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Grex > Coop12 > #20: Cyberspace Communications finances for April 2001 |  |
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aruba
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Cyberspace Communications finances for April 2001
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May 1 02:08 UTC 2001 |
Here is the treasurer's report on Cyberspace Communications, Inc. finances
through April 30th, 2001.
Beginning Balance $3,819.73
Credits $906.00 Member contributions
$108.00 Proceeds from the Grex store
$103.00 Proceeds from the 6th Grex Auction
$44.00 Miscellaneous donations
$1.00 Silly Hat Fund donation
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$1,162.00
Debits $69.46 Pumpkin Rent for April
$54.34 Electricity for March
$0.00 Phone Bill
$135.00 DSL April 15 through May 15
$35.00 CardService fee for March
$11.94 PayPal discounts (income = $496)
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$305.74
Ending Balance $4,675.99
Our current balance breaks down as follows:
$4,475.13 General Fund
$140.86 Silly Hat Fund
$60.00 Spare Parts Fund
There was a lot of activity in the Grex Store this month:
Cash Stock
--------- ---------
Beginning balances: ($6.60) $280.20
Items sold: $108.00 ($66.70)
Inventory adjustment: ($24.20)
Ending balances: $101.40 $189.30
We had 3 new members (bclark, spyder, and dross) and 2 returning members
(ajax and one who asked to remain anonymous) in April. We are currently at
100 members, 92 of whom are paid through at least May 15th. (The others
expire today, April 30th, and are in a grace period.)
Notes:
- Our phone bill is again zero this month because we're still working off
the credit from dropping our ISDN lines. (See last month's report for an
explanation.)
- There were three Grex store items that I don't have a record of being
sold, but which didn't show up in jiffer's inventory. I know what happened
to one of them, but the others are a mystery. Maybe they'll turn up, but I
have adjusted the stock balance on the assumption that they were lost. (It
would be amazing if we went 3.5 years without losing at least a couple of
items.)
- The Grex store is finally in the black! Thanks to jiffer for all her hard
work.
- Obviously, Grex had a great month. This is all the more impressive since
April is traditionally our worst month of the year.
- On my list of things to do soon:
- Decide if we have enough money to make it worth opening a money market
or savings account. It looks like we do, so the next step is to
decide what kind of account and where to open it.
Thanks to everyone who contributed in March:
ajax, aruba, atticus, bclark, brown, bruin, coyote, dross, glenda, golfer,
goose, jedisg, jp2, kaplan, krj, mooncat, quail, robh, russ, scg, snow,
spyder, swa, tomaso, toph, tpryan, the Grex walkers, and one person who
asked to remain anonymous.
Thanks everyone!
If you or your institution would like to become a member of Grex, it only
costs $6/month or $60/year. Send money to:
Cyberspace Communications
P. O. Box 4432
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4432
If you pay by cash or money order, please include a photocopy of some form of
ID. I can't add you to the rolls without ID. (If you pay with a personal
check that has your name pre-printed on it, we consider that a good enough
ID.) Type !support or see http://www.cyberspace.org/member.html for more
info.
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| 45 responses total. |
jp2
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response 1 of 45:
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May 1 02:18 UTC 2001 |
This response has been erased.
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aruba
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response 2 of 45:
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May 1 02:33 UTC 2001 |
That's correct.
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jp2
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response 3 of 45:
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May 1 02:54 UTC 2001 |
This response has been erased.
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gelinas
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response 4 of 45:
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May 1 03:07 UTC 2001 |
(Jamie, you are listed as a "contributor", not as a "member.")
Dare I ask where the money is now, if not in a savings account?
The UM Sailing Club recently moved its long-term savings from TCF savings
accounts to Flagstar CDs.
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carson
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response 5 of 45:
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May 1 05:46 UTC 2001 |
(last I'd heard, Grex keeps its money in a checking account, and Mark
was going to look at other places to put it.)
(why doesn't the UM Sailing Club have an account at the UM Credit Union?)
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gelinas
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response 6 of 45:
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May 1 13:41 UTC 2001 |
I wasn't around when we selected Great Lakes bank as the long-term
repository. When we moved away from SOAS (Student Organization Accounting
Services) to MNB, the then-treasurer researched the local banks to find
the best deal. I don't know if she considered UMCU.
Do the UM Credit Union's rules allow it to accept corporations as members?
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cmcgee
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response 7 of 45:
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May 1 14:13 UTC 2001 |
I don't know about corporations, but Larry Kestenbaum had his campaign
checking account there.
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aruba
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response 8 of 45:
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May 1 15:41 UTC 2001 |
Grex's money is in a checking account at TCF. All are agreed that we should
try to earn some interest on it. I have been avoiding dealing with opening
another account, for fear of getting into a situation where we lose money or
can't get at our money, or where I can screw up and not have enough money
available to pay our bills. But none of those are rational fears, so I plan
on conquering them and presenting some options soon.
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jp2
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response 9 of 45:
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May 1 16:01 UTC 2001 |
This response has been erased.
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keesan
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response 10 of 45:
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May 1 18:41 UTC 2001 |
Thank you Mark. Let me know if I can help in obtaining information.
I just paid my rent by doing a 30 second (maybe 1 minute) telephone transfer
of cash from my 4% interest savings account to my 0% interest checking account
at Bank of Ann Arbor. I have never had any problems with this. It can also
be done online, and you have a choice of phoning a person or a computer.
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gelinas
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response 11 of 45:
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May 1 18:44 UTC 2001 |
The Sailing Club's constitution requires that it use federally insured
accounts, so losing the money isn't a problem. Flagstar's CDs have
separate accounts to collect the interest payments. So we leave enough in
that account to cover projected needs and put the rest in a 12-month CD.
We used a 4-month CD to shift the roll-over date from October (when we
finally got around to making the shift happen) to February (to better
match our budget year). At the time, Flagstar had the best rates and
convenience. (Like insurance, it is worthwhile to comparison-shop.
But also like insurance, not all the time. :)
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mary
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response 12 of 45:
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May 1 18:59 UTC 2001 |
The 14 day CD thingie I spoke of at the last Board meeting won't
work for Grex. You need $25,000 to open.
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jp2
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response 13 of 45:
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May 1 21:21 UTC 2001 |
This response has been erased.
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keesan
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response 14 of 45:
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May 1 22:40 UTC 2001 |
The Bank of Ann Arbor requires a $100 minimum to be left in savings.
Checking accounts are no-fee if you stay over $700. PAX I think had a $250
minimum and variable interest rates which may currently be under 4%.
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aruba
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response 15 of 45:
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May 2 04:31 UTC 2001 |
I think sticking to an FDIC account may be a good idea for Grex, too.
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aruba
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response 16 of 45:
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May 15 20:14 UTC 2001 |
I got our phone bill today, and they still haven't taken off the last two
lines we dropped. I'll call and harass them today or tomorrow.
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aruba
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response 17 of 45:
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May 16 19:26 UTC 2001 |
I called Ameritech, and the two people I talked with agreed that our lines
really were disconnected on March 16th, but that the order "errored out"
somewhere, so that our billing records weren't fixed. The problem should
fix itself. (I.e., there was nothing they could do about it.) When it
does, we will be credited back to 3/16.
This would be slightly more reassuring if it wasn't the same thing they told
me last month. I'm not too worried about it, though.
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keesan
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response 18 of 45:
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May 17 16:47 UTC 2001 |
I make sure to get the names of the people who tell me things at phone
companies so that the next three times I call I can blame it on someone
specific.
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aruba
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response 19 of 45:
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May 17 17:08 UTC 2001 |
I do that too.
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aruba
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response 20 of 45:
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May 17 17:30 UTC 2001 |
I got our insurance bill today. It's for $375 - as I recall, it was
$300 the last two years. Dunno if that makes it worth it to shop
around.
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aruba
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response 21 of 45:
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May 17 22:11 UTC 2001 |
I checked, and it was indeed $300 the last 2 years. The bill is due 6/1, so
if we're going to do anything about it, we don't have much time. What do
people think?
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jp2
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response 22 of 45:
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May 18 14:07 UTC 2001 |
This response has been erased.
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aruba
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response 23 of 45:
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May 18 14:18 UTC 2001 |
Our insurance is liability insurance for the Pumpkin. We were required to
get it by our landlord when we signed a new lease two years ago. It doesn't
offer us any benefits; it just pays if something we do damages the building.
(Do I have that right, Mary?)
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rcurl
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response 24 of 45:
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May 18 14:19 UTC 2001 |
If it is liability insurance, it has nothing to do with property damage -
it applies if you damage people.
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