Maismom's every day life

This semester is almost over.

I had my final for MIS (Management Information Systems). This is one suject I had NO interest whatsoever, and bored me to death.

And, I did really bad on my final. Well, for some reason, I didn't read 3 pages I was supposed read, and I missed a bunch of problems from these stupid 3 pages. I still got a B as a course grade. I was really disappointed by getting a B, but oh well, there's nothing I can do but move on.

This concludes my Saturday classes. I've been taking classes on Saturday last four semesters in order to fit in my schedule. Being a full time student while having a full time job with one hour commute each way haven't been easy. I had to take some classes on Saturday to knock off some units and graduate in a reasonable period of time.

I finished all of the business core requirement courses, and no concentration classes are offered on Saturday. This means, bye bye, Saturday class. I will have Saturdays back again. Yes, I will actually have two days off a week. I am so happy

As gas and food prices are going up, I noticed media is paying more attention to usage of coupons. I was one of those people who reads an article, and think "That's nice, but I have no idea how these people are doing it."

I remember watching TV long time ago, before I learned how to use coupons. TV news was showing the lady who goes to a grocery store and paid $2 for a cartful of stuff. At that time, I was a coupon beginner, and had no idea how she did it. I thought, I use coupons, but I can never get my total down to $2. How does she do it?? Well, now I know. She was targeting certain loss leader items, taking advantage of double or triple (which we don't have around here), and using multiple coupons.

So, I'm sure there are people out there, like I was, interested in getting into coupons, but don't know how.

It's amazing looking back, how I used to shop. I didn't know what I was missing out until I learned how to use coupons and rebates. I used to think the Dollar store was a good deal. Boy, what was I thinking???

Today is the end of weekly sales cycle, and I was going to stop by grocery store and buy some dressing. One store sells Ken's dressing for $2.5 and I had some $2 off coupons. When I was browsing another store's weekly circular, that store has them $4 for 2. Free dressing! I was happy that I found it because I'm using the last bottle of dressing and needed to find some deals.

I bought 10 bottles and walked out the store without paying a dime. I guess I could buy something, but couldn't think of anything.... I already have tonight's dinner planned out.

This week was a great deal week.

I was busy doing P&G deal at Walgreen's first, then, I realized Rite Aid is also running a great deal for Cover Girl which is P&G product. Cover Girl was BOGO at Rite Aid, and I had some BOGO foundation and blush coupons as well as a bunch of $1 off coupons.

At Rite Aid, I bought
2 foundation regular price $11.29 each
4 face powder regular price $8.19 each
8 blush regular price $5.69 each
8 eye shadow regular price $3.39 each
2 four-color eye shadow regular price $5.59 each
Total regular price $139.16
After BOGO sale and coupons, I paid $10.07 (including $5.42 sales tax) and will be getting $20 back from Rite Aid rebate.

Reviewing my transactions, I realized I could knock off $4 more but it would have been caused a negative value transaction. So, I should be happy with what I got.

This was a nice weekend.

Saturday: Last lecture of this semester. Our instructor cancelled next week's lecture, so all we have is a final exam on 17th. I'm so excited this semester is almost done.

After the class, I helped my group mate making his homepage for our web assignment. He injured his right wrist so it is extremely difficult for him to type. Since we will be graded as a group, I wanted to make sure his portion is complete

In the everning, I went over to my friend's house and played poker with friends till 11 pm. I lost $20, but it's ok. It was nice to catch up with my friends, and I had a good time.

Sunday: I was going to wake up at 6 and go to yoga class, but could not wake up. (Well, playing poker till 11 pm didn't help.) I finally woke up at around 8:15 (DD woke me up and told me to go to yoga), and went to hot yoga class. I'm still in trial period ($10 for 10 days) so I didn't have to pay today. I sweat so much, and felt pretty good.

I came home, took a shower, and headed to Strings (Italian restaurant) to see my friend. She is a single mom (I've known her since she was single) and have a lovely 4 yr old son. It's been more than a year since last time we met. We caught up a little, but couldn't stay too long because her son was getting bored and didn't sit still. We promised each other to meet more often than once a year.

After lunch, I went to Walgreens. This week is SUPER great deal at Walgreens. I bought 6 Mr. Clean magic eraser and 3 Charmin wipes, paid $22.49 and received $20 coupon good for next purchase.

For next purchase, I bought Edge shaving gel, melatonin (for DH), 4 cans of cream of mushroom soup, and Venus razor. After using $20 coupon, and other coupons, I paid $1.76 and received $6 coupon good for next purchase.

I will be going to Walgreens every day this week!

My friend invited me to Sushi night.

She is teaching Japanese at one of her students' house, and they decided to do sushi night. My friend used to work for a Japanese restaurant and knows the guy who is a sushi chef. So, the sushi chef came and taught us how to make a sushi roll.

The chef brought all the ingredients, rice, salmon, tuna, cucumber, fake crab, tobiko, avocado, etc. and we made our own rolls.

I started talking to the guy and found out we are from same area. And I told him how much I miss watching professional sushi chef making nigiri. He casually said, "I will do nigiri for ya." and made me a tuna nigiri. ohhhhh, I loved watching him making it for me.

He also taught us things about sushi, like sushi was invented about 300 years ago (which is not too long ago in Japanese history), but sushi using raw fish actually became popular after WWII. I didn't know it was such a recent trend. Before that, all the ingredients were cooked or prepared with vinegar.

The fee was $35. It's quite a bit IMO, but I really enjoyed the night with my friends and food.

My tuition for summer classes is due on Monday. I need to take $1k from my EF to pay for it.

Eventutally, I will be reimbursed, but until then, I need to pay my own money.

Tuition for spring sememster will be reimbursed in June. So, I will be able to put 1K back in to EF in June.

April is almost over. Wow... time is just flying by....

I went to oil change for my car on Saturday at Toyota dealer. My car is now at 85K miles, and I asked for 90K service quotation while I was at the dealer. The minimum recommended services is $798.41.

Here's the list of things they do.
Replace engine oil and filter
Replace engine air filter
Replace differential oil
Re-tongue drive shaft bolt (4WD)
Rotate tires
Check battery connections and clean and tighten if needed
Inspect ball joints and dust covers
Inspect brake lines and hoses
Inspect and adjust brake linings/drums and brake pads/discs if applicable
Inspect drive belts
Inspect drive shaft boots
Audible inspection of engine valve clearance
Inspect exhaust pipes and mountings
Inspect fuel lines and connections
Inspect fuel tank band
Inspect fuel tank cap gasket
Inspect fuel tank vapor vent system hoses
Inspect nuts and bolts on chasses and body and tighten if needed
Inspect steering gear box
Inspect steering linkage and boots
Inspect charcoal canister
Replace air conditioning filter
Replace timing belt 4 cylinder
Replace transfer case fluid
Replace differential fluid 4WD
Replace automatic transmission fluid

I have no clue about car maintenance vocabulary. I talked to my co-worker who is an engineer and he thinks this is reasonable estimate for a dealer. Any suggestion?

Yes, and we just paid $120 for our DD's F150.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/23/gas.prices/index.html

And, I just paid $42 for my RAV4. Not having any public transportation around here really sucks.

We have light-rail in Sacramento which is a joke. It doesn't go anywhere I need to go.

In a meantime, oil companies are making all kinds of money....

I never really made any money in the stock market. Yes, I have bought some stocks here and there, but return wasn't too good. Maybe I'm too impatient. So, I gave it up for a while.

Well, after I missed opportunities for Coach (I bought a $250 purse instead buying their stock), Apple (I bought an iPod for DD instead of buying their stock), Starbucks (my husband goes there EVERY day and I didn't buy their stock), and Amazon (I sold my books for $5 a piece instead of buying their stock), I thought about buying Aeropostale.

I didn't even know the company until I saw my class-mate browsing their website. I asked her "American Eagle?" She said "No, it's called Aeropostale, and they are much cheaper." Hmmmmm.....

I started buying their stock through Sharebuilder last September after:
1. Getting tired of paying $100 for a shirt and a pair of jeans at American Eagle for my DD.
2. I felt economy is getting worse and people are looking for cheaper alternative
3. My DD asked me for Aeropostale's gift card for one of her holiday gift. She says she can buy "more" at Aeropostale than American Eagle.
4. I saw a Japanese actress wearing Aeropostale T-shirt. There's no Aeropostale store in Japan, that mean people are buying them when they visit U.S. Eventually, Aeropostale may open stores in Japan, like Gap and Coach did. Means, business expansion possibility.
5. I went to the store myself, and liked how they narrowed the lines of clothing they sell. I thought they are very focused and manage inventory well.

So far, first time in my life, my stocks are doing well. When I started buying them, the price was $23 per share, and it was $30 per share today. I'm only investing $100 a month since September, so my investment total is $800, and the balance as of today is showing $967.98. My goal was to save $1,000 in this account, so I'm almost there.

Now, the question is when to sell. I really don't want to sell until my gain is considered as capital gain. So, I need to hold them more than one year which I don't mind at all. I just hope the price won't drop before I sell them. Buying is easy, but selling is so much harder.

Anyway, that was my random thoughts of the day.

Boy, I remember why I should bring lunch to work.

I went to Chinese buffet for lunch today, and well, let's just say it didn't settle well in my stomach. (In other words, I threw up everything I ate. Yuck!) I think it's some kind of seasoning they use that my body does not accept. Well, with $8.46, I could make a nice sandwich or something.

I'm having a feeling low week. I don't know what it is, but many things annoy me and I feel depressed or frustrated. I went to Chinese buffet to treat myself and make me feel better, but it didn't work at all. Grrr!! Everything seems to be that way this week for some reason.

I was driving to work yesterday morning, thinking "There isn't much traffic these days....."

I came home, and DH asked me "So, how's traffic these days?" Funny he asked. I told him that was exactly what I was thinking this morning, lighter traffic. He told me about the guy who commutes to Bay Area, and the guy was telling DH traffic is much better than before.

I guess some people cannot afford to pay $4 per gallon.

DH also told me about the guy who used to drive a huge pick-up truck. Now, the guy drives VW Jetta. DH asked the guy about his truck (I know my DH is really nosy LOL) and they guy told DH he cannot afford gas anymore for the truck. Hmmmmm.

Gas price sure impacts people's lives.

My work was crazy busy last few days. There are some delay in the project we are currently working on, and I had to rush people to do some things. I tell you, some people just don't have any sense of urgency. Things will be calm for next two days, and will be crazy again. Oh well, such as life.

I stopped by a grocery store yesterday because they sent me a good store coupon via e-mail, and the expiration date was yesterday. They were giving out 12 pk 100 calorie snack and a bottle of pomegranate juice for free. I could find a snack pack, but no juice. The clerk told me the juice is out of stock, and I can pick any juice I like. So, I told her that I want OJ, and they gave ma a bottle of 96 fl. oz OJ for free!

For dinner, I prepared pork cutlet (ton-katsu), rice, miso soup (with tofu, seaweed, green onion), cabbage salad, and cantaloupe melon. Cantaloupe melon was just right and really yummy.

And my morning coffee was free with coupon this morning : )

I went to skiing yesterday. It was really warm and people were skiing in their T-shirt.

Snow condition wasn't the best, but we really had a great time!





As for spending, actual spending for the day was $12.50 for lunch. Cesar salad and Sierra beer!! Woooo, it was sooo worth it.

I bought the lift ticket before season started. (The ticket comes with the discount card good for various ski resort in Tahoe area.) And my friend gave me a ride because I drove last time we went skiing.

So, it really was a nice day!

I changed my credit card from mileage type from reward type. I haven't used much of my credit card since I changed it, because I wanted to be careful with the new card first.

Now, I know how it's functioning, I decided to charge my grocery spending, too. Since grocery money comes from our joint account (we have his/her/our accounts), I bought gift card from two stores I normally shop. I bought $100 Safeway, and $50 Trader Joe's gift cards, and this should last at least for next two weeks. This way, I have a grocery budget in my hand (as a form of gift card), don't have to worry about the balance of our joint account, and I can earn some reward points.

I will see if this method is going to work well for us.

$5 off/$20 purchase coupon is posted at Walgreen's website. This is good for tomorrow, April 11th.

You can use it to buy FAR items, or some RR deals.

Happy shopping!

I went to gas station to fill up the tank yesterday. $45. This is, so far, the most I paid, and that's all I spent yesterday. I drive Rav4 that gets decent gas mileage, but commuting and getting places around sure got quite expensive these days.

Today will be NSD. I have no plan to do any shopping whatsoever. My company is providing lunch to everyone today. I love free lunch : )

I was reading people's responses to "Why do you blog?" by Dickyman. And some people said there's no frugal people around them. Come to think of it, it applies to me as well. I don't have anybody around me I can talk about personal finances. I searched all kinds of frugal living website, and ended up being here because this site was the most real and I found people who share similar point of view with me.

But, really, where are frugal people? Where do they hide? Are they ashamed to be called "cheap"? Are we the only ones who care about saving?

I know my friends' eyes get glazed when I talk about finance. I experienced people just laugh at me when I suggest clipping coupons. So, I simply stopped talking about these things in front of people. I know, in this forum, I can brag about how little I paid for things, or nothing at all. I feel safe talking about my "hobby" without being criticized or laughed at. Maybe, that's why I blog here.

I guess some people just don't understand the concept of "saving." I save because I don't like being broke, and I have nobody I can ask for the money.

I clip coupons because I think it's ridiculous to pay full price when I have other means to substitute the payment. Manufactures book coupons as promotional expense, and consumers are paying for it. If we don't utilize coupons, we are paying premium for the products we buy. I know we can afford regular price as our gross income is over 100K and there's only three of us in the family, but I choose not to waste our hard earned money. I'd rather spend the money to save for DD's 529 or something more meaningful, such as visiting museums, or taking family trips. Plus, as you all know, it's not how much you make, but how much you save.

I did some spending related to school yesterday.

I filed my petition for graduation (spring 2009), and the diploma fee was $43. I cannot believe I am graduating next year. It may not be a big deal for people who went straight to college after high school. Well, it was not a big deal for me when I went on to the vocational school when I was 18. I just did my two years of schooling , not thinking about anything, and got a job.

But this time around, it was my decision to go back to school, my choice to study Business Admin, my money to pay tuition (well, most of it is from my employer, still, I earned it, right?), and I am spending my precious time for school while working full-time. To my surprise, I really truly enjoyed going to school. I like it so much that I don't want it to end LOL I started looking into their graduate program, so I can stay in school few more years.

I also paid $65 for honor society's lifetime membership fee. I didn't have to join if I didn't want to, and I debated if I should or not. At the end, I decided to join. Not sure what the benefits are for these honor society, though.

I got a reply from Monkeymama for my previous post, things people cut back. And she said she is eating out more taking advantage of deals restaurants are offering these days. I feel the same. Since better deals are available at various restaurants, we are taking advantage of it. One man's loss is another man's gain, I guess.

So, at the end, bad economy offers some positives to us.

Like I posted, I am finding more restaurant coupons I've never found before. The local restaurant DH and I often go to now offer 15% off of entire bill, or buy one get second one 50% off cpn. good for any time, any day. This is new. Another steak house we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, is now offering $70 gift card for $50. This is a very nice restaurant and food is excellent. But, it is pricy (we normally pay close to $100 for two of us), so we only go there for very special occasion. Now, I am thinking about taking DH to dinner for father's day.

DH and I went to IHOP for breakfast yesterday.

He tells me that he has been thinking about what people have been cut back due to this bad economy, and which store would go down. (btw, he is not much of saver.)

I told him people are eating out less. I can tell by the promotion restaurants offer. For example, I had a coupon for IHOP, good for any day of the week. I could not find an IHOP coupon good for any day before. It was only good for Mon - Fri, not valid on weekend. Now, they're giving out coupons that are good on weekend as well.

We tried to think of some other things, but couldn't think of much since our spending pattern hasn't changed much and couldn't tell from our own experience.

Can you think of anything?

I found a newspaper ad showing 7% 12 months certificate for new member of Patelco Credit Union. I checked their location and they're all over in California, and one in Chicago. So, my fellow Californians, if you have $1,000 to spare for 12 months, this is a good deal.

http://www.patelco.org/default.aspx

Website says:
7% New Member Special Certificate.
- 12-month term
- $1,000 maximum
- $1,000 minimum opening balance.
- Available for new members only.

* The Dividend Rates and Annual Percentage Yield are effective as of June 4, 2007, and are subject to change at any time. Minimum deposit $1,000, maximum deposit $1,000. Rate is 6.785%. Term is 12 months. At maturity the certificate will renew at Patelco's current yield for a regular 12-23 month share certificate. Penalty for early withdrawal. Available for a limited time. Funds deposited to this account must come from an institution other than Patelco. Account available to new members only-must open a new membership. One certificate per member.

It is also offering $50 for opening a checking account with direct deposit.

Finally, I started functioning again. Boy, this was a baaaaaad case of flu. I've never been this sick in my life. I was down from Friday evening, and finally started feeling better yesterday.

There are some things I wanted to do, and I have a lot to catch up because I lost five days being sick and could not do anything.

First thing to do was to tally up my March coupon/rebate savings.

$481.11!! Walgreen's RR deal was a big kicker, and so was Office Depot. This amount does NOT include $200 I saved for Lens Crafter coupons. I won't count it because it was already funded and budgeted in my FSA. Seperate fund, means no cash flow impact for my regular chceking account.

Anyway, $481.11 added to my EF.

My ING account showed March interest of 5.60 and the balance was $2,326.13. New balance will be $2,807.24 after I deposit my coupon/rebate savings.

I started feeling bad Friday afternoon. So, I left work little early and came home, went straight to bed. I am still in bed.....

I think I got flu. Finally, fever is gone, but still feeling weak. I called my boss and told her I'm taking a day off. I don't want to push and make it worse.

I know this flu came from my co-worker. He kept coming to work even though he was really sick last week. Grrrr!!! STAY HOME, DUDE!!

I'm hoping to recover by tomorrow. I hate being sick.

One of my neighbor was telling me that they don't have any money. I knew she got laid off about a year ago, and haven't found a job, yet. And, she told me that she is "overqualified" for many jobs. Hmmmmm...... I don't think she has a college degree. So, what makes her think she is over-qualified??? A clerk at Taco Bell?

This type of attitude really puzzles me because she is complaining that they don't have any money. But, she is not working. Not even a part-time job. I guess she is not working because she is over-qualified and doesn't want to take ANY job. But for more than a year???

There are many things people do I just don't understand.

In general, wives are in charge of household finance in the country I'm from.

How to save money is one of most popular articles in women's magazines. Most of my friends (female) handle money for their family, and give their husbands an allowance.

My parents were same way. My mother was SAHM, and she handled money. When my father got paid, it went straight to her, and she was giving him an allowance.

Most of my friends, as far as I know, handle household finance as well. They pay bills, put money in savings, and make a decision about large purchases. Actually, car dealers won't take a man seriously until wife shows up with him. They know husbands are not the final decision makers.

Also, it is common for husbands to negotiate a raise of their allowance with his wife when they get their salary raise.

So, I was shocked when I came to the U.S. and saw my friend's husband giving her money when we took a girls' trip. I have never seen it before..... I thought it was interesting how different cultures handle money differently between men and women.

During last two days, I bought these at Office Depot.

1 Glue stick
2 500 ct index card
5 various index cards
4 Scotch tape
20 sheets of trading card holder
3 Zipper envelope
1 Case of water (24 ct)
4 post it notes
5 pens

I paid $4.79 and this amount includes tax and CRV for water.

Wonderful promotion by Office Depot!!

I hope you all had a nice Easter. We were really low key. Yesterday, I did a couple of deal hunting, Office Depot. and Rite Aid, then, came home and clipped coupons & organize them for a couple of hours. I finally found trading card holders at Office Depot. When I started couponing, I learned many people use binder method for their coupon organization and they use trading card holders. When I went to buy them before, they were out and I have been using bigger pocket type (picture holders) that holds less number of coupons.

I was really happy to find trading card holders this time. They were $2.49 each, so I grabbed two packages and added a scotch tape that were on clearance for 25 cents to make total more than $5. After $5 coupon, I paid 25 cents : ) Free coupon organizer for me.

By the way, I went to Lens Crafters to order my new glasses on Saturday. I have a pair but they are almost 10 years old and I can hardly see anything. It was waaay over due to get a new pair. Why did I go on Saturday? Because the expiration date for 50% off lenses coupon was Saturday. I know, I know. My life goes around coupons. Anyway, I checked other deals and coupons, but 50% off lenses seems to be the best deal. I knew there are BOGO coupons, too, but I don't need two pairs of glasses. I normally wear contact lenses and glasses are for night time use.

Anyway, at the end of the day, it saved me $200. Original price $569.95 - $200 = $369.95. Still, a good chunk of money. I called my benefit company on Thursday and made sure that I can buy my glasses with my FSA card. So, the money came out from my FSA fund.

$5 off/$5 purcahse coupon is out again from Office Depot. They had this promo a while ago, and I got some stuff for almost free.

This coupon is good for today and tomorrow, so I went to two Office Depot. to get things we use.

First store:
1 large glue stick
3 index cards
Paid 60 cents.

Second store:
2 baseball card holder (for my coupon organization)
1 scotch tape
Paid 25 cents.

I love their promotion!!

I found this in CNN Money.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0803/gallery.real_stories/index.html

While I felt sorry for some of these people, I think some people are their own enemy.

I don't want to be too harsh on them. I'm not perfect, either. And, make mistakes here and there all the time.

Maybe we should tell them to read Saving Advice.