Bentos to save money.

I have been away for so long.  It's been so busy this past year. Back now to save some money.

Over the summer, I didn't feel like packing lunches.  However, I saw my CC bill and regretted it.  It was getting a bit ridiculous how much money I spend on lunches and it was not helping my waist line.  So I am starting pack my lunches again along with the BB.

I spent some money getting some bento supplies like cookie cutters, boxes, nori punches.  I know I know, shame on me for spending more.  I know they can add up if you are not careful.  So I learned to check on ebay first before getting stuff from other sites.  And collect them over time.  I started this a while ago with just plain old take out boxes and some cookie cutters, and silicone muffin cups (they have so many uses i.e. baking, freeze small portions of things, and use as dividers for lunch, etc.) And I make sure most of my supplies are reusable and have multiple uses to save on long term cost.

I call them bentos or cute lunches.  But really, it is a nice way of putting a variety of stuff together.  When my lunches are not boring, I don't event think about going out to eat.


BB has strawberry jam sammies, veggie sticks, grapes and cheese.  The face was made with seaweed.


Mine is left overs from dinner and grapes.  I also pack my breakfast so I can eat it at work.

P.S. I will take better pics in the future.

the price of beauty

I took a look at the average beauty routine that most women have and noted some of the expenses that comes with "looking good".  There are 2 categories I consider: basic is what you can get a drug stores or low end salons, premium is boutiques, dept. stores, or nicer salons.

Here are the basics that everyone will need, and let's say you replace these once every 2 months:
Soap/shower gel - $2-4 basic, $10-25 premium
shampoo - $2-6 basic,  $10-25 premium
conditioner - $2-6 basic,, $10-25 premium
face lotion - $4-20 basic,,  $15-50 premium
body lotion - $4-10 basic,, $15-30 premium
shaving needs - $5-10 basic, $20-30 premium

Total per year - $114- 336 basic, $480- 1110 premium

Here are some of the extra, but some might say necessary, and you get these once every 3 months, except for waxing:
face make up - $4-10 basic, $10-25 premium
eye make up - $4-10 basic,  $10-25 premium
lipstick/gloss - $4-10 basic,  $10-25 premium
hair styling products- $3-10 basic, $10-25 premium
hair dye/ treatments - $4-20 basic at home, $50 -150 premium/salon service
hair cuts $20-75
nail products/service - $4-10 basic, $15-50 premium
waxing $10-50, monthly

Total per year - $292- 480 basic, $1320- 2300 premium

So the cost of beauty can range from $300 a year if you are getting 2 hair cuts and not wearing a lot of make up, to close to $3000+ a year for premium brands and services.  From what I have read over at thebeautybrains.com, the ingredients in the premium products are much like the basic stuff.  So I get the basic stuff that works for me an forget the rest.

Shelling out 3k+ seems like a a lot of money every year for looking.  Is it worth the price?

my strategies at the grocers

There are some many ways to spend or save at the grocers.  Not all of them work for everyone.  Here is a few ways that do and do not work for me.

Don'ts:
1) plan out what I want to eat for a week, because things change during the week, and if I have to buy stuff for just one meal it gets more expensive that way
2)only look at on sale items.  sometimes they are not cheaper than store brand that is not on sale.  If the store brand is the same or better.
3)clip coupon for things you don't normally eat.  just because there is a coupon doesn't mean you have to buy it.
4) stock up on prepackaged foods, we have a few on hand, but too many will run up the cost and take up room in the freezer

Do's
1) look at what is on sale before I think about a few possible meals for the week
2) stock up on things that can be frozen, or have a longer shelf life, like pasta sauce.  They are handy for when you are in a hurry.  We like to get a pack of salmon and freeze individual portions for later.  Also bags of cut corn when they are on sale, a good quick side veggie.
3) eat with the seasons, the fresh produce are cheaper when they are in season
4) run to different stores for sales, but only if they are near each other.
5) ask for rain checks of they are out of the sale items.
6) eat simple meals, they are easier to cook and better for you

refinanced!!!

A while ago I mention that I was going to refinance my home.  We had a 4.675%  fixed for 30 yrs.  Good rate.  A month ago the rates dropped again and we decided to refi.  Why?  Because it was a no cost refi, meaning we don't pay a dime.  So now our rate is 4.125% fixed for 30yrs.  It's only a .5% drop, but it's still worth it.  $100 a month in the bank is better than 0.

Now we are looking to refinance our investment property.  We get some money back from loans we loaned out, so we paid down the investment until it was 70% of the assessment.  Now we can look at lowering the 6.5% to maybe under 4.5%.  Hopefully, we'll have a net 0 from that property instead of negative cash flow.  In time, it'll be positive, but for now net 0 is good.

confession time

OK I have to make a confession.  I posted previously about the cost of having extra things.  I just bought one of those: a smartphone.  Yes I have succumb to the temptation after holding out for so long. 

I have wanted a smartphone for a long time.  The reasons that stop me from getting one so far  has been
1- my previous job did not allow me to have my phone with me during work hours
2- the cost of the phones and plans were pretty expensive
3- the phones were lacking some of the  features that I would want to pay for - front facing camera for video chat, good picture taking response time, solidly develop apps were few.

However, in the recent few months, the technology seemed to have caught up what I have imagined in a personal communication device and plans are starting to come down a little in price.  I had wanted to get the next gen iPhone.  However, seeing that it's not 4G, I opted for the Galaxy S2 4G instead.  I know that the technology is still new, but that's where the networks are headed.  I don't always get the latest and the greatest, but in this case, I want my phone to be able to last me a good while before I upgrade.  It's all about stretching the few bucks that I do spend.

October Check up

There is huge gain this month, again.  I had "loaned" some money to family and now some of the money is being returned.  Yay for returns!

Here we go:

Liabilities: $719,804
loan from mom - $20,000 (nothing has changed, I know I really should pay that off  and soon)
House Mortgage - $335,732 (mortgage has not come out of account as of yet)
Rental #1 Mortgage - $138,328
Rental #2 Mortgage - $225,744 (mortgage has not come out of account as of yet)


Assets: $1,245,100
Liquid assets - $36,500
House value - $590,000
Rental 1 value - $250,000
Rental 2 value - $315,000
Investment - $53,600

Net worth: $525296 +5.77%

5 important HR things when you start your career

I am so happy and excited for my sister.  She's starting her first teaching job next Monday.  It's been a nervous summer beginning of school year.  Now, she's got a job and all the benefits to go with it.  She asked me to sit with her to go over hrr benefits(actually, I asked to sit with her first when I hear she got an offer). 

Here are a few HR things that I think are very important when you start your first job:

1. health insurance - this includes all the prescription drugs, vision, dental, and medical health insurance that are provided.  Get at least the basic ones.  It's a no brainer, I just had to explain the difference between HMO and POS  Al of that only cost her about $700 a year.
2. retirement plan - for this, she is offer 2 employer sponsered.  I asked her to put close to the max for each(15k each, max is 16.5k each).  I know she only makes a small amount right now($46k), but since she live at home and has no loans to pay off (good girl, sort of, because my 'rents paid for her school).  I also told her this is only for the first year, and she can change that any time she wants.  Also, I wanted her to not have too much money on hand all of a sudden so she'll learn to manage her money and think about what she wants to do with it. (I wish I had $30k to put away).
3. life insurance - she as a little confuse about life insurnace.  Since my parents had bought a policy for her, she wanted to know if she can still get one.  Even though, she doesn't have a lot of asset or debt to cover, the basic is soooooooo cheap, that I made her get it.  CHEAP meaning it is $0.02 per thousand of her income per paycheck and the paid out is 2x her income.
4. budgetting - so I went over with her how much money she can put away for retirement by looking at her spending:  I asked her what she spend her money on and so far it's only food and cell phone bill and she paid off her credit card bill every month which is around $250.  Let's double that which comes to $500 x12 months = $6k(this is mostly just spending money).  She wants to get new clothes for work, and she thinks it's $1000 (either that's some expensive stuff, or it's a lot of stuff, but ok whatevs).  Also, she wants to help my parents out by giving them $300 every month (good, since she lives with them).  So her expected expenses are $6k + $1k + $3.6k = $10300, plus the benefits she pays for $11000.  I said if she put $30k of her salary($46k) in the retirement accounts, she'll be paying taxes on $16k.  Her taxes will be $3110 (15% fed, $90 + 4.75% of anything over $3000).  So she'll have $12890 left, minus her expected expenses, she'll have $1890.  Which I suggested a Roth IRA, but we'll discuss that later.
5. spending tracking - I asked her to make a speardsheet on her spendings to see what she spend her money on.  I didn't ask her to do much of trimming or budgetting because she has an good idea what she want to buy.  However, I wanted her to see for herself of her spending is good or not.

Things we have not dicussed yet but will discuss in the future: emgerency fund(I know she should have one ASAP, but since she lives with my 'rents I can delay this a little tiny bit, plus I built in a padding into her spending money), Roth IRA, investments - both real estate and stocks, and the bank of little sister (just kdding), and large item money, i.e. vacations, computer, car.

bicycling BS

Recently, there has been a push to go car free.  The alternative is bicycling around town.  This is a great thing for the environment, the wallet, and health.  I am 100% behind this movement. 

However, I got a bone to pick with the bicycling culture.  It's about the basic of bicycling that people either are not familiar with or forgot. 

1) get a bell/horn -  I don't understand why bicycles don't come with one.  Every bike sold should have one.  It warns drivers and pedestrians that your are coming.  I don't know why every person on a bike expects both drives and pedestrians to watch out for them, but not the other way around.  GET A BELL AND USE IT!!!

2) follow traffic rules - so many times I have seen bikes on the road or on the sidewalk and not follow either set of rules.  When you are on the street, safety should be your priority, and the responsibility on the biker as well as the driver.  When you are on the sidewalk, be nice to pedestrians.  People on bikes seem to want everyone to get out of their way.

3) get a basket or rack for your stuff - I don't understand why this is not part of the commuter bikes as well.  If you are going to buy stuff, put it in the basket in front or rack on the back.

Where I grew up (until I was 10), these things were very common because biking was how everyone got around.  However, it seems that the biking community in the US still has a lot to learn.

tracking your mortgage

J$ has posted about paying off his mortgage with a plan.  He used a calculator for  looking at how much he can save interest by putting extra month every month.  I am much more of a spreadsheet addict.  I track my mortgage payment with the mortgage amortization spreadsheet.  This way, I can look at how much extra i put in and when. 

At the top is your basic numbers from the loan.  However, some the spreadsheet is protected.  I would unlock it and put in extra cells, one for the amount of interest I would pay if I don't pay extra principle, and one for the interest I am saving with early payments.  I do this with my investment mortgages as well.  When I refinance a loan, I would copy the old spreadsheet and change the numbers in the new one, so I have a record of what interest I paid already on one house.  Seeing the numbers is a encouraging way for me to put in the extra payment.

cost of extras

Remember when life was simple?  There was once upon a time, not long ago, when life was not run so much on electricity.  There were very few television stations, so TV watching was limited to a couple hours, same with music.  There were not personal music players, no cell phones, no GPS, no laptop, no game systems. 

I really think living in that environment would be a lot better for the mind and the pocket.  Think about how much money we spend on these "extra" thing.  They are extra because we can live without the, but have to learn to accept it as must haves.  Things like cellphone, Internet access, entertainment, and etc. 

The Cost per year:
This is the basics if you don't include all the accessories and peripherals.
cable TV: $1000
Internet access: $400
cellphone plan: $500
cost of phone: $100 (because these phone are slow and obsolete in a bout 2 years, and a 2 year contract will get you the next one)
TV: $100 (because we are expecting the TV to last about 5-10 years, so cost/years is about this)
game systems: $50 (again how long before the new one comes out and make this one obsolete)
computer system/laptop: $300 (same principle above

Total: $2450

Now add on to that the additional cost of games, apps, accessories, and not to mention the electricity bill. The cost of these extra things in modern life is about at least $3000/year. 

I not am saying that we should ditch all of these, but $3000/year is a nice chunk of change in my pocket.  I know, I know, I gotta live a little.   But do I really need all of these?

expect the unexpected

For the past year, I have been looking at my expenses.  For the alst 3 months I have been tracking them on a spreadsheet.  Every month, I notice that there is a one-off expense.  By these one-off expenses, I mean appliance replacement holiday shopping, house maintenance, or refinancing costs.  Most of these are not recurring every month or year.  However, they seem to occur more often that I expected.

Before I tracked them on a budget spreadsheet, I used to tell myself that my expenses will reduce next month because I don't have this one-off expense.  However, every month, I see the same high expenses and wondered where my money was going.  So I put them on a spreadsheet.  These one off purchases are $300-$1200. While the $300 purchase is not a huge deal, the $1200 is, but both are necessary.  

I was pretty shocked at how often they come up, and it seems like every 2 months on average. Now, I don't go and buy new appliance unless one is on the brink of breaking.  It seems about every 15 years, the house needs some major maintanence, and it's well pass that time.  So fro then next 2 years, I will be budgetting an extra $400 a month for maintenance.  If it doesn't get used, it goes to the savings.

get a f****** job!!!!

This is a rant so I apologize in advance if I am going to be offending those who don't have a job right now.

Recently, my sister graduated from college and is looking for a teaching job.  Over the summer, she went to a few interviews, but did not hear back from those places.  I asked a couple of people that I know who works as teachers about the hiring.  I was told that the school will still hire as the school year begins.  The school year has now started and she's still without a job.  Meanwhile, I hear from others that principals have hired people as soon as they meet them.  

I asked sister what she has been doing while she's not working?  She mentioned that she's taking classes to be able to teach Montessori, which is great. 

However, I looked at the postings on the county sites.  There are still spots open, and quite a few.  I am beginning to wonder how hard has she been working on getting a job?  Did she expect to just send in her resume and wait?  Did she call the HR dept. to ask about her status?  Did she call the schools directly and ask if they have her resume?  The answer is likely no.  WTF?  If you really want a job, you'll pursue it persistently right?  Am I crazy to expect her to be more proactive about it?

I can understand too that the current economy is not great, and lots of places are cutting positions.  But if the listing is up there, you bet they are thinking about hiring.  I expect no less than calling one school a day and ask if you can send in the resume, can calling back after a couple of days to see what they think.  Worst case is that they don't like what you have or you after the interview, but you can still get feedback for you next one.

This is not the first time that I have seen it happen.  I had friends who decide they want to go for a career in some field.  I am all for supporting them in getting into something they want to do.  However, when I ask what they are doing about getting into the field, they usually answer "I gotta get through this and that first."  OK fine, but in the meantime, what are you going to prepare?  Are you surrounding yourselves with the right people, people who working the field, who has experience and connection?  Or are you waiting for the opportunity to come?  A year later, these people are still not in the field that they said they want to be in, and still getting through the this and the that.  Seriously, WTF?  If you really want it, don't wait for it, go get it. 

college shouldn't be for everyone

This post is not to discourage anyone from going to college or to get education.  However, I don't believe that college should be for everyone.  I would be the first to tell you that learning and education should be the priority of anyone who is under 18 (age people who usually graduate high school).  Continual learning through a lifetimes is and will always be a personal value.  What I don't believe in is that kids are expected to go to college and get a degree.  I understand that a lot of companies look for grads with some sort of degree.  It is tough to compete with someone who has one if you don't.  However, I often wonder if these degree are really helpful? 

First of all, are the grads working in a field they studied in?  Some yes, a lot no.  Yes,  college is a go place to find out what you do best and what you enjoy, but it also costs a lot of money.  Do you need to spend so much to discover yourself?  Some kids are pressured to go to school because that's what is expected of them.  When they are done, sometimes they work in the same field, and sometimes they choose other fields.

I would prefer that instead of college, there be more trade schools.  The current workforce is starting to become academic heavy, so heavy that they can't find a job with their degree.  Trade training is in decline.  While trade school does not have the same prestige, trade professionals earn as good a living as "degreed" professionals, some times more.

So for all those who are considering going to college, but also dread it at the same time, trade school would be a excellent place.

what's wrong with this picture?

Last week, I was reading some financial news and came across an article for Tiffany's quarterly earnings report.  It was up 25%+ every quarter the last 3 quarters, domestically and worldwide.  With the domestic and world economies in near crisis every other week, how is that possible? 

There are only a couple of possible explanations
1) the truly rich people are unaffected by these economic problems, and are spending as they like
2) the not so rich are aspiring to live like the rich, in which case is just sad that they think this is truly how the rich lives.

Seriously, one would think that luxury brands like Coach or Movado will not be raking it in because of the poor economic growth,  but they are.  J$'s guest's post  points out that aspirational spending, and I agree that the practice is just asinine.  Are people still chasing that luxury life style that brought the housing market and large financial institutions to their knees?  Did they not learn?  Apparently not as much I think they would.

balance

Recently, the mortgage interest rates have been very very low.  We decided to refinance out home loan, because the broker we know can get us a deal for no cost.  Awesome!!
There were 2 options

1) 15 yrs fixed @ 3.75%

2) 30 yrs fixed @4.125%

The total interest for the 15 years loan would be less than $100k, while the interest of the 30 yrs will be $200k+.  However, the month payment of the 15 yrs is twice the amount of the 30 yrs, which reduces the "left over" money to about $1000.  By "left over" money, I mean after all expenses, and which we put into savings.  We don't usually have a savings budget because we didn't need to budget that in. 

Other family members feel that we should get the 15 yrs loan and pay off the mortgage ASAP.  However, with only $1000 in savings every month, money can start to get tight if we need to use it for emergencies.
Along with possible pay and benefit cuts for Mr. LLF, and no promotion/pay increase for myself (because of congress, not me), inflation, rapid rise of cost of living, and possible consideration of private schooling, the $1000 left over could dwindle fast.

Another note that Mr. LLF made was "we gotta live too!"  Mr. LLF made note that while he is fine with not traveling, dinning out, or spending money on entertainment, I will want those things even if I can hold off for a couple of years.  15 years is too long to go without those things.  I know they are luxuries, but they are important to me.  I would be unhappy and burnt out on saving if that's the case.

So in the end, we opted for the 30 yrs loan for some peace of mind and a better balanced life.  In the event that we want to travel, we can afford to, though we don't do it very often.  At the same time, I could take a big chunk of "left overs" and put it in the mortgage if we're so inclined.

September Check up

There is huge gain this month.  I had "loaned" some money to family and now some of the money is being returned.  Yay for returns!

Here we go:

Liabilities:
loan from mom - $20,000 (nothing has changed, I know I really should pay that off  and soon)
House Mortgage - $336,182 (mortgage has not come out of account as of yet)
Rental #1 Mortgage - $138,727
Rental #2 Mortgage - $298,930 (mortgage has not come out of account as of yet)

Assets:
Liquid assets - $82,000
House value - $590,000
Rental 1 value - $250,000
Rental 2 value - $315,000
Investment - $53,457 - this is only person's 401k

Net worth: $496,618 +12.57%

5 important things for all grads

Recently, my sister graduated and is looking for a job.  It's been 3 months and she has yet to get an offer.  Granted, she's looking for a teachinc job at elementry schools.  So the hiring is still going in at the beginning of the school year. 

From my personal experience, there are a few things that all grads need to remember:

1) Interviews are great experiences.  It's good to get feedback from the interviewer, especially if you don't get the job.  The more interviews you go on, the more comfortable you will be speaking about yourself.

2) Keep searching.  Don't stop send out your resume if you get an interview or interviews.  Don't even stop if you get an offer.  Still keep an eye out even if you have been working.  It never hurts to know about opportunities.  Just be sure not to have your information posted as open and searchable once you start working.  Some companies don't like that. 

3) Ask questions and do research.  It always a benefit to you as the prospect to look up information about the places you want to work at. Call the human resource number on the job listing and ask as much information as they will give.  Information such as what do the qualification really mean, what extra skills would they consider.  Also, ask to speak to the department that is hiring for the posistion because HR does not always have the answers.

4) Get to Know the right poeple.  This the toughest for "shy" people.  Going events or joining groups for the profession you want to be in will get you insight and inside tips on what is going on, how things work, and connect with people.  This is a good way to getting information.

5) Any opportunity is a good opportunity.  This is a point that I many people pass up.  It doesn't matter if it's volunteer, pro bono, or short term.  Any experience in a field that you want to be in will only add to your resume and your connection.  I have seem quite a few people not be able to work in the profession of their choice because they believe that they should always be paid for it.  Companies like to see experience before they want to hire someone.  So get some experience anyway you can.

In fact, these things should be important for anyone at any stage of their career.  I know something pro bono, and volunteer work is hard if you have bills to pay, and I am not saying you have to do that, or for long term.
If you get yourself out there, you never know if that might bring the next big job.

insurance companies are the worst

Last week there as an earthquake and a hurricane in our area.  Luckily, there weren't any damage to our properties as I can see so far.  However, other people did not fair as well.  From the images of the earthquake, some homes were pretty badly damaged in the earthquake.  On top of that, the hurricane come a few days later and battered those homes even more.

Even though the earthquake as a small one, it's effect was magnified by the fact there we don't expect it on the East Coast.  Most people don't have earthquake insurance.  Why would they consider something that would maybe happen once every one hundred years?  It turns out that if there is any substantial damage, they can't claim it against their home owners policy because the didn't buy earthquake insurance. 

Same thing with the flood insurance.  Hurricane don't usually hit the Northeast with that much force.  So for most people who live above a certain flood line, they don't bother getting flood insurance.  Then once every 10 years, a hurricane comes a bit strong.

I can understand how insurance companies would not want to pay out because potential fraud, but  it seems pretty heartless when people are out of a home.  If we are all to buy those plans for the once in a 10 or 100 years occurrence, it would add to our already high expenses.  However, seem that their people who lost their homes, and insurance companies won't pay for it, what are we really to do?

Seems like only the insurance companies win,

in case of emergency

Yesterday's little earth quake on the East Coast was quite thrilling.  It got a lot of people worked up, nervous, and frustrated that there's a lot of traffic going home.  Even though it was small comparing to what happens on the West Coast, I got to thinking about emergencies that no one anticipates.

I know there could be a number of emergencies that would effect my life and my family's.  Life insurance covers some of the expense.  But what about what to do with your kids, and other things that were in my life?  I know that both my in-laws and my parents will take care of raising the kids no doubt.  What about everything else?  What would they do?

I think I will need to write up a will.  Wills are not only for the leave inheritances and estates.  They are a set of instructions as to what to do with you and your things after you have pass.  A living will will be the same, but for while you are alive.  So in case of any situation, there will be less questions and a little reassurance.  With some online legal services, wills can be doable for anyone.

staying current

Punch Debt's post today asked a very poignant question:  What if you lost your job today?
I think most people don't want to think about that possibility.  That is understandable, considering the topic being depressing and nerve recking.  However, regardless of the economy, that possibility is very real.  At any given time, some one could loose their job, whether it's due to company trimming cost, or large company taking over and replacing staff. 

With good preparation, the possibility of loosing a job is not as scary as it could be.  A few simple things can make the idea seem less frightening or sudden.

1) have an updated resume - regardless of how much you like your current job, or how secure your job is, always, always, always update your resume at least every year.  It a about 10-30mins to put down what you have accomplished with in the year.  If nothing seems good enough to put down (unlikely if you are doing well at your job) update the references and phone numbers.  If you never need it great; if you do need it, it will take a lot less work to update and send out (and the soon you can sent it out, the better, right?).

2) be on the look out for opportunities - again, regardless of how much you like your job, keep an eye out for positions available from other companies.  If you can have a job search site email you a list of results every 2 weeks or so, you can see who is hiring, possibly what the jobs will pay, what qualifications companies are looking for, etc.  Even if you don't apply to any of the listing, you can still call the HR and ask for more info.  More information will only help in the event you need it.

3) network - networking is a good way to learn about companies and other professions.  Just talking and getting to know people will open up opportunities.  Never burn bridge no matter how much you dislike someone. You never know when and if it come back to bite you in the ass.

4) have a back up career - have something you always wanted to try but never thought you could do it?  learn about it while you have safety of having a job.  When you have to look for a new job, you can better go into that new career.

5) emergency income supplement plan - no, not some kind of insurance, but that would be great.  Have a plan of where you could get work easily for a short period of time before you find your professional job.  Maybe working at a restaurant for a few hours a day to supplement your emergency fund while you are booking interviews, or stock shelves at night at the grocers.  Your income at the jobs are only to help extend your EF, so don't try to take on full time status because your focus should be on looking for that new full-time job.

Like everything else, if you plan for it, a job loss will not come as a shock and it will be easier.  Always keep your options open.