Another Blow..

This 2014 year keeps getting worse for me. I am losing my job.

It's not final yet but it's 100% certain.

I am too depressed to even think right now. But I need to start a job search this weekend. The hardest part is going into work, knowing that I am being let go.

2014 Eagle Creek Camping Trip Costs Update

My last blog post talked about the cost of our first vacation in two years...the gas cost, for example, was an estimate based on the type of car, its mpg, and distance of the trip. I was petting myself on the back for keeping track of the costs and how our vacation won't cost us as much as our last one did. Hmmmmmm.....well......

Extra Costs/Things I didn't factor in: 

• A car rental at Enterprise Rent-A-Car: we found out that the camp that we might be going to might have some rough terrain, so we decided to not use our barely-holding-it-together little chevro Aveo car and rent a compact car.
• Roadside snacks at each gas fill-up on the way to camp
• An extra trip back down the mountain because my in-law wanted us to make a phone call to his gf (no cell reception and she had no idea where we were) and to get him a few things such as a bow saw (for wood cutting) and ice. That's an hour of driving to the nearest town (Sonora) with good cell reception and an hour to drive back up to camp. This trip cost us an extra gas fill-up than predicted.
• Birthday gifts to my partner's little sisters at Sonora, Ca.
• A dinner for two at Marie Callender's restaurant on the way back from camp to home...we were stuck in traffic for nearly 12 hours and because we did not want to unpack the trunk to get at the gas stove and food, we took the stupid route and ate at the restaurant. We should have made some food that we can eat along the road BEFORE leaving the camp.
• After dinner, we filled up gas at a really really expensive gas station at the last gas stop before going up the Interstate 5 freeway grapevine...We did not plan well and needed to put gas in to drive the little rental car up the high grade. The price of gas per gallon at this gas station is $4.59!!! To fill up the tank, this one stop cost us $51.46! This stop alone is over planned half the gas budget.

Estimated Total Cost of Camping Prior to the Trip: $308.20

1) Food & supplies (grocery shopping prior to trip): $66
2) Gas: $103.2
3) Walmart camping supplies trip: $139 (hopefully these items can be used over and over again in the next few years)


THE REAL COST: $465.64

1) Food & supplies (grocery shopping prior to trip): $66
2) Gas: $36.13 + $51.46 + $16.17 + $28.58 = $132.34
3) Walmart camping supplies trip: $139 (hopefully these items can be used over and over again in the next few years)
4) Car Rental: $87.39 (entire trip)
5) Roadside snacks: $4.24 + $10.12
6) Birthday gifts for two tween girls (love them!): Crafting kit and Toiletry bags-$29
7) Restaurant Meal: $36.25

The Hindsight:

$196.14 is the difference between planned and real costs of the trip. It is quite a lot considering some of the costs could have been prevented.

The girls' gifts could have cost far less if we did not buy them at the last minute. I think they would have preferred something more personal and less costly.

We bought wayyy too much food to feed for just two and brought the majority of it back home.

The car rental...we really didn't need the car rental but i know that by not putting our little car through the trip, it will save us money in the long run.

We definitely did not need to stop at the restaurant when we had food in the trunk.

We definitely did NOT need to have bought all those camping supplies at Walmart prior to the trip because R's family had most of the necessary items like gas stoves, canopies, even toilets, covered. Now, I feel like we need to take more camping trips around our city just to justify buying all those camping gadgets.

Highlights of the Trip:

A forest fire broke out 1/4 mile away from our camp up the hill. We rushed toward the fire to help put it out but the professionals got the situation covered by the time we huffed and puffed up the hill and about 50 feet away from the fire.

First Vacation of 2014 - Wilderness camping

I'm so glad to have our first vacation of 2014 (hopefully, to be followed by many more cheap vacations) and it's going to be wilderness camping near the Niagara Creek area in Stanislaus National Forest. The bad thing is that the gas is going to kill us. We are going all the way up there because of my partner's family reunion up there. I would have been happier with a much closer campground. On the bright side, it'll be an adventure and there will be no daily campground fees.

At approximately 840 miles for the round trip with a car that does around 35-38 miles per gallon (yay for small cars!; we have a dinky little economy car that actually gets pretty good mileage) and at $4.30 per gallon, we estimate that it will cost around $103.2 just for the gas.

We went to Walmart and went crazy... justifying our purchase of a two burner propane camping stove ($29) by swearing that we will go more camping instead of thinking about outside of country vacations for the next few years. We also bought some more camping supplies such as insect spray, biodegradable soap, cordage, tent stakes and a cooler. I bought a solar shower bag and a privacy shower/changing tent on a whim ($44). That was the most expensive purchase but i'm thinking if we are going to go week long camping trips where there are no amenities (free camp sites/wilderness camping), I'd like to have the option shower if there are no rivers/creeks around! I'm already daydreaming of our next trip to Zion national park in Utah!

We also got Chromecast, since we no longer have cable, to watch netflix and our hard drives that are full of movies and tv shows (obtained from a friend) on our TV. Now, there will be no need to buy a smart TV! Chromecast cost $35 at Walmart. We used to use our old PS3 to stream movies to the TV but our PS3 has decided to not get along with us lately and we can't afford a new PS3 or PS4. So for now, Chromecast is a more affordable option than Roku. More on this later after we play around with it more.

Total Cost of Trip for Two:    $308.2
Food & supplies: $66
Gas: $103.2
Walmart camping supplies trip: $139 (hopefully these items can be used over and over again in the next few years)

It's a lot higher than I'd like it to be and more than we can afford right now but a lot less than the vacations that people around me are taking this year!

We leave tonight, Wednesday, at midnight and come back on Sunday. We desperately need a getaway!

Amazon Prime Increases Fee to $99 Per Year

Amazon Prime is great for people who have online shops, etc, because of their unlimited two-day shipping. I actually prefer netflix streaming over Amazon streaming. I found out today that Amazon is increasing their annual membership price from $79 to $99. Also, I found out that the student membership will increase from $10 to $49 per year.

My mom has an Amazon Prime account that she uses mainly for her Kindle's lending library....which i thought was abit much for one free book per month. Now, that it's $99, maybe she would finally drop Amazon Prime. She never ships anything or buy anything from Amazon anyway.

I think you still have some time to sign up at the old rate. So, if you need this service, I'd sign up soon!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! Happy New Year (soon) too!

Although it has been an up and down year for me, I can't help feeling optimistic about 2014 since hopefully, s.o will have a better paying job and get back into school again if he is able to find a night shift position.

I'm still making regular payments on my consolidated loan that I used to pay off debt. It is currently on a 5-year plan with 4.25% so, hopefully, by the end of 2014, I will have the entire amount $14,000 saved up to pay off the loan early.

I am currently finding a tenant for my condo so hopefully, in 2014, I will have some extra money to put towards savings for the loan payoff.

Cheers to a great 2014!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

This year, we got a couple of free Turkeys from S.O's work so we decided to actually try cooking turkey this year and give the other turkey away to a homeless shelter. 

We got a small bag of carrots, a couple of onions, a bundle of celery, five potatoes, and tried our hand at cooking the turkey. Normally, we are awful chefs...I'm not just saying this to be modest but it's honest truth. But this turkey came out tasting great! Also, we made stuffing as well as potato, bacon, and green bean salad. Everything tasted so great and yummy, that it surprised my family when we rushed all the food over to my sister's house for a thanksgiving dinner. They're well aware of our cooking misadventures. 

We spent a total of less than $10, which fed a total of 7 people .... and there's still so much food left over!

Republic Wireless - We're Buying Smartphones finally??

Buying Smartphones: Republic Wireless

Courtesy of republicwireless.com

We have not transitioned into the current times yet. In fact, my brother has once asked me if I was living in today's world because we do not have smartphones. My nearly 80 year old parents have smartphones and an ipad among various other gadgets.

Republic Wireless (http://www.republicwireless.com) is offering a monthly plan that has 3G Wifi and Sprint coverage for non-wifi moments for $25/month per line. We do not need more than 3G since we wouldn't be streaming movies or music through our phones. But it might be nice to be able to get a couple of Apps that are interesting finally.

The catch is that we would need to buy the Moto X phones outright at $299 per phone. We'd need two. Two of us. That's $600 without tax that I'd need to pay upfront. Also, and this is a big one for me... The Moto X phones that we would be buying would NOT be available for use with any other carriers, should we choose to discontinue being patrons of the Republic Wireless service. We'd just be left with paperweights if we decide to move to an area where Republic Wireless does not offer coverage or we just don't plain like it and want to change back to verizon/sprint/whatever. Of course, there is an option of selling the phones back to someone who might want to try Republic Wireless at a discounted price. You can change your mind and return the phones within 30 days of trying it out.

I really like the layout of the Republic Wireless home page. There's an option to check whether any old phone numbers are transferable as well as whether certain area codes will have great coverage or not. I checked both of our phone numbers and they checked out as transferable numbers. Our area (old and new) checked out as great coverage.

Still, I'm hesitating on pushing that button because of the initial $600 price but I do realize that most smartphones will cost more than $300 if you buy them off contract unless I buy Iphone 3 off of Craigslist (going for $100 per phone at the current time). I will wait a bit more and talk it over with a couple of people before I take the jump but it is very probable that I would soon.

To be Cheap or Not at Weddings

I have a distant relative's wedding that is coming up on June 8th, which is less than two weeks. Even though I am really looking forward to seeing my cousins from my dad's side of the family again after all these years, I am feeling some dread about it.

It's hard to be frugal when it comes to a relative's wedding, even if it's a distant one... especially when the relative comes from a culture that asks for money gifts for the wedding. When I asked what is appropriate to give as the money gift, I was informed that it should be at least $100 per head...at minimum. I am sure it's going to be a great wedding and I really do wish the best for the couple but I just didn't have the heart (or guts) to say that I really can't afford that much.

I get paid tomorrow but I will have to put 99% of that paycheck towards my June Mortgage payment and HOA fees. I'm pretty tight on money each money with the tenant and lawyer issues. This $200 (for two people) money gift for this wedding is going to force me to live off my credit cards for the next two weeks since tomorrow's paycheck will be gone in a flash with bills.

I am excited about seeing everyone there though and at least, that is something to be happy about while I, yet again, try to keep up with the Joneses.

On a side note, my total debt is currently at $10,656. Not much down from a few months ago but considering what I  have been going through, I'm glad I was able to pay down even a small amount.

Side Income: Makeup

Is it crazy to think of doing makeup on people as a side income? Let me rephrase; Is it crazy to think about doing this because I love makeup although there are better side income ideas in the field that I work in?

I am an environmental professional (I don't call myself a scientist because I do not do field research). I know there are side income opportunities that could exist in the environmental field.

However, lately, I really just do not want to deal with work after work hours. I know I need to correct this behavior and keep myself updated on various certifications/qualifications/barf barf.

Instead.....

Importance Of Being Healthy

The Importance of Being Healthy has never been more apparent to me now. I have been taking unpaid sick leave since I have gotten sick and it needs to stop now before I get behind on bills and add back the debt I have paid off so far.

On the other hand, coming into work while being feverish is not a smart thing to do either since it delays my recovery time and it is also unfair to my co-workers although I do have my own office and my physical interaction with them is kept to a bare minimum.

I hope things look better soon because since Christmas holidays, I have been pretty much through out. I got sick, then got better, and now, I'm sick again. The same respiratory illness. Vitamin C, nasal rinse, and multi-vitamins haven't been helping much during the non-sick periods.

I hope everyone else is doing good with their health.

Debt: Another Mountain to Break Down

I have been dreading to post this but I must force myself to face this.

I won't go into excuses except that there were a few things that came up that helped me re-accumulate debt after my last year's Debt Elimination. But, mainly it is my lack of willpower and commitment to budgeting.

This is not counting the Mortgage Debt. I did a balance transfer recently to consolidate, which is why the Discover More Credit Card is at 0% APR currently until 2014.

In addition to that, I have alot of uncertainty at my job right now. I need to build up emergency funds again as well as pay down the debt. Since Discover More Card is at 0% APR on balance transfer currently, I think I am going to wait on paying it off even if I can save that amount in the coming year and put the money in the emergency fund instead until the promotion period ends in 2014. Of course, Chase Sapphire Card needs to be paid off soon since it has the 15.99% APR on the balance.

Have you had any problems of not meeting debt elimination goals because life throws curveballs at you?

Discover More Credit Card (0% APR until 2014):

$12,509

Chase Sapphire (@15.99% APR):

$3,229

Home Warranty Insurance

I am going through Home Warranty Insurance Quotes currently for coverage on my condo. The main thing I'd like to cover is the air-conditioning unit since the tenants have brought their own washer, dryer, and refridgerator. Recently, the garbage disposal has been replaced so, I doubt it would be an issue for a long time.

Also, I do want coverage for the plumbing system that the condo insurance does not cover. A lot of the times, it really feels as if the Condo property management tries to blame the unit owners for the faulty plumbing and wiring that this complex has. I don't have much faith in how much my condo insurance covers. I can not count the times that the plumbing has failed and we are treated as criminals....only to find out that it is the piping problem that the condo insurance should cover. This causes long delays in getting the problem fixed and alot of headache.

I already have a homeowner's insurance in place but I am wondering if it is worth it to also get a home warranty insurance mainly for the AC system, dishwasher, and plumbing issues that the condo insurance would not cover or tries to get out of.

The cheapest quote I have received so far is $395 per  year, which I found out is really on the higher end of the price range. I'm going to look for coverage around $200-$300 range if I can. The hunt continues.

Update:  The cheapest quote I have received so far among three to four insurance companies is $28 per month. This is from First American Home Warranty Services. The hunt continues.

Affordable Way To Live In Orange County

It is easy to find a cheaper way to live in Orange County. If you are single that is, although there are rooms available for couples or families if there is enough space but they are harder to find.

In the South Orange County area, the only affordable way to live here is to rent a room in a house. Luckily, most houses here on the large side so you have abit more elbow room and alot of them come with various amenities, such as private pools or community pools, green belts, beautiful community areas, and even tennis courts. Alot of the homes in South Orange County have nice community and recreation areas due to them being part of master planned neighborhoods, a planning concept that took shape in the 1970s.

At the time of writing, individual rooms for rent in a house are ranging from $600 to $700 per month with some listings including the use of a private bathroom, house amenities, and community amenities with the cost of utilities. Typically, a small studio would cost around $1,100 and up (a friend of mine just had to move out of one because it went up in rent).

The house that we're staying in rents out a room for $600 per month with a private bathroom and garage space but the cost of the utilities is shared.

Most rooms available for rent are posted on Craigslist.com and Roommates.com. Also, posting flyers stating the need for a room rental around numerous colleges and universities in Orange County definitely bring in contacts fast. The downside to that is, of course, the contacts may mainly be students.  However, alot of the students that we have had contact with have been in the mid-20s to late-20s range, due to alot of people having gone back to school during these hard times. We have also had inquiries from assistant/interim professors and graduate students.

In about three years, we would have to move out of this house as well and instead of heading back to our condo, we may think about renting out another room in this area as well.

Rue La La - Higher End Fashion at 75% off

Current Favorite Online Fashion Retail Website:

Rue La La

For Christmas and Thanksgiving gifts to myself, my boyfriend, family, and friends, I have been going abit overboard with a couple of websites besides Amazon.com.

Ruelala is my current favorite site since there is no sales tax for California and the shipping is free for 30 days after the first shipping fee of $10. I can ship as many orders as I want within the 30 days as long as I pay for the first order's shipping fees.

Rue La La's merchants include high end fashion (women's, men's, and kids' sections), home, and personal care merchants. Even vacation deals although I don't like their vacation deals. I prefer Groupon for those.

For this christmas, I bought a great designer watch for the dear boyfriend at prices lower than amazon. He's been needing a replacement watch for quite a while. I also found a Tahari suit for $60! I need to look more professional at work and my current suits are frayed and faded.

The sales are in the flash sales style, where brands go on sale for a limited amount of days until other brands and sales replace them. You can see which sales are coming up for the next week if you want to somewhat plan your purchases.

It is an invitational only site, which really doesn't mean anything because you can be invited by me or you can even invite yourself! I think I get some sort of credit (probably $5) if you accept my invitation and join Ruelala .

Bottom Line: It's great to keep an eye on the website (Ruelala) through out the year to spot deals on higher end fashion, home, and makeup gifts that you normally wouldn't be able to afford (at least that's the case for me!).

Renting Out My Condominium To Lower Monthly Fixed Expenses

Since I bought my condominium at the height of Home Sales, I have a pretty big home loan that I am making painful monthly payments on.

In June 2012, I refinanced to a lower mortgage rate at 4.375%, which helped quite alot on monthly payments. Except, the refinancing costs were rolled back into my loan, which pretty much brought the loan amount nearly back up to the original loan amount. A few thousands short of being back at the original loan amount.

I was not able to get the lowest interest rate or get no cost refinancing loans because my property is severely underwater.

So, I made the decision to rent out my condo and move back into a home that my parents own at the low cost of paying the house utilities only.  My parents are planning to sell this house in a couple of years and have stopped renting the house out to a tenant. I am insanely lucky and grateful to have them as parents and for allowing me to move into this house until they sell the place.

That was back in July 2012, when I began the moving in process. I was not able to get a renter until now (November, 2012). The utilities here at the house are double the utilities over where my Condo is.  So, for the last few months, I was suffering in terms of having little or no money left over after my paycheck since I was still maintaining the Condo.

Finally, I found a family who will pay me $1,400 per month for the condo with $1,400 security deposit!! They have moved in this week.

The total monthly cost of the Condo is still going to be in the RED, unfortunately, at about $500.00. My mortgage payment, HOA dues, homeowner's insurance, and property taxes equal to $1,900. The rental income is $1,400. That is $500.00 still in the red.

About three days into their move, the tenants reported that my garbage disposal unit has stopped working and that there is no hot water in one of the bathrooms. I ordered a new garbage disposal from amazon and shipped it directly to the tenants already.

I'll know what the cost of repairing these issues is come Wednesday night. Here is to hoping that the hot water issue is not a major issue, involving any damage to the drywall!!

Endeavor Flew Over Our Office on 9/21/2012

Just a quick record of Endeavor (the last manned spaced shuttle) flying over our office building yesterday!

We went on our roof and took a quick picture of it as it flew by. It was a pretty cool sight to see.

It was heading towards Disneyland, Anaheim. I work in a neighboring Orange County City. 

Talk about Disneyland, Anaheim, I really dislike the fact that Disneyland has raised their Annual Southern California resident passes each year for the last couple of years. My boyfriend loves Disneyland and has been wanting to go there again but I don't see the point of renewing our Annual passes. When we held the annual passes, we only visited six times that year. Now, with the price increase, I'd rather just pay a one time fee to satisfy the boyfriend's Disneyland fix that should last for a couple of years.

New Car, Used Car, or Leased Car?

Now that my car has been creaking quite abit (bad suspension), I'm tempted to look into buying another. Thus, three scenarios have presented themselves to me..

* Buying a new car
* Buying a used car
* Leasing a car

New Car Purchase:

This is the ideal choice, of course. Ok, not really the ideal choice financially but emotionally, it might be. Having a nice new car would mean that I would no longer be the target of the following comments; "THIS is what you're driving?", "Were you born before or after your car?", and "You need a NEW car.".

Nowadays, car financing term has become longer than the old two or three year periods. Since our salaries aren't necessarily growing to match the rising car costs, car loans have been dragged out to 60 or 72 months loans to get those "affordable" monthly payments. Generally, the longer the loan period, it is more likely to be attached with a higher interest rate.

Of course, I could put a downpayment down but that would mean that my emergency savings fund would diminish. Also, with a new car, there'll be the higher DMV and insurance fees. My little money pouch will definitely be hurting for the first couple of years.

Leasing a Car

Lower Monthly Payments! This could lead me to believe that I can buy a more expensive car than I can honestly afford. Temptation.. Temptation. In fact, my brother-in-law was infected with that Temptation virus and has just leased a BMW for my sister yesterday.

Also, the only sales tax for a leased car is on the allotted car value over the lease term. This definitely means, there's less money going out of my pockets.

But, I would have to either renew the leasing terms or exchange it out for another car in three years. Also, I'd need to keep to (on average) the allotted 10,000 or 15,000 driven miles per year or I'd have to pay per mile past the allotted miles. Granted, it's only a few cents per mile (ex. $0.16/mile etc.) if I pre-pay but living in Southern California means alot of driving. Even driving to my work each day to and fro means I'm driving a little under 50 miles each day at a minimum. Running errands during lunch time or after work would definitely put me over 50 driven miles/day. Either I don't go out or it'd be impossible to keep to the allotted miles without paying extra.

If I buy a car, I am definitely looking to keep the car alive for at least ten years and not change it out after five years, so after the loan term is paid off, with a new car, my only expenses will be for DMV fees, insurance, gas, and maintenance fees. Leaning toward a new car purchase at this point...

Used Car Purchase

They're usually cheaper since they'll be a couple of years old already. Loan interest rates are usually higher for used car purchases, so it might be more prudent to pay fully with cash for a used car. Maintenance and repair costs might be higher since it'd be an older car. These costs may rise more rapidly with each year.

Thus, it might be the biggest dent in terms of money exiting my savings initially. With no interest/loan to pay for each year, in the long run, this is the cheapest option. It would also mean the death and yet another very eventual re-birth of my emergency savings.

Bright side: I can drive it until it dies on me.

Decision: I'm going to keep driving until my current car putters out and re-read this post again in a year.

I know....
I am cheap.

The DVD Splurge of the Month

For a few years now, I have kept a list of DVDs/movies I want to buy and own sometime in the future. This "To Own" list has become a rather long list. But whenever I give in to the urge to buy something (arrgh..I must control thee!), I tend to go over to Blockbuster's and search for any of movies I've put on my "want" list on their "get 3 DVDs for $25 dollar deal" shelves (available with previously viewed DVDs).

While I'm aware that $25 to spend on movies at any one time is expensive, I try to find three that are already on my list. Also, there are usually recent big releases in the pre-viewed section as well. Last night, I got Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sin City -Extended Edition (whoever traded it in....Thank you..Thank you!!!), and Empire Falls miniseries for $25.00.

Not bad if you're patient, don't mind browsing every single row, can adhere to buying only the ones you really want, and have time on your hands.

The Frugal Rich Couple

A cousin of mine with whom I grew up with, here in California, moved to New York for graduate school a few years ago and since have settled there with a husband and a new home. her, her sister, and I were the three punks who did alot of things together, including studying, partying, and dating. She played the mother hen to us, the younger two. We shared our good times and bad times growing up.

I always knew that she was the frugal type but it seems that she has found her match through her husband. Between her and her husband, their annual income is approximately around $250,000 plus. She has one nice dress that she wears to any nice function that she has had for at least five years. She once told us that her husband had sternly asked her to be frugal when she ordered soup along with her lunch special at a cheap restaurant in Chinatown. The cost of the entire meal was $13.00 and that's included with the soup she ordered. This was on the once-in-a-blue-moon "date" they try to have in order to escape the stresses of everyday life. I remember she was furious...not because her husband was a cheap date but because he has not realized that she has been pinching and saving every chance she got for the last year and that these "dates" that rarely came were the only ones that were saving her from insanity.

I know them as a happy couple but I can't imagine earning that much (that's a mountain of gold for me) and still having to worry about a $1.00 soup on the occasional splurge with my husband. But then, maybe because they're that frugal, that they can save enough to have a big house, feed her mother-in-law, and live in New York.

A Happy 2006!!

The last two weeks have been busy with the preparations for the New Year's Eve Dinner I had planned for family and friends as well as with a certain out-patient surgery that was scheduled on the day before New Year's eve. Note to self: do not plan to stand around cooking all day after a surgery that asks you to rest for a day or two. Unless you can live with pain for the couple of days. I know... I asked for it.

For the dinner, I ended up buying everything from tablecloth, napkins, napkin holders, plates, utensils to decorations. I, of course, went over budget despite the shopping list I held steadily in my hand during the shopping trips. Next time, I need to realize that I do not need to get everything new just because it's a new event. I'm sure my family and friends wouldn't have minded if old utensils and plates were used and we were eating off a table that picked up from a garage sale for $15. In fact, I'm sure they wouldn't have noticed the difference. In any case, I am truly lucky to have such wonderful people as my family and friends.

A Happy Belated New Year Everyone!