Money

I cannot believe that 2012 is almost here. I feel that with the world's economic status, I flew through 2011 with lots of anxiety with no end in sight. I had to make many small changes in order to be financially fit and some are quite radical for me but necessary. Let me share some of the changes I've made:

• Negotiate everything! I negotiated my mortgage down to $40/mo increase from $90/mo. I also negotiated my level pay plan for electric and gas to $5/mo less (each).
• Carpool. I carpool about 3-4 days per week. With 2.5 gallons per day, this method saves me about $150 to $200 per month at the pump and toll roads.
• Use natural/organic stuff. These items do cost more but the differences by using more natural products are worth the costs and consequently, it saves us money because they are more healthy, last longer, and more effective/efficient. For example: oil is naturally more concentrated and dense so I only needed to moisturize my face once vs. 4-5x per day. 
• Learn DIY projects for home improvement. This was my first house and I was overwhelmed that a new house requires some attention. I was ignorant to home care and because I needed to save money I was forced to learn to do many things DIY-ish. This past year I successfully installed 2 doggie doors, hung curtains, drilled many holes beautifully, unclogged drain, rid of pests, and re-wired electrical panel for internet connection. I amazed my sister who is a home-owner of 15 years because she's advantaged to be able to rely on her husband for many things. I joked that before I date any man I'll put him to the test on whether he can hung a curtain as this project is way more difficult and time consuming and can easily be undermined.
• Mix my own cleaning products. I find that cleaning products can easily be broken down by 2 chemical compounds: base and acid. Use one or the other more heavily to offset or a combo of both for super tough jobs. Also, don't forget the significant of rubbing alcohol. It is used to clean wounds which means also great for cleaning other things, including mold. My puppy was soiling the carpet lots and through many cleanings, it started to grow mold. Alcohol was my savior... it's a natural disinfectant and it dries up quick. This was my secret to mold killing.
• Invest... invest... invest. The market is volatile right now but do invest in strong companies with reasonable dividends. The advantage is that the stocks are now quite affordable. I have made more money in a year through investing than I had been years in savings. I invest conservatively and I learned from veteran investors... these are the quiet people who are happy to be your secretary or delivery man. They enjoy their drama-free jobs and made money elsewhere with very little energy. If you don't have access to such people, the Motley Fool website is a great resource.
• Maintain the car. I overwork my car... there's no excuse for not caring it. I also learn to DIY minor fixes, such as changing light bulbs, windshield wiper, etc.
• Conserve energy. Changing to CFL lights, unplugging unused major appliances, and getting rid of unused items. 

I also do little things like cooking vs eating out, buying less clothes and shoes. I trained my dog on my own and found ways to be creative at gifting time. I learned to sell a lot of items and finding savings when buying. I am surprised at how much people spend and my friends are surprised that living modestly I am still in need to find more ways to save money. 

Times are tough and money is tight. The expenses are overwhelming and costs are rising. I made a lot of radical changes and switching my perspective about money. I admire those who can live quite modestly and happy. Before the house I was able to live more than comfortable and I didn't want anything because everything was within reach. Now, I want more stuff and I have to work hard to get it. This somehow gives me a new sense of purpose, goals and challenges and motivation to do better. In a way... this has made me a better person as I have more appreciation to those who skimp and save. 

I continue to look for ideas and suggestions to save so feel free to share your thoughts and experiences. 

May you all continue to live richly and prosperously with loving friends and family in 2012! 

My sister, her in laws and I went to Thanksgiving dinner about 1 to 1.5 hours away from home. I didn't know that my sis had plans to go to WalMart's black friday after dinner to get the XBox. So, I suggested that we'd to WalMart close to the restaurant rather than trying to rush home.

After we ate we went to a Super Center WalMart 2 mi away from the restaurant. At the super center they allow people to wait inside the store rather than outside and this is why we chose it. When we got there it was around 9:10pm and the parking lot was already full. 

The line for the XBox was already looping around the veggie sections and we weren't sure if we were able to get a box. After 45 min wait, we found that there were enough XBox for everyone and then some. They had about 3 extras. My sister had wanted to get one for her friend but because she was indicisive I decided to get two systems just in case she'd change her mind (her in law helped). I figured I can either return, re-sell or gift the items. I have now spent from $0 to $400++ and the confused owner of two game systems I don't wish to own.

I used to be a gamer for years but those days are over now. I just play games lightly. The systems now sat in my garage and I am tempted to open one, esp. after I saw the ad on the microsoft.com. Oh... how I don't want to be addicted to games, spend wasteful hours in front of TV and spend my hard earn money on games I'll enjoy only for a couple of months! 

I'm itching to open one but I will wait. After that shopping we drove home and my sister wanted to check out other stores closer to our houses. We drove around until 1 am. I wasn't going to be dragged in the hype this year as I'm trying hard to save money. But with this event I started to get curious and checked out the sales offered. I went to bed at 2AM, woke up at 6 AM and hit the stores by 7:30 AM.

I also stopped by Costco but didn't get any of their sales. I'm glad that I went, though because I had forgotten about their annual recipe book give away. I had kept reminding myself to get one and completely forgotten. 

Nothing much really intrigue me other than the games for my new system (now it has become MY system). But, of course I had to check out the Apple.com. With their sales, I couldn't resist... I am now the proud owner of MacAir that will be delivered to me sometime next week. That came to about $1000.

We hit the stores again at 4:00 pm and convinced myself that I didn't need anything. 

Last week I had spent $50 on a new laser printer I'd never use. $100 on make-up. $200 on underthings. $70 on a CK coat. (oh I love coats!) $75 on a heater.

So, by today I'm $2000 poorer within 1 week. And, I'm about to hit the stores again today to get some games for the XBox.  

I have yet to shop for Christmas for about 10+ people (3 sisters, 3 in-laws, 2 nephews, and 2 parents) and birthday gifts for my 2 best friends, and my lovely but bad influence sister. I tried to convince one of my friends for a home cooked meal of steak and lobster. It will set me back about $50 but that's dinner for 2 you can't get at a restaurant. I just hope he'll buy into the idea. 

Let's see what other cheaper ways I can do for gifts.

I went to Costco tonight. (Blog coming up.)

These Christmas candies are not available after holiday season.  So, I had to stock them up.

Chocolates of the World expires on June 1, 2011.  So, I put one jug in the freezer and the second jug in the refrigerator.  This way, I will enjoy fresh chocolate until the next holiday season.  I'll make the cookies to last several months.  I couldn't find experation date on the cookies.  I may have to buy a few more cans of cookies.  My guests love those cookies.  They eat 'em up.

I am not rich.  I am not trying to show off how much money I spend on candy. $80.00 for candy sounds extreme, but they will last long time.  If you look at the entire year, I definitely spend less money on candy than most people.  I don't even drink soda too often (to save money). 

I would like to stress that I am not trying to show off.  Mm... I guess I am showing off my self control.  Because, I can look at the mountain of candies and not go crazy.

* The chocolates will last 12 months - I guarantee you that.

Please excuse my bad photography, I took the short cut (the easy way)

This is what I did last year.  I bought 4 jugs of Chocolates of the World and put "opening dates" on them.  I still haven't finished the last jug.

Quick FYI:

Time Warner charges $1.99 for "Unlisted" Phone number.
But, Time Warner doesn't have phone book.

So, you do not need to pay $1.99 for unlisted phone number

I used to have Blockbuster Video account (DVD rental via mail).

There is one trick I came up with, I bet a lot of people came up with the same idea.  Anyway, I thought it's worth of sharing it here.

When your month is up and if they sent your last DVDs of the month? that's when you should cancel your account.

So, you will receive your DVDs, watch them, and return them while your account is not active.  In other words, you are not paying for that few days.

When you receive "DVD received" email from Blockbuster (Netflix), that's when you re-start your membership. If you receive "DVD received" email on Saturday, then you should wait until Monday morning to re-activate your account.

See what I mean?

This way, you get extra few days or up to one week of services for free, every month.

This can easily translates into $20 - $50+ savings every year, depends on your account and speed of delevery.

These are my three recent financial failures.  My total loss was about $10.00.  But, this bothered me enough that I had to share this story here.

1. Coffee Filter: I bought these coffee filters.  A week later, I bought a new coffee machine just to realize that my new coffee machine takes different kind of filter. (I love my new coffee machine, by the way).
2. Pepper: This jar of peppers has a built in grinder.  You can't beat this price ($3.99).  Anyway, I used the grinder too rough one day.  I broke the grinding mechanism.  So, I had to buy another one.
3. Vitamin D3: I paid regular price 2 weeks ago.  A week later, I received a $3.00 coupon from Costco. 

On all these cases, packages were already opened and I had nobody but myself to blame.  Even though Costco is likely to make refund, my conscience didn't allow me to take them back.

I have to be more careful, that's all. 
Anyway, I am out $10.00 and this bothers me somewhat.  Hm...

Update

I bought vitamin D3 with a coupon, then returned it with the old receipt.

My shopping story is boring, now that I keep trying harder to save even more money. 

I set my goal to save money like crazy.  And that's exactly what I'm doing... like crazy.

In February, I transferred 66% of all my take home paycheck to savings account.

I haven't established a stable pattern of saving money, so I am not sure how this will effect my finance next month. 

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I have a huge craving on salty chips, especially for Doritos.
I mean, I had this craving for over 2 weeks now.
This morning, I was THIS CLOSE to pick up a bag of Doritos at Costco.  I wanted to buy a brand new coffee maker as well ($49.00). 

But I didn't buy any of those.  I bought what was absolutely needed (also healthy for me). 

Keep trying...

Picture from an action packed laundry day.

Costco laundry rack in action. 
Saving $1.25 right there.  Exciting stuff... ZZzz... 

Wow, be happy for me.
In January, I put 20% of my entire take home pay in to Savings account. I'm not sure if I can repeat that next month.

I'm going to keep trying.
But it was not easy.

*Update - February 8, 2010

I think it was a mistake that I put away 20% of my take home pay last month.  February looks very tight.  I cannot save any money this month.

It's becoming clear that I cannot become rich by doing what I do right now.  I need to keep working on my personal projects.  I need to make something happen.

Life is still very fun... very entertaining every day.
It's just not easy.

I needed fabric softener.

Costco had $2.00 coupon on Downy Fabric Enhancer.

From the very start, I thought maybe Kirkland Signature's fabric softener could be a better deal (compared Downy - with $2.00 coupon).

Below is what I saw at Costco... I didn't bring my calculator at that time.  So, I went with my gut feeling and decide not to use $2.00 coupon on Downy.  I bought Kirkland Signature fabric softener instead.

Then I came home and did some calculating.

Downy Fabric Enhancer
150 Loads
$9.96 - ($2.00 coupon) = $7.96
Unit price per load = $.53

Kirkland Signature Fabric Enhancer
174 Loads
$8.69 (everyday price)
Unit price per load = $.50

###

My gut feeling was right.  Kirkland Signature's fabric softener was still cheaper without coupon.

So, when in doubt? pick Kirkland Signature over coupon items.

When it doubt, buy it. Costco will not over-charge you.

Case in study: Food Wrap by Kirkland Signature - $8.99 (double pack)

At first glance, you might think $9 for 2 rolls of food wraps is not much of a bargain. But take a look at this.

If you are lucky, you can buy a roll of food wrap for $.99 (from a 99 Cents only store). This roll contains a 100 SQ. FT. of inferior quality plastic wrap.

With Kirkland Signature's Food Wrap (double pack), you get 1500 SQ. FT of high quality plastic wrap. That's 166 SQ. FT per a Dollar.

So, with same amount of money, you get 66% more of high quality product.

But, that's not all
Think about helping environment.
In order to get 1500 SQ. FT. of plastic wrap, you need to buy 15 of $.99 rolls. With Costco's double pack, you are saving raw material to package 13 rolls.

Everyone wins with Costco.

So, when in doubt? Buy it.

Happy shopping.

** One problem with Costco's plastic wrap is that it will take extremely long time for me to finish up 2 rolls of these. It took me 2 years to finish 100 SQ. FT. roll. So, mathematically, it will take me 30 years to finish these up. I will be in my 70's when I'm done with these. My plastic wrap can out live me. Haha..

I guess some people use a lot of plastic wrap. I don't. I always try to use containers with tops instead of putting a wrap over the food. I try not to use plastic wrap as much as possible. They cost money.

I went out for a routine Saturday night grocery shopping.

I stuck to my rule.

"Know what you're going to buy.  Buy what's on your list."

Tonight, I went to Vons, Albertsons, and Ralphs.

I spent $9.23 total. 

Before going out for lunch, I cleaned my favorite cool shades using my shirt.  Then I thought I'd photograph that moment.

These are B&L Ray Ban Chromax W2053.  I paid about $30.00 at Big 5 about 12 years ago.  Then about 6 years ago, I replaced the lens with yellow glass (prescription).  So, I spent under $70.00 for them.

When I see good sales on sunglasses, I buy them for $20-$40 and hold on to them.  This makes sense to me because it's difficult to find right glass frame at right price.  I don't want to wait until the time comes and I  have to buy something fast.  Eye glasses are like a job.  The best time to look for them is when you have them.  

Later, depends on the model, I can put clear or colored lenses.

Now with Costco's optical department, I can save even more.

Anyway, these glasses are now going for $250.00 on eBay.  
It became a hard to find item of some sort, I guess.
These are my favorite pair of Sunglasses.

My coworker and I went to Souplantation for lunch.  I even gave him my coupon so he would save $.80.

What shocked me was that he ordered a soda ($2.29 extra).  Who drinks soda with salad?  I guess a lot of people do.  He later explained that he must have soda with salad.  Hm~! 

If I didn't give him my coupon, he might have spent $3.25 more than me on this lunch.  $3.25 is a lot of money to save on a work day's lunch.  A lot of people spend $3.00 for entire lunch.

Lunch at Del Taco today

I used a "Buy one, get one Free" coupon and got two Macho Tacos for $1.71.  I saved over $3.00 by using a coupon and skipping on a drink.

I popped a can of diet Pepsi when I got back to work.

My co-worker spent over $5 on his lunch.  It's not easy to convert him into a coupon clipper.  It's not easy to persuade him when he doesn't feel the need to save.  To me, clipping coupons is a fun game.

Your Ziplock bags are not for one time use only.  You must wash & reuse your Ziplock bags as often as possible.  These bags are very expensive.  Ziplock bags must be used at least a few times.  Recycle your ziplock bags if you are done with them. 

This is how I wash my used Ziplock bags.

1. Turn the bag completely inside out.
2. Use dish soap and sponge to wash "outside" ("outside" which used to be the "inside")
   • Lay the bag flat on the kitchen sink and scrub it with plenty of detergent (pay more attention if the bag used to hold blood).
   • Rinse inside the bag briefly ("inside" will become "outside" later)
3. Dry the bag as is (bag is still inside out).
4. After the bag is dried, turn the bag inside out to its original form.
5. Personally, I do not worry about the outside of the bag. 
   • I only care about the inside where it will touch the food.

Drying.... 

Sometimes I don't get to finish all the coffee I brew.

When I have left-over coffee, I don't trash it.  I keep it for the next day.

I keep my old coffee in the refrigerator.  Next day, I put some syrup (either French Vanilla or Caramel, depends on the mood) and drink it cold.

I buy coffee syrups from Costco, but it gets a little tricky.

You can purchase coffee syrups ONLY from Jose's booth events.   Jose's sales team will visit your local Costco a few times a year.  We don't shop at Costco everday, so you may not get to see Jose's Booth for years.  You may have to call your local Costco for Jose's schedule.

My recent purchase from Jose's booth event