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Archive for September, 2008

Where is the end of this madness?

September 30th, 2008 at 05:35 am

The bail out plan failed. Dow was down more than 700 points. Tokyo is down. Singapore is down. Korea is down. And Taiwan is down.

I checked my 401K. I used to have 6 figures in there. Now it's back to 5 figures Frown

I transfered some of my funds to more stables ones last week. I'm glad I did. Otherwise, the damage would have been larger.

I sure am grateful that I am not retiring any time soon. My DH's co-worker came back to work after his retirement because his retirement fund got hit really hard.

Actually, I'm not worried that much, though. Luckly, both DH and I have stable jobs, and I will receive some bonus this year. I will also keep contributing to my 401K, but I need to pay attention to my fund allocation.

Grocery shopping

September 21st, 2008 at 11:45 pm

Finally, I went to grocery shopping. Going to school 4 nights a week and studying for classes consume a lot of my time. I spent $62.98 and my fridge & freezer is filled with food.

Now, back to studying...

I have two tests next week, and I am stressing out!!

What a mess....

September 15th, 2008 at 05:29 pm

I wrote back in January about my experience/observation about the similar events after real estate boom.

Another similar thing happened: Lehman Brothers. I remember back in 1997, one of major Japanese securities companies, Yamaichi securities went belly up after celebrating their 100th year anniversary. It was a big shocker to everyone. I remember MOF (Ministry of Finance) at that time sent out a letter to financial institutions and asked them to hire ex-Yamaichi people to help them out. I used to work for one of AIG operating companies in Tokyo, and we hired some guys from Yamaichi.

Well, AIG is in trouble, too. I sold all of my stock I bought during my 13 years of employment there. I'm surprised that they got in such a trouble because the company was known for its conservativeness. I guess after MRG (Maurice Greenburg) left the company, something has changed...

I wonder how long this mess will continue.

Great week is over.....

September 14th, 2008 at 04:31 am

This was a great week and I stockpiled many things.

14 scrabbing bubbles - almost free
4 boxes of Kashi creal - 25 cent per box
4 Glade scent warmer - free
4 Gillet razer - $.99 each
24 Dove chcolate bar - free
9 Crest mouth wash - free
6 Sun silk hair products - about 60 cents each
3 Glade fabric oder eliminator - 49 cents each
4 Tylenol Sleep aid - 99 cents each
3 cough syrup - free
6 Oust - free

It was a lot of fun!!

Today's SA blog is right on

September 11th, 2008 at 06:59 pm

My DH was talking to his brother on the phone last weekend.

The brother had a stepson who was deployed to Iraq and came back, suffered from depression, and committed suicide. Make a long story short, the brother and his wife received $500k from life insurance. This was about 2 years ago.

Well, some of you already guessed it.

My brother-in-law and his wife spent it all. Yes, all of it. For what? I honestly do not know, and don't want to know. It's not my business. Bad thing is the brother has a bad heart and cannot work anymore. He will be on disability. His wife never worked. Sigh....

Today's SA blog is very true, "Education" about money is so important. The brother and his wife have no clue about finance, and don't know how to manage money. I think "manage" is a too fancy word in this case, I should say they don't know how to "keep" the money in the bank account.

Some people just make baaaad decisions.... Sad.

More deals at WAG

September 9th, 2008 at 07:48 pm

Another Walgreen trip.

3 Robittusin cough syrup
1 Crest Mouth Wash
2 Dove Chocolate Bars

Used $10 catalina I got from buying Johnson & Johnson products, and some coupons for Dove.

Paid $4.74 (including $1.28 sales tax)

Then, got $10 catalina from Robittusin and $4.5 catalina from Crest mouth wash.

Also, Longs Drug had some Garnier skin care products on their clearance rack, and I found $2 off coupons in their store coupons book. On top of that, Garnier is offering buy $15 and get $10 gift card rebate this month. So, I bought moisturizing lotion, cream, and cleanser. I paid $13.84 including sales tax after using $5 worth of coupons, and I will get $10 gift card back. (Rebate looks at price before coupons, so my purchase qualifies their rebate requirement.)

Free mouth wash this week

September 8th, 2008 at 04:49 pm

This is a good week at Walgreens. I went and bought Crest mouth wash, 4 scrubbing bubbles flushable bathroom wipes, 3 cans of scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaner, 2 cans of Oust, Glade fabric cleaner, 2 Dove chocolate bar, and 2 ring binder. I paid $13.32 including tax and got $10 catalina back, so actual out of pocket is $3.32 including sales tax of $2.27. With all these bathroom cleaners, my bathroom better be clean LOL

I ordered 20 Dove chocolate q's, so I can stock up on free chocolate! I'm also planning to get some more free mouth wash.


Labor day weekend

September 2nd, 2008 at 09:25 pm

It's hard to believe, but it's September. And, my fall semester starts today.

Labor day weekend was a nice Staycation. I read one chapter from my international accounting class, organized some coupons, watched a couple of movies.

I watched "No Reservation" that my DD recorded in DVR. Very cute love story. Then, DD and I went to watch "House Bunny". It was cute, but just OK.

Walgreen's new rebate started last Friday, and they had $10/$40 off coupon in their website. So, I went and bought FAR items and used $10 off coupon. I ended up making $12 profit with all the coupons I used. I also went to Walmart to use my Kraft Free coupons. I got free hot dogs and Wheat thin crackers. I also bought new All You magazine. Coupons were better last month, but I still find some good ones.