Getting savvy about money...

There is a reason I have been quiet on here...

2010-09-20T23:20:00.002-05:00

Come over and check out my new blog, www.pamscribbles.com to find out why!

Plato's Closet and Prior Attire

2010-08-31T22:53:00.003-05:00

A weekend ago I stopped by two stores, one a thrift store and one a consignment store.

My boyfriend suggested Prior Attire as he saw the name once somewhere. So I went to the store on 95th and Nall, next door to Sushi Gin (a decent sushi place). I never noticed the store before when I dined at Sushi Gin, so I think it recently relocated there from somewhere else.

My first impression when I entered the store was that it was a consignment store due to the quality of the items there. But it was a thrift store that accepts donations and then resells them to donate to charities instead. According to its website, it donated over $90,000 to over 40 KC charities in just last 4 years! Impressive. I am impressed with the items in the store, but I did not seem to find what I liked that day. If you like Coldwater Creek, Land's End, or Chico, this store may be for you.

The next store I went to was Plato's Closet. I discovered that it is a chain of stores everywhere in USA. My mom told me a Plato's Closet is opening in MN that will have three floors! I must check that out when I visit my family in Saint Paul next time. When I first entered the store on 135th and Quivira, first thing that I thought: "This is every teen's haven". Aeropostale, American Eagle, Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch... there were so many clothings I did not have a chance to look at them. They do have a very decent selection.

Which consignment or thrift store shall I check out next? Maybe Savers on Santa Fe/Murlen and 95th/Nall. Just realized I missed the opportunity to stop by Savers when I visited Prior Attire. I did visit there before, just for books. Their book selection was amazing. I am not sure about their clothing. Stay tuned...

Revisiting used clothes

2010-08-16T11:12:00.003-05:00

Lately I have been hitting the consignment and thrift stores. So far I like Nu2You in Leawood and Ditto in Overland Park/Lenexa. Nu2You seems to be geared toward older women in 30s and 40s, and have many good choices to wear for work. Ditto seems to be for teenagers to 20s/30s and mostly fads. Both are consignment stores which mean they can cost more than at any thrift store, but quality is much better.

I also visited Savers on 95th and Nall in Overland Park and was shocked at the book section. I could buy everything there! I think I bought 6 books there.

I also asked for friends' suggestions on Facebook. One of them strongly recommended Goodwill in Overland Park (135th and Hwy 69) and another one said I should check Plato's Closet out.

At first I was uncertain if Goodwill by Hwy 69 and 135th street is good, since I have not had any "great find" at any Goodwill store. I met the friend again the next day, and she still swore by it. So after work last Thursday, I decided to check that Goodwill out.

And... I was stunned. She was right. Banana Republic, Express, Limited, Tommy Hilfiger, Talbots, you name it. And those clothes were clean and most were even ironed. I spent two hours at that store and I was not finished! I will go back again soon. I also found awesome books, for only 99 cents each. I also found my best find ever (besides finding that Armani jacket at Ditto last week):

I have the exactly same pair in black, which I bought for $29.99. I was thinking of buying another one in a different color since I am in love with my black pair. Then tada, this cotton pink crocs for only ... $1.99!

The nice thing about Crocs is that you can wash it easily. Naturally this pair of pink Malindi's is very dirty when I found it at Goodwill, but there's nothing that soap and water can't do.

I am sooooo excited! I even texted my boyfriend and mom about it :)

Next stop: Plato's Closet. I have not checked it out but I will do soon.

Got any cool consignment/thrift stores you think are worth a visit?

A New Look! FICO First...

2010-08-12T22:10:00.002-05:00

I have been maintaining this blog since 2006, so I figured this blog needs a makeover. Well, I used one of those blogger templates again. Perhaps someday I'll not be lazy and customize my layout. Oh yeah I need a new profile picture too...remind me next time :)

I also thought of changing the quote at the top to "First FICO, then sex", quoted by Suze Orman, but maybe that would scare off some readers.

I love that sentence and it certainly makes sense, although I admit I don't abide by that rule. My two former boyfriends have lousy FICO score but yet I dated them. When I found out about their financial background, I was already attached.

My latest boyfriend, Paul certainly has a good financial background and I asked him many questions before I decided to date him.

Remember, before you start to get serious with someone, make sure that person is in solid financial shape or else you may get yourself into financial trouble.

A pleasant frugal moment

2009-03-31T19:01:00.002-05:00

I was totally overwhelmed with two graduate courses lately - especially that I am behind by three weeks and trying to catch up. I paid a big price - I had to take time off this afternoon from work so I can finish this assignment which is worth 16% of my grade.

That is out of sight and out of mind, at least for right now since my colleague is currenting revising the grammer for me. I am not too good with grammar when it comes to technical papers. Definitely something that I need to practice on.

Anyway back to the subject - my favorite hobby, or you can say, "frugaling" :)

I went to Target during lunch hour and ended up buying four Fuze bottles and 32 oz of Suaze's two in one shampoo/conditioner for ...

$2.04, pre-tax!

How did I do it? Of course I am the frugal goddess, pardon my bragging. I had two of those coupons for Fuze drinks, where you buy one and get one free. Target had those on sale at $1 apiece. So I ended up getting 4 Fuze bottles at .50 each. Also I had a coupon for a free Suave product, valued at 3.00 or less. Target had those extra large bottles for sale at $3.04 -- you guessed it, I got it for 4 cents.

Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Attention Kansans! You can help:

2009-02-17T10:16:00.004-06:00

State employees' paychecks might not arrive on time this Friday due to a bipartisan battle in Topeka.

Governor Sebelius is wanting to transfer $225 million from other accounts so the state employees can be paid on time, but this requires approval from the Reps - which they rejected.

Help by contacting your legislator to urge the importance of getting paychecks on time:

If you do not know who your legislator is:
1) Go to http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-legisportal/index.do

2) Under "hot items", click on "find your legislator" (http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-legisportal/redistricting.do)

Contact both House and Senate. Most employees live from check to check... how are the state employees going to pay their bills on time if their paychecks are delayed? If they do not get paid.. Kansas economy is going to topple over.

Excerpt:
"GOP leaders are hoping to pressure Sebelius into signing a bill making $326 million in adjustments to the budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30. They said the bill needs to be adopted before the state can guarantee any new debts are repaid. Legislators approved that bill last week, and it is expected to reach the governor’s desk by Tuesday."

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content/financialsurvival/local/story/Kansas-Suspends-Income-Tax-Refunds/k6QNdJhmcEGItxvV2Fyoog.cspx

AIDS Bike Ride

2008-08-22T11:34:00.005-05:00

Paul and I are participating in the AIDS Bicycle Challenge by the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City and will bike for 35 miles on Saturday, October 4. It will be on the Mill Creek Streamway Trail.

If you want to donate, please do so at:

http://www.firstgiving.com/pamelasiebert

Each biker needs to fund raise a minimum amount of $80, so just any small amount is good.

Thanks!
Pam

Socks turns four

2008-04-10T22:02:00.001-05:00

Nobody can ever replace Socks.

Going premium

2008-03-28T20:52:00.005-05:00

Well, I knew what I was getting in when I bought my '03 Volkswagen Passat. The minimum octane rating is 91, meaning I have to buy premium gas here in America. That was back in 2004, just when the gas prices were beginning to rise.

However, they still are rising, and I notice that there is 30 cents difference between regular unleaded and premium. Should my car go regular unleaded (octane rating of 87 or so)

Brian, my colleague at work and friend, showed me this website from USA Today:

Why use premium gas when regular will do?

I read the article - sure enough, it is a reasonable argument that I could go lower - but however the article seems to be for cars whose engines are not designed for premium. Premium does absolutely no better on the non-premium designated engines than the regular unleaded would do.

But my car engine is designed for premium.

I decided to email my service advisor over at Volkswagen dealership on Shawnee Mission Parkway and I-35. His reply:

"About the gas, well you can put regular in it, but I wouldn't recommend it. I have found that over time the fuel injectors will build up carbon deposits on them and the car will start running real rough. The fix for this is a BG fuel injection treatment that costs $113, so it almost seems like you would end up paying the extra anyways. If you have any questions or any other concerns please let me know."

Hmm. So, I made a calculation here how much I would pay for gas at 3.50 a gal. I put in gas twice a month, thrice every other month, at estimated total of 15 gallons at every fill up.

6 months: 30 gal x 6 = 180 gal
6 months: 45 gal x 6 = 270 gal
---------------
Total gal a year: 450 gal

450 x 3.50 = $1575

Not to mention those trips I have been making to MN ...

But anyway. Suppose I use regular unleaded, at 3.20 a gal. The cost would be $1440.

If I use regular unleaded instead of premium, the savings would be $135.

According to my advisor, the fuel injector cleaning would be $113. How many times would I need it cleaned? Once a year? I save $20 ?

It does not seem to be worth it to sneak down a couple of grade just to save money, and also my car engine has high compression, making it necessary for higher octane.

Besides, I am deaf and if I used gas that is too low in octane, I would not be able to hear "pinging" in my engine (the effect of using too low octane gas) which would damage my engine over time.

Ok, so premium it is. $135 really does not seem to be a difference, even to a frugal moi :)

Vote for Informix #1!

2008-03-21T09:31:00.002-05:00

Come over to vote Informix for Channel Insider's #1 database product of the year!

Vote Informix as #1 database product of the year

Informix made a lot of headlines this year and the past year. Why Informix? Because I work for Informix at IBM :)

Information on Informix:
The Official IBM Informix Site
International Informix Users Group
Informix Zone
IDS Architect's Blog on Informix
IBM Informix Dynamic Server to deliver support for Mac OS X

Free pizzas all week

2008-03-19T11:53:00.004-05:00

Free food is always good, but not good if the food is junk :(

I got this coupon from Papa Johns for a free large pizza with two toppings, because the last time they delivered a pizza to my place, it was very late (I did not notice though). I found out it would expire on March 17, so I rushed to redeem the coupon last Sunday, sharing the pizza with my friend/neighbor Jenn. There were leftovers enough for 2 meals.

Then last night at Spin Pizza, the pizza was partially burned, only at the end crust, but still very edible. The waitress apologized and gave me another pizza! Now I have an entire pizza as a leftover, and that would last 2 or 3 meals... so there you go... a week full of pizza. Gulp. Good thing I joined a gym recently. Just gotta commit to it.

car (or house down payment?) paid off!

2008-03-17T12:32:00.002-05:00

I am so happy that I finally own my car tonight after the final loan payment is made.

I bought the car back in March 2004 and was almost done with it (around 2k left) by Nov 2005, until I decided to take out a $5,000 loan against my car (as a collateral) to pay for some of my house down payment. The reason I did that is that the mortgage payments would be much lower, and a collateral loan using my car was only 3% through the Think Credit Union in Minnesota. The mortgage rate is 5.625% so there is obvious savings there.

The car/collateral loan was around $330 monthly but I decided to pay $500 monthly to make the life of the loan shorter. Starting last January, I increased the payments to $700 so the loan would be paid off in March. The payment is made from my US Bank checking account automatically on the 17th of every month. So I was expecting to see $200 deducted from the checking account because that was what's left on the loan.

No. By checking my US Bank account, I saw $700 deducted on the 14th of March! I called the Think CU rep and she told me that the automatic payment system is not smart and it does not know how much what is left on the loan. And that she had to fax me the form to authorize the cancellation of the automated payment!! Wow. I am not pleased with all of this extra work just to stop the $700 a month payment even if the loan is paid off!

What is even worse... she cannot refund the money back to my US Bank account. She has to mail me the check.

Ugh. At least the car is mine after today... so I guess in a sense, my house down payment is also paid off today.

A boring air register story

2007-12-02T20:28:00.001-06:00

I was in need of a new return air grille, because it has been rusted badly by Socks' wrongdoings in the past. I measured the grille - it was 13 1/2ish by 8 inches and went to Home Depot. I had a deja vu just at that time. All numbers I saw were in even numbers. No 13 by 8. Only closest ones I saw were 12 x 8, 14x8. Ughhhh...

Deja vu moment. I accidentally smeared paint over my air register in my bedroom a couple of years ago, so I went to Home Depot and had the exactly same problem! It ended up taking two trips...

Back to present. So I bought 14 x 8 air grille and came back home. Of course I was off by 2 inches on both sides! So second trip to Home Depot was done then. I got 12 x 6 instead, and it fit!

A duh moment upcoming now. I read the words on the label...it said it is for duct size of 13 7/8 by 8 inches... oh! Why do they like to confuse me!

a breakup: financial woes

2007-11-05T21:41:00.001-06:00

A breakup is always emotionally and physically painful. But I have learnt something new. It is also financially painful. I went out for food a lot more than eating at home and have found myself trying to find pleasure in shopping. But this should be temporary and after all I did not touch any of my savings and investments, and they continue to get increased through contributions and interests.

Frugal exercises? Look here!

2007-08-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

I subscribe to the Bargainist, which is one of the best financial decisions I ever made. By reading the Bargainist news daily, I came upon this:

http://www.bargainist.com/deals/2007/08/12-frugal-exercise-ideas/

12 frugal exercise ideas. Unfortunately it seems like I will have to cancel my gym membership since the last time I have been to the gym was in end of May! I am so bad. I do not know what happened to my motivation. It just whizzed out right under my nose. Better cancel now instead of keeping paying for it and trying to go to the gym and not making it.

A belt and 3 undies for $2.42

2007-07-23T11:13:00.001-05:00

I rock. NY&Co sends out coupons practically everyday. For those who do not know what is NY&Co, it is a clothing store for women. It used to be my favorite clothing store until I stopped liking the clothing styles. However, I still have the credit card for that store only which gives me a lot of discounts.

Especially this $15 off coupon. The catch? Nothing! Gotta love coupons like those. Basically if you buy $15 worth of clothing, you get $15 off. So I could not pass that up. Though, I had a hard time browsing in that store last weekend to see anything I liked...nothing :(. Then I thought of one thing - I needed a brown belt. So I got that. Then I picked out three undies that I liked. I do not need any more undies but I admit I like NY&Co's undies as they are comfortable. So the total was around $18 but sans the $15 coupon, it went down to $2.42.

So there you go. A nice belt and three new pairs of underwear for less than $3. You can't beat that.

The best chocolate...ever

2007-07-16T16:37:00.000-05:00

I was in a serious chocolate attack mood. It all started with my birthday when a friend of mine flew in from Germany to visit his girlfriend (who is my former teammate at work). He gave me this very nice box of german chocolate. Here and lo, I am forever addicted to it.

And I just had the very last piece... and I want more.

I tried to google it up to see if I could buy more online. Sure does not look like it. Kudos to anyone who knows how I can get more here in America.

http://www.rausch-schokolade.com/

I got the mix of Noumea, Java, Madagascar and Puerto Cabello. Puerto Cabello is my favorite with Noumea in 2nd. Madagascar comes in third with Java running in last. I am a huge fan of milk chocolate. My mom is crazy over dark chocolate which requires a much more mature taste.

I was researching chocolate a bit recently and found out that dark chocolate is more rich in antioxidants than milk chocolate. "The darker it is, the better it is for your health". A 40 grams of dark chocolate is equivalent of a cup of black tea (800 milligrams) whilst it is 400 milligrams for same serving of milk chocolate (same as a glass of red wine).

Chocolate, FTW.

Budget Issues

2007-07-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I last posted. Definitely overdue. But I do not really know what to say. So much has happened it has been a whirlwind. I ended my reign as Miss Deaf Kansas, and ran for KAD secretary and won. I also applied to RIT for graduate school. I drove to MN to visit my family. My uncle's family came to Kansas City. I got elected as Vice President of Education for my Toastmasters club in District 22.

That makes me wonder, am I doing too much. Probably. But I'm definitely only doing the Vice President for a year. And I still wonder if I am going to RIT. I still have not heard anything from IBM funding, and the registration started yesterday.

Ok, budget wise - June and July are the hardest months for me to budget, because there are so many things going on - especially going out to eat and socialize and that costs money. Also there are clothes I wanted to buy. Splurges, splurges, ... I think it should settle down by August or September, except for paying for that car insurance, house insurance, and car tag/registration which will take a quite of a chunk out of my funds. Also I am doing that yearly carpet cleaning, because there are ugly stains all over (I know, I see them, you do not have to act like you do not see them).

Well, you can still check out photos at Flickr photos for my latest doings.

Also, there are pictures during KAD conference where I relinquished my crown - KAD Conference in Hutchinson

Trip to Crossroad district
Art Crawl

My upbringing

2007-05-17T22:43:00.000-05:00

Today at work there was a seminar offered on IBM's financial program which I did not go. Partially because I forgot that it was today and thus did not get an interpreter but no biggie. A coworker of mine, went and gave me a copy of their handout. She talked about bonds and stocks and how she did not know their difference until now. That stopped me in my tracks - how did I know about the difference between a bond and a stock? I knew that since I was a kid. It hit me. It was my parents who taught me.

It all started coming back to me slowly - I now remembered how my mom told me what a bond would do, and what was a CD (Certificate of Deposit), and I remembered my parents going to bank and discussing over which CD they wanted to buy (how many years, how much). I remembered asking my mom about opening a saving or checking account, and she let me decide which bank I wanted. She took me to the bank of my choice and helped me to open my very first saving account. I felt very thrilled that day.

I remembered my mom telling me all about the credit cards - interest rate, and paying back in full monthly, and giving me my first credit card at age of fourteen, for emergency use when I was away at MSSD (Model Secondary School for the Deaf) in Washington, DC, 2000 miles away from Saint Paul. I remembered I was very careful in using the credit card, and only using it when I needed. I never abused any of my credit cards, thanks to my parents.

My dad has been giving me a lot of good advices, on retirement plans, buying my first home, and investment ideas. He is a certified financial consultant, so he has a lot of advices under his belt. I notice that my mom has influenced me strongly when I was a dependent (from birth throughout college), and then my dad is my strong influence after I have moved to Kansas in August 2003.

For this I am truly grateful to have my parents for educating me to be financially "savvy". Thanks dad and mom.

A Sweet Mother's Day gift

2007-05-11T12:50:00.000-05:00

1800Flowers.com is a ripoff in my opinion, really, unless they screw up the order :)

Last year for Mother's Day I decided to order a basket of flowers and have it shipped to my mom's home in Saint Paul. The price was quite hefty, even with IBM's 15% discount code. The shipping/handling hurts. I think that is how the company makes money - from shipping and handling costs.

So my mom got the flowers on Saturday, a day before Mother's day. She emailed me and said they were sweet and thoughtful but the flowers were dry and almost dead. She went ahead and called 1800Flowers.com company and complained about the flowers. The company apologized and mailed another set of flowers (which was still almost dead and ugly, though) to my mom and mailed me a gift certificate that was equal to the cost of the flowers ($35). Hmm. Ok. My mom told me she did not want me to mail any flowers to her.

The gift certificate/"rebate" expires this June, so I decided to order something else thru 1800Flowers.com for Mother's Day this Sunday. No flowers, so now I was looking at chocolate boxes. There was a nice set of Godiva dark chocolate which I ordered. My mom is very crazy over dark chocolate. The price - whoa, pricey. I put down IBM code for 15% discount, then used my gift certificate from last year's screw-up.

The total? $4. :)

Cinco de Mayo Fundraiser

2007-04-29T15:11:00.000-05:00

Last night was the "Cinco de Mayo" fundraiser at Olathe Deaf Club, to help with the costs for the next Miss Deaf Kansas 2007-2009 (it is soon over for me!). We sold Mexican lasagna, soft tacos, fried ice cream, nacho and others to hungry customers at the club. I think it was a successful event! The food was especially yummy!

I also was honored to recite the numbers for the game Olingo, which took two hours. I never knew the task was exhausting! Olingo is a card version of bingo, using decks of playing cards. Biggest prize was $309, but nobody won it, so the money will be carried over to next month and increased. Nice!

Photos are here, but all are dark, oh well.

just great.

2007-04-23T17:07:00.000-05:00

I was already late for my 9am appointment at a place, and I was pulled over by a cop. Great, I was thinking. My clean record clean no more. I was going 40 in 35 and the cop was already behind me all long but I probably daydreamed for a second and he caught me speeding a bit.

Gulp. No. He told me that my license tag (the personalized license plate) is expired. I was confused - huh ? He says I'm supposed to be using one of those personalized buffalo plates not the sunflower plate. The sunflower one expired last year apparently and I knew NOTHING about this. Whoever heard of expired license plate anyway and I paid extra for this personalized plate.

Here's what the buffalo one looks like:
The one I currently have (minus the numbers and cycle label) looks like this:

Basically, I got fined $70 and am ordered to make a court appearance on May 14.

Grr. I will go to Olathe DMV tmw and talk to them about replacing my license tag (again, who knew?)

save the earth.

2007-04-22T17:50:00.000-05:00

I went to KC EarthFest 2007 yesterday. I was glad I went! I knew about this event over a month ago, but did not bother to look it up until the day before :( thus, I had a hard time finding people to go along with me.

I decided to do a pledge thing - I pledged $100 and sure enough, I was able to collect $100 worth in donations (thanks guys!). I managed to find a friend, Dennis, to come with me. Socks went too.

At 9 am in the morning, we walked 2.7 miles, and I think we finished around 10 30 am. There was a refreshment tent full of yummy stuff - organic bananas, oranges, apples, and energy bars (those energy bars tasted sooo good - I need to find where they sell the bars and buy more). Water was also provided everywhere. There were over 70 booths! One booth gave out free "treelings" (baby trees) but I did not have a backyard so I did not get one. Entertainment was also provided on the stage, but I couldn't care less because it was all music and singing.

Altogether, I walked around 7 miles! I brought my pedometer with me and clocked my steps. 10,000 steps succeeded :)

And today I suffer for it with sore gluttons and legs...ahhh!

Do what you can to save the earth.

Variety show

2007-04-20T21:43:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, April 14, we hosted two performances of variety show at Murphy Aud. at Kansas School f/t Deaf. Many people loved our show! We gave various ASL stories, by signing and in mime. We earned over $300 so it was a success. Many thanks to KSD for letting us to use their stage for free.

Many people are asking for a repeat performance so we might do it again at Olathe Deaf Club in May, who knows?

Here's the pictures at my friend's flickr site.

Variety Show

My trip to RIT

2007-04-20T21:25:00.000-05:00

Here's the pictures from my trip to RIT.

My RIT Trip

Plenty of pros and cons with this trip.

Cons: cold, rain, snow, lack of appearance to my presentation, flight cancelled, missed 2 days of work

Pros: met my good friend, found my masters program, missed 2 days of work, flight cancelled, free food, free trip

Enuff said.

I have found my destiny...for now.

2007-04-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

I have been wrestling back and forth with myself about the idea of getting Masters. I had no desire to go back to school when I graduated with bachelors in Spring 2003, basically because I have been schooling since I was 1 (yep, 1, ask my mom)...so I needed a break. The thought of going back to school has quietly surfaced from time to time now and then..

I started thinking about a MBA - I wanted an useful degree - MBA is an useful degree that I can use in managing or setting up a business.. then I thought of MS in Software engineering, it will be on track with my career, as a software engineer at my work currently. But I did not want to go into the technical side too heavily for my future.. no interest in being a software architect or a developer. I am thinking of something more like project management or such.

I looked at colleges around here in Kansas City metro...and went to KU "Back to School" orientation.. I got scared and still did not feel right.. none of the programs sound right.

Until I went to Rochester, NY over the extra long weekend (another story to be blogged some other time), visiting my alma mater - Rochester Institute of Technology. I really like the school and it provides good programs. I was wandering mindlessly in the halls of Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences (where I graduated), looking at boards and such. I saw the bulletion board for masters programs but still did not see anything I wanted so I wandered away. Some gut feeling told me to walk back so I did.. and sure enough, I overlooked this perfect program for me... the second I took out the brochure of the information folder, I knew this is it.

So I am going to apply to the master of science in software development & management program at RIT. It is entirely designed for part time students with distance learning. And even better.. I do not have to take GRE :)

I just feel so right.. it is a very nice feeling to have... no uncertainty or fear of going back to school.

Free Breakfast at Wendys and Savings

2007-04-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

Just as I arrived at work, Hemant immediately sametimed me, "Free breakfast at Wendys on 119th and Strang!" I had to ask twice to make sure - were all breakfast items free? So I took him with me right away and got our really good breakfast meals. Orange juice, hash browns, and egg and sausage croissant. Even I was impressed.. I was so stuffed all day I finally forced myself to eat lunch as of now at 3:14 pm CST (leftover lasagna which I made last night, to save my money eating out!).

Now on different subject, my pal Nathan sent me CNN money article Saving Survey

Wow.. only less than 25% of people nearing retirement age have more than 25k saved up. I am aware that not many people are saving, but the statistics do hit home hard.

"Predictably, the youngest workers (ages 25-34) dominate this group - 68 percent of them have less than $25,000 earmarked for their later years. But so do half of workers age 35 to 44 and a third of workers age 45 to 55 and over."

Naturally, a high percentage of young workers do not have more than 25k saved - in the age group of 25 to 34. That age is when a person just gets out of college, or is still studying in school (for perhaps Masters or Ph.D, or even less), and not knowing yet what to do with his/her life. But though, do take advantage of the company's saving plans (such as 401k) as much as you can.
It is pretty stunning to see that the age group of 45 and OVER, a third of them, have less than 25k saved up!

The article also suggests the same thing - contribute enough to your 401k at work to get the full matching contribution from the company (read: FREE MONEY).

First, contribute to your 401(k) at work and contribute at least enough to qualify for the full matching contribution from your employer. ...

Next, aim to build a nest egg that, in combination with your Social Security benefits and pension benefits if you have them, will be large enough to generate at least 70 percent to 80 percent of your pre-retirement income.

Here's the link for 5 401k mistakes - naturally the biggest mistake is not to invest in it!

Top 401k Flubs

Enjoy.

The Elms: A worthy overnight getaway

2007-04-08T20:24:00.000-05:00

Getting away to the Elms in Excelsior Springs, MO was a worthy break. The spa resort is in a very quiet little town, surrounded by curvy and hilly roads and lush forest. It is a nice short break away from daily life of Kansas City - work, school, pageant, and other things.

To sum our break (Tawanna and mine), I have uploaded pictures to my flickr.

My Flickr Set: Getaway at the Elms

As mentioned in previous post, we took the Friday Night Special - totaling $169 for a room, dinner buffet, and a free movie in our room. I thought that was a pretty decent price for a spa resort. After taxes (and history tax??) it came to total of $94 each. The buffet was pretty good, and we truly stuffed ourselves. We had soup, salad, entrees, and desserts. I did not try the crab legs, because it is a stressful experience trying to pry little meat out of tough legs, and since I was on a getaway, so I declined from the crab legs but went for bloody raw prime rib. Tawanna wanted her prime rib well done, so the chef specifically cooked it for her. Very nice. After resting from the big dinner, we went down to the fitness room and execrised. Then we went swimming and hung out in the hot tub. Starting to get sleepy..we went back to our room and used our coupon for free movie - we picked "A Night at the Musuem", which was a light comedy, maybe decent for a relaxing night, but I would give that movie an average rating.

Next morning we had breakfast buffet, which we paid $11 each. I thought that was overpriced since the buffet was not all that great. We were told it was 7.95 by the front desk, oh well. Then we checked out and went downstairs to...our pampering! Tawanna and I shared the same room for massage and facial. That was interesting. I had only a facial once last year, and it was very different this time...so hmm I do not think I would recommend a facial to anyone staying at the Elms, for that price. The massage was pretty good. Then we went to get our pedicure/manicure, which was pretty regular (nothing extraordinary). I still do not know why the spa at the Elms is called "KC's best spa", though we did have a nice time. It might bother a bit that the area was shared by other guests for the pool/sauna/fitness, though.

But overall, it was a nice and inexpensive getaway for a night. I did really come back feeling very refreshed and full of energy.

ultra-expensive lunch...but worth it

2007-03-25T20:28:00.000-05:00

expensive lunch ... but ...worth it thanks to this $25 coupon

I found this $25 coupon, which is good until March 31, only if the reservation is made online. I have asked Hemant (a coworker) to join me, and he loves seafood. I have never been to McCormick & Schmick's, which is located at the Plaza (which, if you visit me, you NEED to visit the Plaza), but have heard it was good. It is a fancy seafood place, but I had no idea how FANCY it was until we went. All I could say, thank goodness we dressed up a bit.

I was trying to make a friday night dinner reservation, but both weekends were booked, so we agreed on a Saturday lunch which happened yesterday. I took Hemant on the scenic route to the Plaza (103rd St -> State Line (bordering Kansas and Missouri) -> Ward Pkwy -> Plaza). Gorgeous manisons and trees and flowers are blooming in time for the spring.

The moment we sat by our table, we glanced at the menu... hmm the prices were not that expensive (averaging $10 an entree)...Hemant glanced at our printed out coupon...and said it was for dinner. Uh oh. We stared at each other and were not sure if the waiter would accept the "dinner only coupon". I pointed at the coupon at front of the waiter and he nodded. Hmm. I do not think he read it. So we went all out. Glasses of wine, appetizer, entrees, desserts. It was truly delicious and worth their prices. Then the bill came.

It was $70!!!! Definitely not a frugal lunch. I gave the coupon to the waiter and he reduced our bill to $45! Wow. We were really lucky.

I would recommend you to go to M&S Seafood restaurant, if you appreciate seafood. There is the Grill, for non-seafood lovers. And do not forget the coupon, as it expires end of this month.

Elms it is!

2007-03-21T17:57:00.000-05:00

Few posts ago, Tawanna (my cubemate) and I were discussing about a short getaway at a spa resort and getting pampered. We did not want an expensive and overpriced getaway. We agreed on a nearby location, to where we could drive, for instance, St. Louis, Des Moines, or Omaha. KC will be even better. I looked at the Ozarks which is 3 1/2 hours away... spa resorts there did not seem satisfying (on the website) and I did not get much information.

So, I decided to ask a couple of my friends who are native Kansas City residents. They immediately say "Elms resort in Excelsior Springs, MO". They nodded with such enthusiasm I decided to check the website. In an instant I was convinced. I showed it to Tawanna and she was also convinced right away. Prices are so reasonable, especially for a spa resort. They have packages listed. After discussing, we agreed to do "Friday Night Special" where we will share a room (double beds, mind ya) for a night, along with seafood/prime rib buffet and a movie of our choice for viewing. For the spa "escape" we will do the Quick Escape package, which lasts 50 minutes and costs $110. It only consists of facial and back massage. We did an add-on, a pedicure/manicure package (Tawanna only wants to do manicure). A manicure there costs $30 while a pedicure costs $90.

Cost for me:
Friday night special package (dinner included): $169 /2 = $84.5
Spa Escape: $110
Pedicure/manicure: $90
Drive to Excelsior Springs: 94 miles (round trip), $9/2 = $4.50
-----------------------------------------
$289.00 (not including tips, taxes)

Not bad for a short weekend getaway where I can get pampered and relax. The spa resort has full of amenities I would most definitely like to take advantage of (swimming, hot tub, execrising). I have not yet decided on a pedicure though. Without it, it will save me $60. I will think about it sometimes this week and call if I change my mind.

April 6 is the official date! Here is the website http://elmsresort.com/ for you to check it out, maybe you can go also!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2007-03-20T10:01:00.000-05:00

Hope all of you had a fun and safe St. Paddy's Day!

Good Samitarian Deed

2007-03-13T00:14:00.000-05:00

Since I posted the recent post on Arbys, I have been getting Arbys coupons from friends. Aww. That is so sweet of you guys.

Giving coupons to someone, I think, is a good samitarian deed. I have given two coupons to two friends within two weeks times, when I would have used the coupons myself. It shows I am not greedy :-D.

A Fickle at Arbys

2007-03-11T21:36:00.000-05:00

Arbys is my favorite fast food restaurant. Imagine how thrilled I was when one Arbys opened near my work! Before that one opened, the closest Arbys was 5 mile drive ugh. My work seems to breed a bunch of avid Arbys fans..three of us scootered over to the new Arbys with excitement. I did my usual order - Combo #2, replace soda pop with small Jamocha shake (small shake is equal to the price of the soda pop), and curly for the fries.

Beep beep (yes im making up the noise) the cash register ringed up - $6.55!!! No way jose. The combo meal is ... around 4.50ish ? I also saw "medium shake". I told the guy, no, I wanted small shake. He said, "All combos come in medium size"... wow... ok. Then I did something which is so not Pam. Yes be surprised. I accepted and paid the price!!!

Next time, I will itemize my lunch... medium roast beef, small curly fries, and small shake. Blah. This was totally my first time I had this problem. Hmm. evil new Arbys? Perhaps.

Ab Lounger

2007-03-06T13:35:00.000-06:00

I am looking into getting an Ab Lounger. I have not decided yet if I will get one or not. I first saw one at Brian's house and tried it out. I instantly liked it, because it was less effort of doing ab execrise. We went over to Dicks' Sporting Goods store where he showed me the equipments. One was for 139 and another was for 99, I think. Hmm.

The gym has the apparatus for doing "situp" execrise with weights, and it is definitely more "burning" feeling than using the ab lounger, but it requires more work. Well, of course, situp on the groun or using weights require harder work, but results are quickly seen. With the ab lounger, I would need to do more reps and execrise longer, to see same results.

So, why not just use the gym's apparatus, as I already am paying $10 a month for the membership.. or do situps on the floor for free. Maybe. Is it convenience? I am not sure. Would I want an extra object in my home, taking a bit up more space?

I think I am starting to turn away from the idea of getting the ab lounger. Hmm.

Here's what an ab lounger looks like (taken from amazon.com):

PAM-pered

2007-03-03T22:23:00.000-06:00

As I was discussing with my cubemate, Tawanna, at work, I told her that I feel a desire to get pampered - going to a spa resort and getting spoiled. She said yes! She wants to do that. A luxury spa resort, we in white bathrobes with cucumbers laying on our eyes...

Price? Location? Length?

Suppose it is in Florida. The cost will involve a round trip flight ticket, possibly taxi to the spa resort.

Suppose it is a weekend trip. Would that be 2 or 3 night stay? The factor impacts the cost.

Activities? Full body massage, manicure, pedicure, body sea scrub (whatever that is.. I think I just made it up) the depth of our activities again impacts the cost.

We are thinking of a weekend stay at a nearby spa resort..maybe.

Anybody got ideas of how we can research this topic further ? Locations of good spa resorts?

Feel free to comment.

Vino party

2007-02-25T20:38:00.000-06:00

An ex high school career counselor and his former student at same wine and cheese party? Priceless.

Best Valentine Day Ever

2007-02-21T18:00:00.000-06:00

Thanks to a certain someone, for making my Valentine day best ever..

Oracle sued: good news for disability everywhere

2007-02-05T17:24:00.000-06:00

Oracle, the massive database giant, is being sued by US National Federation of the Blind and three blind State of Texas employees. Oracle Sued For Failing Blind Users

I think this is very good news.. information technology is rapidly growing but the accessibility is not growing in parallel. We, the disabled, get forgotten and left in the dust. Deaf users are unable to hear videos from youTube.com and blind users are unable to read the information on some websites.

I remember I played alot of Sierra computer games as a kid ... especially King's Quest, Quest for Glory, and Space Quest. I remember I was so disappointed when I tried out King's Quest 7... nothing was captioned at all! The jackrabbit hopped over to Rosella and spoke to her, but I was unable to hear what the clues were. I remember I was so upset.

This lawsuit will bring attention to other Information Technology giants that we are here. We are not to be ignored. Promote accessibility in software products...do not forget us. Target.com was also sued because its website was not accessible to the blind... let's hope for the same for the deaf people - captioning videos and such.

Here's a link I got from Ke5ter.com which I thought is very cool: http://www.opencaptions.com/ which is sooo nice and thoughtful. Volunteers open webcasts and type in the captions, for the future deaf readers.

Hypocrite, I am

2007-02-01T18:20:00.000-06:00

I have been trying to go to the gym three times a week. So far, no success. I succeeded at going to the gym two times a week, but no more that that. However this week it is a different story. I haven't gone to the gym at all...may be due to stress, motivation, and whatnots.

Determined I was yesterday morning to go to the gym last night. Sure enough, the snow started falling..and that just shot my motivation to the trash. When I was finished working at 6 and picked Socks up from the daycare, I decided I was not going to the gym. I needed a personal break to myself by doing nothing. Just as that moment I suddenly realized my Borders Holidays Saving Rewards was expiring yesterday, on Jan 31. I was already deciding not to the gym, because the roads were slippery and not plowed...but I did not want to flush $7.16 down the toilet..

Sigh. So I drove out to Borders and bought "Flowers For Algernon" novel, for about 85 cents. Nice deal...but I did not get my gym fix. Hypocrite, I am indeed.

BARF

2007-01-17T17:57:00.000-06:00

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Kramer Financial

2007-01-17T12:08:00.000-06:00

Last night a representative from Kramer Financial came over to my home. It was nice to make connections, as he knows three of my cousins. Kramer Financial provides free consulting to deaf people, so I took advantage of that.

And I was very pleased with Dave's knowledge. He definitely gave me good advices and suggestions. He reviewed my 401k performance and my mutual funds (Legg-Mason) performance. I stopped funding Legg-Mason last summer as I grew skeptical of Primerica's doings. Dave told me that 1 of my 3 funds in Legg-Mason is doing above-average, and 2nd one is average and 3rd is below average. I decided to just leave the money there in Legg-Mason mutual funds to grow. He got me to join American Mutual Funds and had me review the Morning Star guide for their performances. I never saw that guide before and it reviews every mutual fund performance biweekly. He says there's around 11,000 mutual funds in there. Amazing.

I felt very good and comfortable about the meeting and I am glad to have someone like Dave to look over my performances and give feedbacks. I did ask him about MBA, how to get personal finance consulting certificate, and other things. Even better, he loved my dog Socks too :)

Oh when I went to the Kramer Financial website, I saw that they have good links to check out.

Struck Gold

2007-01-14T16:53:00.000-06:00

Hehe..dont you love it when this happens? One coop (intern) from my work completed his coop assignment and has left his things at my work for freebies. I quickly skittered over to Bermuda and landed my eye on the gold - 2007 Entertainment Book Guide!

Last year I bought 2006 Entertainment Book, for it was full of coupons inside along with login to get more coupons online. It was a pretty cool deal, but I had to pay $20 for it and made sure I was using the book. I did not opt for 2007 one this year, but alas, a free one... sweet. Buy one IHOP meal, get one free...excellent, Tawanna and I go there maybe once every week or two weeks.. there's some new coupons this year like 15% discount at The Melting Pot... very nice indeed.

The cleansing experience

2006-12-11T17:57:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday night I was given an unpleasant surprise when I arrived home from the gym. The knob that turns the shower on or off was broken and loose. I desperately filled up the tub as fast as I could - I did not want to miss the "Biggest Loser" Finale (btw, I got duped. It is this Wednesday instead of last Wednesday, pfft).

Last November it was my 2 years anniversary of living at my condo. It was 2 years of suffering using my shower. I did not really enjoy my showering experience much, despite changing new shower head. Water pressure was ok-ok. The regulator sux - if I turned on hot water and decided to add some more cold water to make it less hot.. and then changed my mind, lessening the cold water and then it suddenly got all COLD. You would imagine after 2 years I would have mastered this technique. I was anxious with every showering experience, making sure the water was just right right before I jumped in.

So now, since the shower valve is broken - it is time to replace the whole damn thing, excuse my language. But ... that would mean tearing down the wall, replacing the entire thing, then put up the wall, retiling....eeek.

My coworker Nick recommended this plumber to me (through Tawanna), Joe Brown Plumbing. He said he was very good and least expensive of all. Joe told me on the phone that he would not tear down the wall but to cut up the hole around the faucets and it would look all nice. He would provide the faucets and the works, and he gave me the price of $400.

So I hired him.

Here is the "before" pix

"while" pix

Socks was nosing around in the bathroom

The work was done from 11 30 am to 1 30 pm and the plumber was done. I was very pleased with the work!

Total cost: $398.00.

I think the price was worth it, because he provided all of the materials, especially new faucet, single level control, regulator and the works, and it kept the wall intact. Less worries of retiling! But Socks did not appear to care...

But I know I will enjoy my showering experience from now on!

Click

2006-11-30T19:58:00.000-06:00

At last, I finally own a digital camera. It was hard to decide when and which one to buy! I usually use my sidekick 2's camera so I did not see a point of buying a digital camera, though...I was beginning to wish I had one, so I could take better pixs of things to sell on Ebay and events happening in my life, such as Miss Deaf Kansas events, and especially taking pixs of Socks playing at Shawnee Mission Park.

So Black Friday was approaching last week when I was in St Paul staying at my parents', I picked this time to look thru all Black Friday advertisments for better deal and good camera. I decided on Canon SD600 - and Circuit City was the lowest competitor, selling at 199.99. Best Buy was 2nd one - at 219.99. The other stores were selling it for $250.

So on Black Friday morning, I did not want to get up at 4 am. I decided to press my luck and got up at 7 am. My mom and I went to Circuit City. It was total chaos - long lines, people waiting. I went over to the cameras section and pointed at the ad to a staff member. He said "OUT".

I was sad but knew I was pressing my luck. My mom insisted on walking over to OfficeMaxx, saying they would do price match. I said, "No way will stores price match on a Black Friday!" She said "Never know!" I growled because it was cold outside and we were wasting our time walking out of our way, few stores over, to OfficeMaxx.

OfficeMaxx was in order. Empty and destolute. Few people here and there. We went to the cameras section and saw SD600. It was priced at $250. A salesman came to us and my mom asked him if they do price match. He nodded. I gulped. He called the back to see if they had any in stock. Only 2 left. I was thrilled - immediately bought it and 1 GB memory card, for $17, also a Black Friday special, down from $34.

So now I have a nice camera and 1 GB memory to store pixs, all for $226, I indeed think it was a nice deal :)

Equal Payment Plan

2006-11-28T13:45:00.000-06:00

I am on equal payment plan for both gas and electricity for my home, and it definitely helps me to budget better. I would be paying in $10s in winter but $100s in summer. With equal payment plan, I paid $47 monthly. With gas, I paid $60 monthly.

Why did I use the past tense of "pay"? It is November, and I started the equal payment plan in November when I moved in my home. The payment adjusts annually by looking at your usage history.

Bad news - the gas increased by 55 cents but at least that's just 55 cents extra monthly, to $60.55, despite all of my efforts to use as little gas as possible. But I am relieved it does not soar up to like $70 monthly.

Now.. the good news. I could not believe my eyes. My payment plan for electricity has reduced by $14! It went down to $33 from $47. Wow. I think it was because I tried to use less A/C as possible, but am not sure. So, I am saving $14 a month. I am thrilled :)

The Tortilla Conspiracy

2006-11-16T10:57:00.000-06:00

There is a conspiracy going on. Since my brother bought me a quesadilla maker for Hanukkah last year, I have been addicted to it, which involves buying tortillas.

You know how packages usually come in even number? Like 8 count, 10 count of tortilla. Even hot dog buns too, in 12 count.

Well, you are about to be in for a surprise.

I started noticing this since last summer. I always ended up with an odd piece. I use 2 tortillas to complete my quesadilla, and then I come upon to last piece. I disregarded it as I assumed my temporary roommate at the time took a piece.

Nope. After my roommate left, I was still ending up with last piece - odd number.

Now, every time I buy new tortilla package, I always end up with odd number. 9 not 10. I got ripped off every time.

I think there is a conspiracy in food marketing. Fooling customers to buy less than they are paying for. Not only tortillas... but I noticed this in potsticker packages too. I would cook 5 potstickers at a time... but then second time, I end up with 4. That is 9 potstickers not 10 potstickers.

Someone told me I should voice my opinion to the tortilla company but I fear the....

Tortilla Hitman.

50 Most Powerful Women in Business

2006-10-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

My coworker Tawanna showed me this link.

50 Most Powerful Women in Business

On the right column there are also highest paid, rising off and "fell off".

It's neat reading about those women.

Perhaps someday I will be on the list for Most Powerful Women, who knows?

sensorineural hearing gain

2006-09-20T17:34:00.000-05:00

I went to Midwest Ear Institute, under Saint Luke's Hospital two weeks, for hearing evaluation. I discovered that I could hear with the hearing aids! That was strange because last time I used hearing aid was at 4, but it did not provide any benefit (maybe because I did not care and did not wear them cuz my family is deaf?). Also I heard NOTHING with the annoying body aids in elementary school.

And now the hearing aid works. Niceeee. I was thrilled and ordered one (Phonak Maxx 411, a powerful digital aid). I was quoted at $1250. Ouch. I just ordered one because getting two is not of any benefit to me - I just need it to be aware of my environment surroundings (i.e. people walking behind me, dogs barking from a distance, door closing). I really enjoyed wearing the demo aids during the audiological appointment - so I cannot wait to get one of my own - which would be on Oct 4.

As for the price - I gulped at the price. But when I went back there for an impression of my ear to be made, I asked if my health insurance would pay. So the front desk receptionist called.

He went to my audiologist and spoke. The audiologist looked at me and said "you lucky." Not many insurance companies provide this benefit. Mine is paying most of it! They pay first $618 then 80% the rest. Whew! Paying only $125 is no big deal. Really good news.

For those who want to understand how hearing works (and hearing aids too) - the audiologist gave me several links
www.nidcd.nih.gov
www.hearinglosseducation.com
American Academy of Audiology (type that in a search engine i.e. Google or Yahoo)

The hearing aids help me to hear, but due to the damages in my inner ear, the signals are not being sent to the brain to decipher - meaning I would not be able to understand speech. For hearing folks - if you try my "hearing" you might be hearing "mumbles" or so. It is hard to explain.

My hearing aid:
Maxx 411

Spoiled by Good Seats

2006-08-28T12:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my co-worker who sold me the KC Chiefs tickets for last Saturday's first home game (3rd preseason game, vs St. Louis Rams), I am now officially spoiled by seats in Section 100s. Btw, St.Louis Rams and KC Chiefs usually draw good number of people, due to both teams being in same state.

The seats were 8th row from the field, on the goal line. No more I am going to sit in the nosebleed section anymore. Last two games were in the nosebleed sections (300s), freezing to death. I am definitely going to shell out more bucks for good seats. Why shell out $$ for a game that you are not able to see at all but on TV?

Picture for your courtesy.

a weekend of scares.

2006-08-23T12:56:00.000-05:00

I headed over to Jackonsville, Illinois last weekend to see my good college friend marry his now wife. However, when I was stopping by a Mcdonalds' somewhere on I-70, I realized I did not have my favorite credit card (Citi Dividend - which I will quit soon, to be explained in a future post). Uh oh. Last time I used it was 7 miles ago when I filled up my gas tank.

Immediately I drove back to that gas station, and saw a red car with three teenagers hanging. Instantly I suspected they were using my card. I went up to them and asked them if they have seen a credit card around. They looked around and decided to move their car so I could see if there was a card under. Nope.

Crap. I went to park nearby and started to eat my Big Mac, thinking. Then I moved away something on my passenger seat - and saw my credit card just under the nape of the seat.

Whew.

Now second scare - I drove four friends over to a reception hall after the wedding. After enjoying ourselves too much, the place was closing at 11 pm. That was when I realized I did not have my car keys in my purse. I thought someone took it. We looked at my car to see if it was inside, or nearby. Nope. My friend Mandy thought it might be in the trunk. Great. My spare key is 300 miles away. How am I supposed to go back to work if I dont find my car keys inside?

Next morning - Sunday - I called Volkswagen Emergency Roadside Assistance service - thank goodness I packed that card into my wallet just before I went to Jaxville. I found out I was still covered by their warranty so it was all free. The guys came to jack my window and unlock the car. Then we looked inside, and sure enough my keys were inside the trunk!

Again, whew.

World's Best Car Wash My Passat Ever Had

2006-08-17T12:59:00.000-05:00

Maybe exaggerating? Basically I got a really good deal, using the www.entertainment.com book. I was looking for places to clean my car, because it was really dirty especially with dog hair. I saw that my entertainment book has 50% coupons (1 monthly) for ultimate car wash and also discounts for express detailing at TurtleWax Car Wash and Auto Appearance Center. So I went there yesterday on 135th and Black Bob.

One hour later I drove out of the Turtle center, not believing what happened. I only paid $10 for:

-Full Service Soft Car Wash
-Sealer Wax
-Air Freshner, Hand Drying, Interior Vacuuming
-Window & Mirror Cleaning
- Dash & Steering Column Wipe Down
-Polyshell Triple Shine Foam Wax
-Undercarriage Wash and Rust Inhibitor
-Pick 1 from Machine Floor Mat Cleaning, Tie Shine, Hand-Scrubbed Whitewalls or Wheel Brighter (I chose Machine floor mat cleaning)

I am impressed with the results!

www.turtlewaxcarwash.com

Sorry only Chicago and Kansas City has those centers!

MDAP pixs posted!

2006-08-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

Oh oh I *finally* found the time to upload many pictures from my trip to California on www.flickr.com. After looking at the pictures, I realize I do miss the people and the experience - but it is definitely not a thing I want to do again! Too much pressure. Enjoy the pictures, especially in their sets at http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfwyvern/sets.

rip sting

2006-08-14T17:54:00.000-05:00

I joined a gym finally! It is only $10.95 a month, which is very nice. A coworker at IBM told me about it, and sure enuff, I bumped into other IBMers at Planet Fitness. Apparently a popular workout joint for my coworkers.

I was looking for some gym clothes and bought two shirts and a shirt from Target last Saturday. That same evening, my coworker Tawanna and I went to Beauty Brands to have our eyebrows waxed. I have discovered this $3 off coupon if you bring a friend ($3 off for me, and $3 off for her).

The lady did a good job on her, then I was next. Don't you hate being "next" after watching the experience? The lady put too much wax on below my eyebrow, and I blinked, and some wax got on on upper eyelid. I panicked for a second but did not know how to tell the lady - *RIP* I swore my lid was gone. It was painful and then she ripped the paper off the other eyebrow. PAIN. PAIN. I have my eyebrows waxed before and never this! I could swear the skin was burned. I had two red welts - one on upper part of each eyelid. Gulp.

All night it was still stinging. It was still stinging next day, Sunday. I decided to go back to Beauty Brands and showed them. I was their first person they ever saw the "welts". I told them I thought the lady put unnecessary wax too below my eyebrows. The skin is toooo sensitive. The manager said neosporin helps and refunded me my money back. Then I used some of that money buying the medicine.

Oh, when I was at Target again to buy the medicine and return one gym shirt (realized I didn't need two). I spotted on the ad wall - they were on sale for $2 off (10.99 instead of 12.99). Grr. So I showed my receipt to the customer service desk and got my $2 off and returned one shirt. Right you can do that - if they get on sale in that week, you can get the difference back (maybe not 1 week but 30 days?). Anyway.

Today is 2nd day after the horrifying experience. The welts truly looked like they were burnt - now they r pale pink, with wrinkles. :(

Just Switch.

2006-08-09T12:02:00.000-05:00

I am a happy wolf. I saved $348 by switching car insurance companies!!!

Original (Liberty Mutual): $1018 a year
New (Progressive): $670 a year
Savings: $348

That is almost 35% off. Really happy.

I used www.youdecide.com through IBM which has group discount. This feature is very cool because you submit your information of what you would like in your car insurance policy. Then, it searches several companies and return their quotes in less than 24 hours. You get the email when it is finished, and you compare the quotes and their ratings. Then you call the represenative to switch, and it is set. Some paperwork to do like faxing the existing policy and application form, and notifying the former company.

NOW that is being 25.

I heard that it is good idea to "shop" around once every 2 or 3 years, as you are more likely to find someone cheaper. Not sure why that happens but that is, naturally , a good thing.

Professional Carpet Cleaning

2006-08-08T08:54:00.000-05:00

Cross this item off my list - I had professional carpet cleaning last Saturday. It was definitely worth the price - no spot nor stain anywhere! Stanley Steemers even got rid of paint stain that was left over from my painting job several months back. Last time I had carpet cleaning done was back in Nov of 2005, right before I moved in. Oh there was also a time when I rented a carpet cleaner machine from Home Depot ($25 an hour ??) which did not really work too well.

I looked at how much I paid for AmeriClean in Nov 2005 and it was $277. Hmm. And I paid $276 this time for Stanley Steemers. AmeriClean does not move the furniture for you, while Stanley Steemers do. I am really glad with the job Stanley Steemers did, and I definitely will use them again next year.

I just scheduled for furnace and a/c unit tune up this Friday, am looking forward to a cleaner home!

Upcoming: car insurance deals

car insurance

2006-08-02T09:03:00.000-05:00

Grr! I recently called Liberty Mutual about my car insurance policy. They have only reduced the policy premium by $20 because I am 25. Just $20 discount??? This is a joke! :( time to go car insurance shopping again, as I am still paying over a thousand buck for the premium ::sighs::

Odes of August

2006-08-01T13:50:00.000-05:00

Can't believe it is August already. Historically, August has been my most expensive month since I moved to Kansas. Why August? I am not sure. Here's my plan for month of August:

1 - yearly car insurance payout
2 - gym membership
3 - carpet cleaning
4 - furnace/AC maintenance
5 - new pc

Car insurance: I always pay once a year (unless I'm crippled of some financially reason, thankfully that has never happened). This is a NEED. Hopefully less than $1000, since I just became 25.

Gym membership: I am looking around for a gym to join ::shocked:: nah. Since I moved into my condo, I was using the trails pretty alot, but now it is under Kansas' most major construction project to date, I am leery of going around the orange fences and cones to get on the trails. Let alone bring a bike. I go for convienence, unfortunately. I am thinking of this community center that is on 119th and Nall that goes under $300 a year. Is this a need or want? Hmm... maybe in WANT category.

Carpet cleaning: Definitely a NEED category. Spots are all over and building, since I got a dog, and going thru winters and constructions indoors. This can go for $300 or so.

Furnace/AC maintenance: Again, a NEED category. It is a homeowner's duty to have her HVAC unit maintained yearly. Last time I had my furnace cleaned? March 05. AC ? No clue. Eeps. About time I have it done now. I think this is under $100 or so, for both units.

New PC: Not sure if it's in NEED or WANT category. My PC is 6 years old, and uber slow. Sure I can upgrade but that will take alot of parts to do that, ugh (read: convienence). Also it doesn't fit in the aesthenics category in my office lounge - ugly bulky monitor. I am thinking of going back to school for masters, so this will be useful. Hmm.... maybe semi-need, semi-want category. Think it will be $700 or less. Right now it is "back to school" blowout, so companies are shoving PCs out in super low prices.

Where am I going to find all of that money? Well, I got that scholarship from winning the Miss Deaf Kansas pageant, so for sure it will help. I have not made any major purchases since that couch I bought last fall (at least that's what I can think of), so it is duty to spend the money.

Heading to tax-free state for the weekend

2006-07-20T15:10:00.000-05:00

Hey fellow readers, Im heading up to MN for the weekend - yep you read the subject line - tax-free state! Well.... only for clothes and food!

Which means... I am going to shop, shop and shop!

Meanwhile enjoy reading this article provided by Brian, my coworker - this is on IBM stocks

CNN Money article on IBM stocks

Another one by my friend Nathan - on finances blogs

MSN article on growth of finances blogging

investopedia

2006-07-14T17:22:00.000-05:00

Investopedia.com - any good ? I haven't used it yet. At first glance it seems to have too much junk on the front page.

How many credit cards should you have?

2006-07-12T20:18:00.000-05:00

It depends on how you use the cards. Check this out.

I already posted a similiar blog entry on this -

stupid-move-cc-advices.html

I still have the same cards since that entry in March. I do still need to cancel that Sears card, and perhaps that Nebraska Furniture Mart card, as I do not think I will be buying any big item there.

I was close to cancelling the NY&Company card, but then I got more discounts if I use my card certain days of the year, and in the mail also...it is still my favorite clothing store, and I do not have any other store card as such, so I should be OK :)

And oh yeah - getting that CitiProfessional card was definitely helpful for me, cuz as a young adult in the working world, I almost always eat out all the time, so it is nice to get some money back that way. (BTW CitiDividend is having a special - 5% back rebate for restaurant outings til September, so I am currently using that card instead for restaurants, until then)

The age of 25

2006-07-11T13:26:00.000-05:00

I turned 25 last Saturday! I spent most of the day sleeping, to recuperate from the pageant boot camp experience. Then Seth took me to Dave and Busters to meet up with my 2 good friends and we enjoyed our times there. It was nice seeing fireworks from the roof top. There was a T-Bones game nearby, and they tend to have firework shows after the games.

And what else I am looking forward to - of course, spending birthday money :-D Let's splurgeeeee. Now, do not tell me to invest the money or something - have enuff of that mumbo jumbo for now ;)

facing gas after a 2 week break

2006-07-10T17:40:00.000-05:00

Don't you hate it when you visit California for 2 weeks and snicker at their ridiciously high prices, but gulp when you come back to Kansas and discover the gas prices to be equally high? :(

pps

2006-07-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

I am suffering from post-pageant syndrome. From June 23 to July 4 I was gone to California to compete in the Miss Deaf America pageant. It is unbelievably hard to get back to the mundane world, after being brainwashed by the pageant world, especially coming back to work and being not motivated.

Not only that but I was not keeping track of my finances, yet I put my faith in the automated billing system and automated transfers (401k, investments, savings, bills) and I glanced at my USBank account (my main account) online to make sure things are OK when I got back from Palm Desert. Thank goodness for technology. I also saved all receipts over last 2 or 3 weeks, and I must straighten them out eventually and make sure nothing is a-missing.

Pageant result? I am thrilled to inform you that I made it to the top 6, which meant I got to perform my platform, talent and show off my evening gown to the audience of 2,000. Also that dreaded stage interview. I did not place 1st, which gave me a sigh of relief, because it would be hard on me and my dog to balance NAD commitment and work commitment. But I am proud to say that I did give all of my best. Chelsea, who is just crowned new Miss Deaf America, does deserve the crown! Her smile is contagious and she is a very positive brilliant girl. So please stop asking me if the competition is rigged.

My chaperone Angela took over 300 pictures, and once I get them, I will keep you posted where to view them. Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures taken from Sidekick 2.

I could not have asked for a better chaperone! We worked together very well, without producing any cat fight :) I am very grateful for her and am indebted to her.

Dogsitting

2006-06-07T12:20:00.000-05:00

It's Teddy! A pomeranian and blue heeler mix by accident, but most adorable furball ever to grace my home. He is only 6 months old, and so full of puppy energy. He was an invited guest at my home for a night.
Man, Socks and Teddy really wore each other! Not only that but we also went to the dog park for two hours.

Fun with dogs - priceless.

FREE LAND in Kansas

2006-06-02T17:56:00.000-05:00

My coworker Hemant pointed this out to me. Free land in Kansas.

Free Land

It is an incentive to encourage people to move into the rural cities and help the cities to grow economically.

"Several communities in Kansas are offering free land and other incentives. Our goal is to help our rural areas sustain and grow economically. We welcome you to take a look at the various communities offering incentives. Click on the City name and you will be redirected to their webpage. Each community’s incentives are unique and offered by local government or development groups. "

I looked at the State map. Those cities are in middle of nowhere, except for maybe a couple of cities near I-35 and I-70 that are located near big cities like Manhattan, Salina and Topeka. But ehh... not me. I am a city gal. This might sound nice if you want to escape from the stress...

Better hurry! Only 8 lots left in Minneapolis, KS!

WAL MART

2006-06-02T13:18:00.000-05:00

Growing up in Minnesota, I never saw a Walmart until I was around 12 years old. I did not like going to that store. I remembered my mom being so excited when a nearby Walmart opened. I was loyal to my Target stores. There were Target stores all over - its Headquarter is in Minneapolis, so that explains. I looked down at Walmart.

But wait. I entered College and started to realize the value of money and cheapness. There was a Walmart across the block from my apartment. It became my necessarity. Prices were cheaper than other stores'. But still I refuse to be caught wearing any clothings from Walmart.

Now, I am living in Kansas, out on my own - I noticed the Walmart Neighborhood Market - the food store. I entered it recently, and gulped. It beat or matches the competitors' prices. When you enter the front retrieving area, on your left, are adverstiments plastered all over the wall... from Hyvees, Price Choppers, Dillons. That convinces me that Walmart is cheaper. But be careful. Do not let Walmart fool you - it may tell you it is cheaper than other stores, but some products are expensiver.

Anyway back to the point. Yesterday I went to Walmart Super Store to make a copy of my key (was only .99 FYI). I spotted the women's clothing dept. I gasped. They looked so much better. Even I liked some of their swiming suit selections and they were like 10 bucks a piece. The t shirts were so cool. I was caught buying one.

To be frugal - I just have to accept Walmart as one of the choices on my shopping list. It is sad - they have child labor practices, and have factories in under developed countries, among the bad things, but yet we are drawn to Walmart - because its very afforable.

So Walmart it is.

My Flooring Project: Completed at Last!

2006-05-26T09:34:00.000-05:00

Some of the readers might be familiar with my flooring project. For those who are not familiar with it, last March was when I decided to replace some of my flooring that my baby decided to destroy. Did some research. I chose Home Depot, as stated in this post. Bathroom flooring plan changed due to this rot.

And yes, everything changed. Who would have thunk since March things kept changing due to "unforeseen circumstances" (my currently most hated word)? Rot was found in the bathroom subfloor, and my other floors were too "bouncy", thus ceramic tiles would not be feasible, unless I pay more to replace subfloor. And do I want to replace the subfloor? Nah.

So I went with pergo.

Waiting, and waiting for new floor to be replaced, especially since March. Socks has gotten tired of it as I am, in this picture below. See the pergo materials. Luckily Socks is being patient.

Then the day came. May 25, 2006. We waited and waited until 3 pm and finally the install guys came.

4 pm. Wow those guys were fast.

Well nevermind. It was 9 pm when the guys finally left! Enjoy the results below!

I discovered that the pergo materials are practically twice or thrice the price of ceramic tiling materials, but labor is practically 1/3 the cost of ceramic tiles. So basically, they both cost the same. I just saved some hundreds because I decided to do the bathroom floor myself with help of my coworker.

After three months the end result is: priceless.

network helps u save money

2006-05-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

You know what's awesome? Having a friend who works at a store. Of course, that means discount :-D

From this entertainment book that I bought a while ago, it gives me $5 off for mininum of $20 purchase at Wild Oats (health/organic food store). And my friend works at Wild Oats. Out of blue, he loaned me his 20% employee discount yesterday at the same time I used my $5 rebate coupon. I also used my citicard for 5% rebate for every food,gas and drug purchase. I was in pure heaven. :)

A Frugal Break

2006-05-21T15:43:00.000-05:00

Been a while since I posted about something frugal! I needed a break from my life so badly (work and personal wise) so I decided to drop everything and drive down to Wichita with my buddy for its river festival. Wichita is around 3 hours drive from KC, and it is a new environment with new people, so definitely a nice trip from my life in KC. We only spent cash on 1 tank of gas, food, and $5 button. What we got: food, entertainment, and relaxing times!

I decided to join the 2 mile run/walk race there and it was a very nice execrise (badly needed). Among with over 10 miles of walking in that weekend, I came back home being very sore.

And I get to see Nick Lachey and REO Speedwagon sing for only $5 :-D frugal indeed.

I probably spent around $80 or less for the weekend, including petsitting for my dog Socks over the weekend, very good deal.

Primerica this Thursday

2006-05-15T12:02:00.000-05:00

PRIMERICA FINANCIAL SERVICES

We Want To Help You And Your Family
Have A Better Financial Future!!!

You are invited to attend a

FREE MONEY MANAGEMENT SEMINAR

Primerica Financial Services educates consumers about money management. We believe that it's getting tougher every day to decide where to put your money to make it work more effectively for you. This seminar is designed to help you find the right answers.

May 18, 7:00 p.m. at Olathe Club for the Deaf

Our Seminar Will Cover:

Asset Management: A savings plan that makes sense.
Debt Management: Lower your monthly cash outlay.
Protection Management: Cut your insurance costs.

Limited Seating.
Please register in advance by email: mshowalter@sbcglobal.net

If unable to attend we offer a FREE appointment for a financial needs analysis! Please e-mail Stephen Hause at byhisgrace777@sbcglobal.net and inform him that you saw this here

Securities Offered By:
PFS Investments Inc.
Home Office: 3120 Breckinridge Blvd.
Duluth, Georgia 30199

Local Office: 8585 College Blvd, 913-526-0435

Onboard, Primerica!

2006-05-11T12:24:00.000-05:00

This morning I got an email from Primerica. I got my solution number! "Congratulations and welcome aboard with Primerica!"

::squeaks::

I have two reasons for joining a financial company.

1) to educate people on personal finances
2) to explore a future career move

Opportunity knocked, and I opened the door :)

Another mistake: get the police

2006-05-11T12:22:00.000-05:00

Previous post I talked about my mistake not to be repeated. Irony has it that I did not call the police for both accidents. And the fact I did not call for this most recent accident is hurting me. The other driver lied to his insurance company and said I HIT him instead. Oh what a load of ....

A mistake not to be repeated

2006-05-10T12:56:00.000-05:00

Last October my car was hit by a car backing out of its parking spot in our condominium/apartment community. The lady did not look back. And she seemed to be in a hurry, with a load of kids in the back seats, maybe going to drop them off at their schools. And she asked me to call her with the estimate and she would pay in cash.

If that happens to you - don't accept cash. Something is fishy.

So I asked for her insurance information and she did not get mine.

Here was the mistake I did - I called my own insurance carrier and they paid for all of the damages (minus $500 deductible that I paid out of my pocket) while contacting the lady's insurance carrier. So I ended up waiting weeks to get my $500 deductible back (and the cost of a rental car).

I should leave my insurance carrier out of this picture. I should call the opposing party's carrier, so I would not have to pay anything out of my pocket and then wait to get the money back.

And guess what? I got hit again last night, same area, different driver. Same method - he backed up and hit me.

And I learnt my mistake. I called his insurance carrier. Not mine.

Wished I learnt this in driver ed class - or did I but forgot the information? Oh well. A lesson be learnt.

PG gives free samples

2006-05-05T09:43:00.000-05:00

Im getting crazy here. I got an email from PG, saying they got samples on their website.

http://www.pg.com/en_US/products/fsci/offers_promotions.jhtml#pb

I just signed up for Swiffer Duster, Venus razor, Heads n Shoulder, and many more. Saves my trip to the store!

Many posts ago, I mentioned that it is not wise to go straight to the store and buy items without research. If you have an item in mind - check that website out and look for coupons. There are tons of coupons, and even a free sample. It's all free.

Flip the House

2006-05-04T12:25:00.000-05:00

Last night I had a nice dinner with the owner of sComm (creator of "UbiDuo") in Independence, MO. We got to talk about personal finances, as I found out it was his interest also. He mentioned buying run-down homes, renovating, and selling for profit. He has gotten big profit from this. I have heard of some people doing this. But, I do not like renovating, how could I do this? He said he hires a crew of workers to do it for him. Hmmm.

He mentioned "Flip the House", a show where a group of people do the same thing. Looks very interesting. If you want to get rich, invest in real estate :) Looks like it requires dedication and time. And alot of work. Sounds perfect for a person who loves to renovate a house.

::checks the list - needs to marry a guy who loves to renovate the house::

Bathroom Floor Project

2006-05-02T11:32:00.000-05:00

Long story short, Home Depot refused to do my bathroom floor due to the rot found under the vinyl flooring.

My coworker (SAINT!) came over and helped to remove the entire floor(s) down to the subfloor. You can see the mildew-stained corner on the lower left. Eww.

Sprayed mildew/mold killer on the bad area and installed a new particle board.

Vinyl tile time...

And..

Tada!

Price: Approx. $100

Reminder: Primerica

2006-04-27T08:03:00.000-05:00

Whoo, I got my $100 Target Gift card in the mail! How? Check this out. :-D

Also... for the deaf people living in KC metro, do not forget as tonite is the Primerica presentation taking place..

Primerica
Thursday, April 27
7:00 pm
Olathe Club for the Deaf
221 South Chestnut Street

Fusewireless SUCKS

2006-04-25T09:15:00.000-05:00

I am writing to inform every reader not to buy anything from Fuse Wireless. They sux. Royally. Big time.

I was comparing prices for Sidekick II last May of 2005 and I would have gone with DeafBuy.com if not for FuseWireless' offer for "free Sidekick II after rebates". They did not show me the rebates - a warning sign. After I purchased the Sidekick II, they showed me the rebates. And they expired like few days before.

After thousands of emails to Fuse, I got sucky customer support with repetitive explanations from my side that I got ripped off. They told me to send out those two rebates anyway. And they got rejected. DUH. Then the latest - they told me the rebate company went bankrupt and they would pay my rebate to me. I even threatened to contact BBB. Fuse has NO phone number, NO mailing address, or anything. Only BBBonline has that information. It is a year ago. And guess what I got in the email today? An ad from FuseWireless. WHAT A JOKE.

"Remember…. You can always count on Fuse Wireless for the lowest prices on the hottest pagers. And don’t forget… you can shop with confidence on our 100% secure website.

You must Hurry! We only have a very few Sidekick II’s left at this low price. Don’t miss your chance!

P.S. Don’t be tricked by other companies that charge you a high upfront cost and make you mail in two or three confusing rebates. We have the lowest upfront cost around. Log onto www.fusewireless.com today and get yours!"

Wow. What BS. "Dont be tricked by other companies..." I am already tricked by FuseWireless with three rebates and I never got anything in return at all (except for one but it was thru T-Mobile, very reputable company).

2006 New Venture competition at UMKC

2006-04-24T12:09:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday morning at 8 am, I showed up at Kaufmann Conference Center in a business suit. It is located in the heart of Kansas City, a very beautiful place. It is near the Plaza, and homes to rich owners. UMKC (University of Missouri- Kansas City) is doing this annual competition for its MBA students - working with new ventures and trying to convince the judges to invest into them.

sComm, the company that created UbiDuo, applied, and its product UbiDuo was chosen by one MBA team. I was asked by sComm to go to the competition and help out with their booth by using UbiDuo with the interested parties.

It was a very interesting experience. I felt like I was in "The Apprentice" where the teams try to compete against each other. I saw other new ventures - like Hallmark's song cards, non-invasive diabetic analysis (not sure how to spell that one correct; meaning you do not use needle to check your sugar level), and a substance that replaces transfat.

I felt like a salesperson, talking to numerous judges one by one thru the UbiDuo, answering, and convincing them to choose us. Another deaf man was there also, on one side. I was on the other side.

The whole point of this is networking. I got to meet more people, who are well-known in the community - investors, business owners, and millionaires. This reminds me of Erin Casler's article in latest NADmag, which was about networking. She spoke about networking through the "Smithies". She graduated from Smith College, and she still networks with Smithies all over, even if they do not know each other. It was like the 'old boys network', but for women.

Networking is very important thing to advance from where you are today, either career-wise or personally. In order to climb the ladder, you get to meet more people who might help you to climb. Same thing for advocating. If you know the people "on the inside", you might be able to get your support for a bill to be passed (or to fail).

April: Bad Budgetting Month for Food

2006-04-21T09:38:00.000-05:00

*gulp* I checked my MoneyClip 2.0 for my budget so far for the month of April on food. 95% has been spent on restaurants since April 1 :( and only mere 5% on groceries.

What is happening to me??

In the several previous months, I have successfully suppressed the restaurants by 65% (65% groceries, 35% restaurants, with $200 limit monthly). And now April, out of blue, restaurant spending is 95%.

I suspect it is because of spring in the air. Being out all the time, eating out. And not in mood to shop for food. I am also having my tiles installed on Tuesday, and my refrigerator will be disconnected (I think) for 2 days, so I am trying to get my refrigerator as empty as possible. Is that an excuse for myself? Maybe.

And, if you are interested - Wild Oats is having 25% off organic produce sale, ending April 23. That's going to be the same price as regular food that non-organic people buy at food stores such as Hen House, Dillards, or Price Chopper, but more healthy!

Shop away ...

At-Home Consulting

2006-04-19T13:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday a representative from Primerica contacted me to schedule a meeting. Yay! I am going to get my finances reviewed and a free consultation. He will come over my home this Friday at 7 pm. Also I am hoping to get involved with their presentation being taken place at Olathe Deaf Club next Thursday, as it is my desire to help the deaf community.

Primerica coming to YOU at Olathe Deaf Club

2006-04-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

Primerica
Thursday, April 27
7:00 pm
Olathe Club for the Deaf
221 South Chestnut Street

Primerica (www.primerica.com) is presenting about financial management. Come and learn what it can do for you. Their consultation service is free and they are very motivated to talk to deaf people! Do not miss!

Shoes Galore!

2006-04-17T12:15:00.000-05:00

You can disown me as the Queen of Frugality. ::whimpers::

In 2 weekends span... I have bought seven pairs of shoes.... SEVEN.

And after 8 hours of shopping for shoes last Saturday with my chaperone Angela, I have became disconnected with the reality of buying shoes. And this newfound addiction grew on me - buy buy more shoes more shoes. Wow.

Of course there is a justification :) those shoes are for the NAD pageant this summer. Angela and I will be in California for 12 days, under scrunity and the spotlight. And I only had those umm sneakers, college style pairs.. "teenager"-style shoes. So I guess I was due for a long haul though.

Those shoes are for cocktail wear, evening dress wear, sun dress wear, and et cetera, with summer in mind (translation: sandals). And I know most of them I will wear again (except for the formal evening dress wear - when will I wear an evening dress again?)

Shoes shoes. I am trying to avoid being Carrie from Sex and the City which she would buy $300+ for a pair. Out of those 7 shoes, the lowest price was $20 and the highest was $50. The average was $30, so my frugality did come into play :). I think $30 for a pair is very reasonable.

26 issues of Forbes for $3. No Kidding.

2006-04-14T16:35:00.000-05:00

I just purchased a subscription for 26 issues of Forbes for $3!!! It is a good financial magazine and well known.

I found this information thru www.mymoneyblog.com.

Or you can go to http://www.magazinepricesearch.com/ and look for cheapest magazines.

No catch. Just make sure you notify them you want to stop the subscription right before it ends or it will automatically renew you. More gems here...like

Cosmopolitan $11.25 for 13 issues
Glamour $5.40 for 12 issues!!!

Im officially in heaven. It is so terribly tempting to buy many subscriptions but I am sticking to Forbes. For now. I think. Although Kiplinger's Personal Finance subscription is tempting... $4 for 36 issues...I have 1 issue and it is pretty good.

Gandhi knows his finances

2006-04-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

"As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, you should keep it. If you were to give it up in a mood of self-sacrifice or out of a stern sense of duty, you would continue to want it back, and that unsatisfied want would make trouble for you. Only give up a thing when you want some other condition so much that the thing no longer has any attraction for you, or when it seems to interfere with that which is more greatly desired."-- Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi has the answer to personal finances.

Points he made:

Don't force yourself to give up things just because you should, because it'll hurt more than it'll help.

Identify your priorities and goals, and use them to make decisions about what's worth spending on.

Figure out what things genuinely bring you "inner help and comfort."

Found this at Gandhi on budgeting check there for the author's insights.

highway robbery.

2006-04-11T17:26:00.000-05:00

This guy has a 21% interest for his car loan?!

My coworker Brian showed me this. First thing I said was whoa.

http://www.bankrate.com/msn/news/debt/20060407a1.asp

If he does not have very bad credit, then this is highway robbery.

People, when you are looking for a specific loan, shop around and compare rates and fees. Or you will be robbed.

Anyway, this Q&A article is very good one. There are some loan companies that will secretly add "pre payment penalty" to the loan - if you try to pay the loan off early, you get penalized (paying more). Yes, like credit cards, loans can be evil, my friend.

And, paying a bit more toward your loan always helps alot because it reduces the interest paying in long term.

"In fact, to encourage you, let's take a look at what an additional $100 payment per month would look like: You would save $3,010.37 in interest payments and pay off your loan 17 months earlier. You should send two separate checks to your creditor and mark the extra $50 check as an additional principal payment so there is no confusion as to what you are paying. "

$3,010.37 is indeed alot to save if you only make an extra $100 monthly. Or even extra $50 instead, although the money you save will be lower but nevertheless significant.

And, please, don't get a 21% interest loan. I'm sure there's other ways to get a car loan even if you have incredulously bad credit. I think. Or do not get a car.

Though, getting out a loan on a car is not a good thing, though many Americans, including myself, are doing it. Most of the time, we have no choice but to take out a loan on the car. Why is this a bad thing? All cars are depreciating assets. You are paying interest for something that depreciates in value. That is a total waste of money.

Getting out a loan on a house is fine, because often, the house will increase in value, which the car will not. And you sell the house, and you get all of the money back, plus profit, to offset the loss you were paying in interest (if your house is doing well, that is).

You cannot sell the car and get the money back to cover up for the loss in interest payments. That is why some of people do not consider cars as assets, because they are always losing their values. I don't consider my car as an asset but there is nothing wrong with considering your car as part of your assets.

The best way to buy a car, of course, is to pay full in front. Some people I know are saving so they can buy their cars in full without a loan. That is a smart thing to do, because that way you do not pay extra toward a depreciating asset. I hope I can do that for my next car.

Most expensive "item" in my home

2006-04-10T12:11:00.000-05:00

Although I couldnt call Socks an item. He is part of my family. He turns 2 today!

There are some things that are priceless. Having a pet is one of them (you might say a child, but please do not mention it to me, eew).

I got him at Wayside Waifs animal shelter in KC,MO in February of 2005, so it has been a bit more than a year since I owned Socks.

Since I started budgetting in July 2005, so my data is only accurate from 7/1/2005 to now. I have paid a total of $2112.00 on him. That doesn't count February 2005 to June 2005, which included the $100 fee of getting him, leashes, food, vet shots, toys. I estimate $3000.

So - do not get a dog if you think you cannot afford it, or if your job is instable. They are priceless to us, yet expensive, to satisfy them.

Oh how could I forget the tile work. That is around $1900. $1900 + $3000 = ~$5000. Why am I including the tile installation in the pet cost, you ask. It was due to Socks' anxiety in Spring 2005 that destroyed the kitchen and hallway flooring. He also ate numerous of other items (blackberry recharger being one of them).

I hope that is a wake up call for those who are considering a dog. Be prepared for huge financial loss.

Oh who can resist this dog ? Happy birthday, Socks!

Credit cards - good or evil

2006-04-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

Wowow look at the stats

$1.7 trillion Total consumer credit.
$8,562 Credit card debt carried by the average American.
$50 billion Total finance charges Americans paid in 2001.
$1.6 billion Market capitalization of AT&T -- the entire corporation.
78% Percent of U.S. households deemed "credit worthy" by the lending industry.
1.3 million Number of credit card holders declaring bankruptcy last year.

As usual.. credit cards are evil. Yet they are good - they let you to borrow free for 30 days.

1. Convenience -- How much cash can your wallet hold?
2. Budgeting Technology -- Lenders track spending for you
3. Reputation Boosting -- Can build credit worthiness
4. The Float -- You can borrow free for 30 days
5. Openness to Negotiations -- Your business is wanted, ask away
6. Corporate Might -- Can get help with retail disputes
7. Cops and Robbers -- Protects your cash from fraud

well, *gasps* when are ever credit cards revered as goodness?

"Despite the lending industry's less-than-centered ways, credit cards can be a tool for good in the hands of a savvy consumer." Yep. They are good only if you are a savvy wolf... I mean customer.

Why they are pure evil:

1. Applying for a Mortgage? We'll Bump Up Your APR.
2. Beware Two-Cycle Billing
3. Prepare to Pay More
4. Overseas Rip-Offs
5. If You Don't Use Our Card, We'll Punish You

Resources above and above are ripped off from http://money.aol.com/creditdebt/cards/spotlight. Good information on there. Credit cards are so easy to abuse. Please be careful and read the fine lines. They are not free cash. Some companies charge you for NOT using them. Or increasing your APR if your card is inactive for a certain period of time.

Home Depot is the Winner!

2006-04-05T09:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday after work I went to Home Depot. The quote was 2148.10 pre tax (around $34 in taxes), adding up to $2182.10. I picked out the grout color, and I told the guy I wanted to go ahead and purchase the order for tile installation. Home Depot has this 10% off installation sale ending April 19, so the guy took 10% off my quote. I gave him my 10% coupon that I got from online. He said that only could be taken off materials not labor. I said sure thats fine with me. That saved me extra $48.

Final price after ~18.99% discount: $1920.10.

But wait. My Citi Dividend card is doing this special ending May 31 - giving me 5% off any home improvement purchases. So I charged the amount of the quote on my CitiDividend card.

$1920.10 x .95 = $1824.10

Final price: $1824.10
Saved: $324.00

Hooray! Well yes it is cheaper ($350) to do the tiling myself. If I am going to have a professional installing, at least I will go for the best deal possible.

For those who are interested in my tile pick, it is the Niagara Terra ceramic tile. I think it looks close to this, if not identical.

state the obvious would ya...

2006-04-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

Local contractor: $3093.47 (without tiles and grout)

Lowes: $2589.66 ( without trim moulding, grout, tiles)

Home Depot: ~$2300 (without removal of tiles for foyer)

I decided not to do the tiling for the foyer (front door entry) as my dad said he could do it. The reason for this is that Home Depot refused to remove the tiles because they are mud based (??). So the price should go down by around $300 or so.

Which store/contractor am I going with for my tiling project? Ain't it so obvious....

My patio is pwetty

2006-04-01T21:02:00.000-06:00

I was browsing thru the Bed Bath Beyond ad that came in mail a while ago and saw this patio set that I liked. The ad came with $5 coupon (do not throw them away - give them to me hehe). I also have bunch of 20% off coupons.

What I did:
Buy 2 chairs ($30 each, $60 total)
Buy 2 chair pads ($10 each, $20 total)
Buy 1 table ($20)
------------------------
Total: $100

I used $5 on one chair pad. ($100 - $5 = $95)
I used one 20% coupon on each chair. ($95 - $12 = $83)
I got $5 off the table cuz it was opened and it was last one in stock ($83 - $5 = $78)
I used $5 off $15 purchare or more from CitiBank ad ($78 - $5 = $73)
I used my Citi Dividend card which gives 5% return on home purchases ($73 - $3.65 = $69.35)
--------------------
Original total: $100.00
Total actual paid: $69.35
---------
I saved: $30.65

And what did I get? A pwetty patio :)

Five top websites for printable coupon - AOL

2006-03-31T11:52:00.000-06:00

According to AOL, here's the top five websites that provide printable coupons:

The Top Five Coupon Sites ComScore Networks ranks the Internet's most popular sites for penny-saving promotions. Here's our two cents on the five most-visited sites from the past year:

1. CoolSavings.com - It's colorful, well organized, and has good sorting functions. And who doesn't love a mascot piggy bank in cool shades? An extensive registration, however, means consumers who don't want to provide their home address may want to look elsewhere.

2. Eversave.com - Presentation is geared for the mature shopper; good category breakdown, but you can expect to do a little sifting through other offers to find the actual coupons.

3. Coupons.com - Browsing is fun here, especially when you stop to watch the video coupons. But those without a newer operating system to support the special Coupon Printer are out of luck.

4. CouponMountain.com - Efficient site for the efficient shopper; all specialized searches have clear links right on the homepage.

5. Valpak.com - Name sound familiar? These guys have been making traditional mailbox deliveries for years. ValPak does include printable coupons, and offers deals for restaurants and entertainment along with consumer goods.

Reason to check out coupons online:
'Online coupons can be far more accurate than newspaper coupons, Boal adds, because merchants can change offers in real time. "In the offline world, printing and distribution takes months and months of scheduling," he says. "In the online world, they can change coupons in five minutes."'

I tend to go to a certain vendor's site and search for coupons also (example: Palm Beach Tanning Salon allowed me to print a coupon for 2 free sunless tannings). I also use www.cairo.com for local deals.

Financial article for Married People

2006-03-29T15:28:00.000-06:00

Well, since it is "marriage theme" week, for married couples out there who are having issues with finances, here's the article for you.

"Marriage and Money: Get It Right"

"NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - Some economists argue that marriage makes financial sense precisely because it allows each partner to specialize in what he or she does best. But you can get into trouble if you use Mars and Venus notions as an excuse not to talk about what's up with the money."

I remembered discussing this with a friend about the idea of marriage "boosting" one's finances.

Funny advice for "him:

· Use plain English. Do you pepper money discussions with talk of market cycles and P/E ratios? Jargon, and the whole investing-as-sport mentality that goes with it, is a conversation killer for many women. When you talk about money, just talk; don't show off. Focus first on what you both hope to accomplish, only then on how a specific investment will help get you there, says financial planner Mary Claire Allvine.

That is, use plain english if your wife is dumb.

· Get the facts. Money is a hugely emotional topic. (Duh.) Defuse it by making sure you both know what's going on with your debt, assets and income. You can debate through eternity who flashes the plastic with more reckless abandon. How best to pay off a specific credit-card balance given your monthly income and expenses is a question you can actually resolve.

Finances do affect the marriage in a big way if both sides have different ideas of managing finances. Finances shouldn't be a taboo in the marriage. Share your feelings and discuss.

Hmm. This article seems to assume that the wife knows nothing and is passive in the financial relationships. Married women out there, step up and know your finances! After all, you are going to live longer than your husbands and you do not want to tap on your grandson's shoulder asking him to help to balance your checkbook that is 6 months behind.

Anyway, if you think your money fights are serious, check this out.

Free Almay Moisturizing Lotion - FULL SIZE

2006-03-28T08:56:00.000-06:00

Get this free, while supplies last from:

Almay Offer

Use any 2 of the following UPC Codes:

00309973947009 00309977345023 00309976609034 00309976837055 00030997688202 00309971318054

Enjoy!

Marriage has changed.

2006-03-27T17:54:00.000-06:00

This is a CHAMP article (for hearing readers - CHAMP means awesome, wow hehe). Thanks to Nake (www.ke5ter.com) who has shown me this article, thinking of me.

You need to register to view this - but it is fast and no biggie.

"Marriage is for White People"
By Joy Jones
Sunday, March 26, 2006; Page B01

Excerpts that caught my attention:

"A woman who takes that step is bold and brave," one young single mother told me. "Women don't want to marry because they don't want to lose their freedom."

Right. :-D

"Among African Americans, the desire for marriage seems to have a different trajectory for women and men. My observation is that black women in their twenties and early thirties want to marry and commit at a time when black men their age are more likely to enjoy playing the field. As the woman realizes that a good marriage may not be as possible or sustainable as she would like, her focus turns to having a baby, or possibly improving her job status, perhaps by returning to school or investing more energy in her career."

This can be applied to any race. As I am white, and I do agree with her observation by applying it to me.

"As men mature, and begin to recognize the benefits of having a roost and roots (and to feel the consequences of their risky bachelor behavior), they are more willing to marry and settle down. By this time, however, many of their female peers are satisfied with the lives they have constructed and are less likely to settle for marriage to a man who doesn't bring much to the table."

Damn right.

"In other words, for the circumspect black woman, marriage may not be a business deal that offers sufficient return on investment."

So, marriage is no longer an institution where women turn to for financial support and profits. Do not get married :-D unless you find a companion that you swear by and live together forever though health, sickness, etc to death.

Meanwhile, I shall enjoy dating and my independence.

Free meal at Noodles n Company

2006-03-27T10:50:00.000-06:00

No catch. Just type out ur name, email and birth date.

http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/ndls/lp/join/join.asp

You get a coupon for free entree at Noodles n Company thru email in approx 1 day. Plus another one for ur birthday.

Do it.

It's unofficial - Lowes sucks.

2006-03-26T11:52:00.000-06:00

Back to my flooring project. A guy from Lowes stopped by this week to do measurement. Mind ya, I had to shell out $30 for Lowes to do an estimate. The guy looked nervous and went ahead and measured rooms without confirming with me. Yes, the rooms he did were correct, though. I did not tell him that I wanted the front door entry to be a bit wider.

Know what he did? He went to the kitchen, and measured 1 wall and its adjunct wall, and tada it was like 12 x 5. Um. There are an oven, a refrigerator, and a dishwasher that will need tiling too but he measured just the room itself, wall to wall. He did not discount the cabinets which take up maybe 15% of the room. Idiot. He did the same thing with the hallway and bathroom. The cabinets occupy 30% of the room. I was suspicious. Contractors will determine the cost by multiplying labor by the square feet. I am not going to pay for labor on areas that would not have tiling. I asked him how many square feet did he get. He said 252. I was like hell no. I told him I came up with 152 sq ft myself.

Doh. He did re-calculating and came up with 222 sq ft. Again, I mentioned the cabinets and such. He said that generally there tend to be 10 to 20% waste included. Ummm ok.

Guess what was their estimate? $2589.66. And that does not include the tiles, trim molding and grout. So that would end close to $3000. And I got this sloppy measurement which I PAID.

Screw Lowes.

The Home Depot guy came over yesterday morning. First thing when I opened the door, he greeted me by signing "Home", and spelling "Depot". I was instantly impressed. He looked cute - dorky cute type. Shaggy hair, dark and curly. He was very through and asked me which rooms, and asked me if I wanted it to be wider or narrower. I was pleased. He had this electronic "laptop" which he wrote on to communicate with me, and to put down information on measurement and others. He asked me if the refrigerator had an ice maker. Notice: Lowes did not ask that. I said no. (Yes it does but it is not hooked up. If it is, it means more money to move). He took his time, measuring every inch and inch, writing on his "laptop". (Lowes took just 10 minutes). Then he showed me his diagram of my flooring. Wow. I was stunned. It was very exact, down to the doors, nooks, and such. He had me to sign it, confirming it was correct. That is it. I am impressed. The Lowes guy just wrote down on his paper, the numbers and a sloppy diagram. Home Depot has far more advanced technology and the guy that came out was very polite and accurate.

Home Depot rocks. Maybe it won't rock when I find out the quote from them on Monday...eeps.

A local contractor (who signs) will come out this Thursday to do an estimate. I heard many positive remarks about him, although I heard one con - he was a little expensive. Let's see.

Win Ben Stein's Money

2006-03-21T16:48:00.000-06:00

Heard of that tv show, "Win Ben Stein's Money"? I think I saw it once but it was not captioned. Darn. Ben Stein seems like an intelligent guy who know what he is talking about. My coworker Brian showed me his website full of his writings, especially on money. Fresh and smart perspective, especially the one on Walmart.

http://www.benstein.com/writing.html

Home project updated

2006-03-20T12:08:00.000-06:00

I have decided not to tile my dining room. My dad brought up a good point over the weekend- I am not going to live in this condo for a long time, so it is not worth my time and money to replace the dining room, as the carpeting is still good. So I have decided to just replace the flooring in the kitchen, hallway, bathroom and the foyer. The bathroom's floor is not damaged, but I desist the look of its ugly vinyl flooring. Kitchen and Hall definitely need to be replaced, thanks to Socks' anxiety one day last Spring of '05. The tile flooring of the Foyerits flooring is cracked and damaged, from previous ownerships and the shift in the building's foundation.

So it comes down to around 152 sq feet (possibly less as I decide to/not to replace the flooring under the dishwasher and the oven).

Last Saturday morning I visited Nebraska Furniture Mart. Wow. If you are a person thriving on a mininum number of choices, NFM is not the place to go. It got abundant number of choices I was not able to decide on anything initially. Then I decided to look at the cheapest tiles on sale - and finally found this tile for 88 cents each sq foot. It looked very nice and of course I loved the price. I got 2 samples of same tile to bring home - one light beige and one dark beige. Asked about installation cost. $9 flat per tile? Eeek forget it. Moving on. Home Depot's starting asking price was 4.99 for basic installation (then it adds up because I require backboarding as I have wooden floor underneath the carpeting).

Moving to Lowes. Wow. Saw even cheaper tiles - going up from 78 cents each. This tile was on sale, and all of its boxes are right there to bring home. So I tried to talk with a Lowes representative and found its customer service sux (i waited a good 30 min before one guy finally started talking to me) and he was uncertain because of my deafness ::groans::. Finally I managed to get a quote set up. One of Lowes' contractors would call me sometimes today or tomorrow, he said.

Lowe's install price seems similiar to Home Depot, but they do not have set price for everything - like 19 cents per carpet sq foot for removal. The man told me that the contractor come over and make a bid. They do not have fixed price. Hmm. That is interesting, way opposite of Home Depot. Home Depot has fixed price for every thing, no "bid". Looks easier to negotiate with Lowes when the quotes come.

Realizing I need to do local contracting justice, I looked up www.contractors.com (wow the web has everything doesnt it), and it has list of hundreds of local contractors. Sigh. So I picked 4 that sounded most appealing. Called first one. Whoa. $12 per sq foot for install and it does not even include removal! Sheesh. "Thanks for your time." ::hangs up the phone::

I kinda knew it - local contractors cost more than "mass retail contractor" but possibly better quality, but eh, I was just asking for basic tile installation - nothing fancy like 2x2 mosiac tiles on the bathroom wall. Other 3 local contracting companies I contacted, all of them had answering machines. Will call back sometimes later and keep you updated.

Weirdest thing I got in the mail..

2006-03-17T11:52:00.000-06:00

I knew spam and chain mails were bad but this thing I got in the mail. Wow.

It was from of some Church (wont mention here, not wanting to offend people of that denomation). It was a slender envelope with wordings on the back ... "Open and you will be blessed". It came with a prayer rug (paper) with picture of Christ with his eyes closed, but a tear rolling down his cheek. The instructions told me to look at Christ relaxed and his eyes will open and know what you need. So I stared at his eyes...

His eyes opened!

Eh. It was an opticial illusion. The envelope came with other bunch of paper, including a checklist of what I need - such as a car, house, health, and the amount of money I want. Wow. So if I am in need of money, I just write down the amount and mail it back. Next day I am $40000 richer. A lady on this info commerical sheet said she got 40k the next day and was blessed. Along with other testominies (sp) of other "customers" saying... "My husband was saved by this Prayer Rug".... "I got 10k!" ...."He healed my health."

Sounds like a good deal eh?