maxed out around $950, but then stocks went bust, so i lost (? how can you lose money you never really owned) $200.
so, the time is coming right for me to go to the lender and talk about house buying and seeing if it’s something i should do. i’d like a little more money in savings so i could cover earnest money and an inspector, and the money in my IRA would do the trick (after taxes and penalties, still about $500 cash i didn’t have before).
i’m wondering if i should do this, or just leave it in there. i will probably never contribute to this IRA again, and i have a 401K set up through work that i’m currently contributing to, so it’s not like it’s my only retirement option.
probably not the bunch of people i should be asking since none of you are financial advisors, but i thought i’d throw it out there for feedback.
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edited to add: i just found out that the early-distribution penalty may be waived if the money’s used for a first-time home purchase. i think i’ll talk to the lender and then do that if s/he recommends. obviously none of you have any opinion about this!

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stories of how people spent their economic stimulus. which i should be getting tomorrow and will go completely toward bills.