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Coffee Break: Travel Jewelry Case

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teal leather jewelry case

I've been on the hunt for a new travel jewelry case since I sadly misplaced my old favorite one — and this pretty teal leather one from Cuyana looks perfect for the job.

I like that there are pockets, earring posts, and even a bar to string your necklaces before you tuck them into a pocket. (You can also use the old business card trick to keep your necklaces from getting detangled, of course.) I love something that combines function and beauty!

The case is $98 at Cuyana — it comes in four core colors but this pretty teal is one of their newly arrived seasonal colors. (They also have orange and red, as well as a currently sold out purple color.)

Sales of note for 1/15:

32 Comments

  1. Let’s say that a relative is mentally competent and an adult, just very bad at money and at risk of losing her house / housing. Her only retirement income is likely to be SSI from an ex.

    Would you just have it so they inherit a few hundred thousand dollars (up to $500K) outright or set up a trust while you are still alive to pay off her debts (last time a parent did this, it was about $100K) and then give her something like interest on the funds and maybe 36K/year until funds ran out?

    The elderly parent often asks me (stepkid) for advice. I don’t want to get in the middle of this, but I know it’s distressing that this keeps happening, parent doesn’t want kid to be homeless at some point, and I think parent worries that I will have to bail her out later in life (I won’t). Families are largely fine otherwise, it’s just this one situation that I can tell causes a lot of worry and I feel like I’m just watching two people drown. IDK that there is a good solution though — it may be a problem no matter what, but he is thinking of touching up his documents now that he is a widower.

    1. It’s very sweet that he thinks you would help out family. He must have a high opinion of you.

      1. I read this as, OPs relative has asked for advice. That relative has an adult child in financial distress, and wants to make sure the child is taken care of beyond parent’s lifetime, despite adult child’s bad financial decisions.

        I do not read this as relative thinking OP would take care of that person.

        1. I think the commenter was responding to the line “and I think parent worries that I will have to bail her out later in life (I won’t).”

    3. Set up a trust without hesitation. If the money is paid in a lump sum to this relative, it will be gone in short order – the relative has proven that. And it’s okay if one heir receives a lump sum payout while this person’s money is in a trust. The only thing I would not do is make a responsible relative the trustee of this relative’s trust. I think that sets up the two people to be at war with each other and puts the trustee potentially in a long-term stressful position that can result in litigation. I’d pay a bank to be the trustee with the terms of the trust that this relative either receives a set amount of money per month or per year or the trust can only pay money directly to medical providers, landlords, etc. up to a specified amount per year.

      1. +1, and a monthly or even weekly payout seems the best way to put the parent’s mind at ease that the irresponsible relative can’t blow it all at once and end up homeless.

      2. Setting it up with the bank as trustee seems best. Make it clear that there are exceptions to pay for major medical bills and a few other emergencies, but otherwise just a regular income.

    4. It sounds like the trust makes sense. Is there some kind of downside to it that’s causing you/elderly parent to think it might be better to give her the $500k outright?

    5. I think giving out some money annually is best for someone who is very bad at money if it’s worth the fees to set up and administer the funds that way (with a professional trustee paid for from the trust if the person is the sort to be awful to a volunteer family member trustee). If it’s not enough money to justify the fees, then they’ll just have to figure out how to manage the last gift from their parents.

      My relatives who are bad with money have also burned bridges through their choices and behaviors, which really limits who is willing to help them and by how much.

    6. Encourage him to talk to the estate lawyer and stay out of the details. This is a common problem and they will likely have a number of ways to solve it – including, thinking about under what circumstances she can drain the funds.

    7. This is a perfect question to post on the Bogleheads boards. They have situations like this posted not infrequently.

    8. Annuity. My mother is like this and she blew through a lump sum. People who are bad with money don’t handle lump sums well.

      1. Ooh, an annuity is a really good idea for this situation. Might be significantly cheaper than a professionally administered trust while serving the same purpose (assuming relative is unlikely to figure out how to sell her interest in the annuity).

    9. I am an EP attorney- talk to an estate planning attorney. Sounds like a good candidate for a trust! The EP attorney can discuss options with regard to how to structure the trust for the family member and who would be the best to serve as a trustee for her. A corporate trustee might be a good option here (depending on the terms of the trust and the amount of money involved of course- some corporate trustees will manage 500k).

  2. People who drive on the left and have the driver’s seat on the right: if you have stick shift, where is the shifter? On your left (in between the front seats)?

    1. That’s correct. The gear pattern is (usually) the same, so 1st is “up and to the left,” but that’s away from your body instead of towards it.

    3. everything is inverted, which makes for fun moments where you try indicating and turn on the windshield wipers! This is for being used to one type and then adjusting to driving on the other side.

      2. lol, we travel to ‘right side drive’ places regularly and it is now an informal tradition that we’ll use the wipers as turn signals on our first drive of the trip…. and then again on our first drive back home!

  3. Speaking of jewelry boxes — I’d like a box for a single ring as the one I got from the jeweler for my wedding band is falling apart. Is there a good seller for a durable one? I’m seeing some on Etsy or Amazon but they’re all being advertised as something to present your ring in for a proposal — I’d love one I can use every day for another 10 plus years.

    1. I’d be curious how many people take their wedding bands off? engagement rings sure but I feel like most people keep the wedding bands themselves on. unless you’re doing brain surgery or olympic lifting or something.

      2. I take mine off every night! I also take it off if I’m working with tools or baking or something.

      3. I take mine off all the time. The first 10 years of my marriage I didn’t sleep in them. Now I almost never wear it. It’s on my nightstand (I think?) right now.

      4. When I walk in the house at the end of the day, the first thing I do is put on comfy clothes and take off all my jewelry. Even leaving earrings on makes me feel done up and I can’t relax. My rings and that day’s earrings go in a little dish. I can’t imagine needing a ring box for daily use, but I second the recommendation just to ask a local jewelry store for one of theirs.

    2. Honestly, your local jewelry store might sell you an empty box for like $5 or $10. Or you might have friends IRL who keep the boxes in case they need them ‘someday’ but they are really just cluttering up a drawer. I finally told myself to throw all my empties out last year because clearly I was never going to use them again!

    3. I use a small pretty wooden box with a felt lining that I got at some artisanal craft market. It is just a little box and doesn’t have a ring slot or cushion. It lives on my nightstand and I put both rings and my earrings in it every evening.

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