In my entire life, well the past 10-15 years or so, I have read a number of financial books. There were books that I found very difficult to understand and some requires a bit of digging (research) before I knew what I was reading. Actually, there were books that I do not understand today.
Recently, I stumble upon Suze Orman's show on Channel 13 and then decided to get some of her books from the library. One of the books I got from the library is "The money book for the young, fabulous & broke".
In the “don’t do it” section of her book, she mentioned:
“People first. Then money. Then things. So what’s it mean? The nature of money is that it will come and go in your life. And the last time I checked, there’s no way you can take a penny of it with you when you finally exit this world. I can also promise you that when you are on your deathbed, you are not going to be thinking about how great your life would have been if only you had bought that latest and greatest car, plasma TV, or fabulous outfit you always wanted.”
Had I known what I know today, I would've done somethings differently when I was younger.
Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
New year resolutions, financial wake up calls, keeping track of expenses
As the new year rolls in, I looked over last year’s new year resolutions and to check off the ones I have accomplished. I am not sure if it is accomplished if I have looked into something but it was better than not doing anything at all. The only one that I can check off is getting pregnant.
As this year starts, I have another list (only 5 this year). And I have started on 4 of the 5 on the list.
Selling the property is one of our resolutions this year. We had a low offer on the second week after we listed our property on the MLS. After many considerations, I have decided not to go through with it because the buyer did not qualify for a conventional loan. They wanted a FHA loan which I thought it was a hassle and it might take longer than necessary to complete the transaction.
And then came the snow storms. We practically have one every few days. We hire a landscape guy who looks after the property when it snows. We send him a money order and a little extra fee to cover the fee when he cashes the money order or check. So far it’s going well. I hope the storm stops soon and we’ll sell the house as soon as possible to cut our costs. Even thought it’s an investment property and all expenses are tax deductible but they are still out of pocket money for now.
When I started looking into our financials, I looked into my 401-k which I left at one of the companies that I worked. I no longer work there for 4 years but my 401-k is still there. I didn’t touch it at all. When the recession came in 2008, my portfolio lost half of it’s value and now it finally caught up to what it once was. That’s when I got a wake up call and realized I should’ve looked into my financials more closely. I rolled over my 401-k to an IRA last month.
One of the few things that I have been procrastinating to do is setup Quickbooks (an accounting software) and keep track of our expenses. I spent most the day yesterday putting in our expenses for the month of January. First I jot down all the expenses in a piece of accounting paper as the days go by. After I setup the chart of account in Quickbooks, I entered those charges into Quickbooks. There are some looking and digging but I finally did it in one day. And January is one of our bigger expense months. It has Chinese New Year expenses, property taxes, and some after Christmas shopping. I used to keep some of our expenses in a spreadsheet but it is much better to use an accounting software to keep track of expenses. You can see all the details that make up the amount with just one click. It’s not a complete functional company profile with assets, liabilities and income. The main purpose for us right now is keeping track of expenses. Does it count every penny we spent? No, I think I have about 95% of all the expenses. There are times when my husband buys lunch at work and he does not like to keep track of every penny he spends (which drives me crazy at times).
I think it’s a good start for now.
As this year starts, I have another list (only 5 this year). And I have started on 4 of the 5 on the list.
Selling the property is one of our resolutions this year. We had a low offer on the second week after we listed our property on the MLS. After many considerations, I have decided not to go through with it because the buyer did not qualify for a conventional loan. They wanted a FHA loan which I thought it was a hassle and it might take longer than necessary to complete the transaction.
And then came the snow storms. We practically have one every few days. We hire a landscape guy who looks after the property when it snows. We send him a money order and a little extra fee to cover the fee when he cashes the money order or check. So far it’s going well. I hope the storm stops soon and we’ll sell the house as soon as possible to cut our costs. Even thought it’s an investment property and all expenses are tax deductible but they are still out of pocket money for now.
When I started looking into our financials, I looked into my 401-k which I left at one of the companies that I worked. I no longer work there for 4 years but my 401-k is still there. I didn’t touch it at all. When the recession came in 2008, my portfolio lost half of it’s value and now it finally caught up to what it once was. That’s when I got a wake up call and realized I should’ve looked into my financials more closely. I rolled over my 401-k to an IRA last month.
One of the few things that I have been procrastinating to do is setup Quickbooks (an accounting software) and keep track of our expenses. I spent most the day yesterday putting in our expenses for the month of January. First I jot down all the expenses in a piece of accounting paper as the days go by. After I setup the chart of account in Quickbooks, I entered those charges into Quickbooks. There are some looking and digging but I finally did it in one day. And January is one of our bigger expense months. It has Chinese New Year expenses, property taxes, and some after Christmas shopping. I used to keep some of our expenses in a spreadsheet but it is much better to use an accounting software to keep track of expenses. You can see all the details that make up the amount with just one click. It’s not a complete functional company profile with assets, liabilities and income. The main purpose for us right now is keeping track of expenses. Does it count every penny we spent? No, I think I have about 95% of all the expenses. There are times when my husband buys lunch at work and he does not like to keep track of every penny he spends (which drives me crazy at times).
I think it’s a good start for now.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tracking Expenses Manually (inspired by frugaldad’s blog)
A while back, I attempted to write down all expenses on a daily basis for 1 week. I believe I did spoke to my husband about it and he agreed to do that. It was an eye opened for both of us. I believe I’ve used excel to track that.
After reading frugaldad’s blog, I attempt to do it one more time. However, this time, we’ll log our expenses manually and we’ll do it for 1 month (my husband agree to do it for a month). I am excited that he agrees to do it. It’s not easy convincing one’s spouse and I’m sure some of you know what I am talking about.
My first response was trying to get 13 columns columnar paper from Staples or ebay because it’s a lot neater to track anything that way. I would keep double entry on the ledger. After reading some of the comments in frugaldad’s blog, I decided to just use spiral notebook which I have many on hand which I purchased them last year or the year before (before school year started). It was very cheap to get those spiral notebooks. It might be 10-20 cents each for 70 pages. I will have a 4 columns on each pager, they will be 1) date 2) description 3) expense category 1 4) expense category 2. I have about 8-9 categories of expenses and will take 3 pages both back and front. At the end of the month, I will tally up at the end of the page. And I will do this for all the months (if my husband decided to do this all the way through the year till 6/30/2011). We’ll sit down and look at the numbers each month and discuss it.
I’m excited! And I can’t wait to start officially on July 1st.
After reading frugaldad’s blog, I attempt to do it one more time. However, this time, we’ll log our expenses manually and we’ll do it for 1 month (my husband agree to do it for a month). I am excited that he agrees to do it. It’s not easy convincing one’s spouse and I’m sure some of you know what I am talking about.
My first response was trying to get 13 columns columnar paper from Staples or ebay because it’s a lot neater to track anything that way. I would keep double entry on the ledger. After reading some of the comments in frugaldad’s blog, I decided to just use spiral notebook which I have many on hand which I purchased them last year or the year before (before school year started). It was very cheap to get those spiral notebooks. It might be 10-20 cents each for 70 pages. I will have a 4 columns on each pager, they will be 1) date 2) description 3) expense category 1 4) expense category 2. I have about 8-9 categories of expenses and will take 3 pages both back and front. At the end of the month, I will tally up at the end of the page. And I will do this for all the months (if my husband decided to do this all the way through the year till 6/30/2011). We’ll sit down and look at the numbers each month and discuss it.
I’m excited! And I can’t wait to start officially on July 1st.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Being practical or being fashionable
Today is the day when TV that use analogs services ends. I quickly turn on the TV and my TV converter is working well. Whewww! If you still haven’t gotten your TV converter box coupon of $40, here is the link. There is a deadly on the coupon and if you lose it or let it expire, you are not going to get another one from the government. It’s a one per household deal.
My husband wanted to get one of the flat panel TV ever since we were dating and into marriage. I told him no, we don’t NEED it. The big bulky TV that you have is fine. Maybe one day we’ll get a Flat Panel TV…what do they call it? LCD or something??? I know a lot of people we know already own one of these flat panel LCD TV and subscribe to Cablevision, when they found out that we have neither, they were surprised. Why so surprised about that? We simply tell them, we hardly watch TV. We usually download FREE movies online or download shows online and see them online. I still can not understand how people spend $70-$80 per month on cable. If they take that money and invest it or simply save it, what would they have now? I am always concerned about the monthly payment that one has to pay. Sometimes, they are small amounts like $30 per month or $1 per day but they add up and people don’t realize it. My husband is one of those people. I on the other hand, I don’t mind spending one big lump some on an item as long as it is practical…that it will last me a long time.
One of the examples is - I found a pair of pants that fit me really well, the price was reasonable and they had different colors. What did I do? I ended up buying 4 pairs of different colors. Well they are summer pants and the colors are professional so it was nice. I’ve been wearing them the past years (4-5) and they are still good. Just the other day, I figure I try them out if I still fit them after going thru pregnancy. And I couldn’t believe I still fit in all of them.
Another exmple: I found a nice handbag which has no labels – like Gucci, Prada, Liz and what have you. I’ve been looking for a nice handbag without labels (I don’t want to advertise for them for free) for a long time and I finally found it and they come in 2 colors. Guess what I did? I bought 2 black ones and 2 of the other color (beige like). The patterns are nice and I do not think they will go out of style that quickly – they are not those fashionable handbags that only last one season. Like I said, I go for practicality. Do I still use those bags today? Of course! There is another bag story that I have to blog about…but that’s for later.
Has anyone out there done anything like this? I don't think this is crazy because I have seen on TV there was a gentleman who buys the same pants and shirts and he wears the same thing (not the same shirt and pants) everyday of his life. He owns 7-8 identical sets of clothing. Everyday is the same thing so he doesn't have to think about what to wear today.
My husband wanted to get one of the flat panel TV ever since we were dating and into marriage. I told him no, we don’t NEED it. The big bulky TV that you have is fine. Maybe one day we’ll get a Flat Panel TV…what do they call it? LCD or something??? I know a lot of people we know already own one of these flat panel LCD TV and subscribe to Cablevision, when they found out that we have neither, they were surprised. Why so surprised about that? We simply tell them, we hardly watch TV. We usually download FREE movies online or download shows online and see them online. I still can not understand how people spend $70-$80 per month on cable. If they take that money and invest it or simply save it, what would they have now? I am always concerned about the monthly payment that one has to pay. Sometimes, they are small amounts like $30 per month or $1 per day but they add up and people don’t realize it. My husband is one of those people. I on the other hand, I don’t mind spending one big lump some on an item as long as it is practical…that it will last me a long time.
One of the examples is - I found a pair of pants that fit me really well, the price was reasonable and they had different colors. What did I do? I ended up buying 4 pairs of different colors. Well they are summer pants and the colors are professional so it was nice. I’ve been wearing them the past years (4-5) and they are still good. Just the other day, I figure I try them out if I still fit them after going thru pregnancy. And I couldn’t believe I still fit in all of them.
Another exmple: I found a nice handbag which has no labels – like Gucci, Prada, Liz and what have you. I’ve been looking for a nice handbag without labels (I don’t want to advertise for them for free) for a long time and I finally found it and they come in 2 colors. Guess what I did? I bought 2 black ones and 2 of the other color (beige like). The patterns are nice and I do not think they will go out of style that quickly – they are not those fashionable handbags that only last one season. Like I said, I go for practicality. Do I still use those bags today? Of course! There is another bag story that I have to blog about…but that’s for later.
Has anyone out there done anything like this? I don't think this is crazy because I have seen on TV there was a gentleman who buys the same pants and shirts and he wears the same thing (not the same shirt and pants) everyday of his life. He owns 7-8 identical sets of clothing. Everyday is the same thing so he doesn't have to think about what to wear today.
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