Money Matters...

I recently made the decision to roll over a 403b into a 401k. Of course, I had the option of rolling over into an IRA, but 401k was the obvious choice you see...

And now for those of you who haven't closed the window/clicked away to another site/fallen asleep... I have no idea what I'm talking about, but the above statement is true! Through my job's benefits package, I was given the option of signing up for a 403b. I didn't really know much about what that meant except for what the representative explained at the presentation. I knew that part of my money would be going into an account that would fund different companies. I knew that the money would partially go to stocks and the rest into some other kind of "safer" investments. And I knew that if I ever wanted to get this money back before I retired, it would probably take lots of paperwork and headaches! But everyone said it was a good idea to begin investing towards my financial future, so I signed up.

Now, a few months in, my organization is beginning the process of slowly breaking away from the parent organization, so we're being offered new companies for health benefits and apparently a new investment package. My organization STILL isn't matching my investment, but apparently there's a bunch of paperwork and the money that I've already put into the original package still can't be touched, so I have to "roll it over" (I'm sorry, did I invest in a dog and not know about it?) into another type of account.

I know that at some point I really should be checking this thing, but I get a headache just thinking about it (in fact, can someone PLEASE pass me a Tylenol???) I get the quarterly statements and don't even open them! They could have slipped me a check for a million dollars in one of their mailings and it would go untouched.

As for REAL money (I'm sorry, but money that comes out of my check before I even see it and I can't touch til I'm 70 just doesn't count as "real" money in my book!) I'm working on spending better. It's been difficult, but I think I'm getting there. I'm going to go back to writing down everything that I spend so that I have some idea of why my bank account is almost near empty on a regular basis, and then hopefully I'll see some places where I can cut.

Any money saving tips? Any thoughts on grown ups having to be "money-minded"? Any thoughts on money in general? You know what to do!