20 Financial Milestones for Your 20s

This list has also been going around the blogs too.  It is very interesting to see how other bloggers measure their financial security, and what they consider to be financial milestones.  For me, this list would look a little differently if I wasn't married, but there'd be crossover even if I wasn't.  Marriage might have shifted my priorities, but it didn't change my core values.

# 1 – Finance a dream vacation…in cash Done.  If our honeymoon wasn't a dream vacation...I don't know what would be! :)  However, even if I wasn't married, I don't think I'd plan a trip w/o being able to afford it. 

# 2 – Pay off your student loans
I paid off both of my undergraduate and graduate loans with no interest within 6 months of graduation.  I did the former on my own, and Jerry helped me with the latter.  If I had paid off my graduate one on my own, it would have taken me longer than 6 months to do it, but I probably could have done it within a year.  I would have owed interest, which I hate, but it would have been minimal.  My graduate education has already paid for itself, so in the long run, any interest I would have owed I would have just counted as an investment.

# 3 – Automate paying your credit card bill in full
I don't assign my bill to be paid automatically, but I do pay in full every month.  I will automate payments made to my account...but I prefer to control payments that come out of my account.

# 4 – Get rid of all bad debt
I have zero bad debt, since I don't believing in shopping for something that I can't afford.  I never understood why people borrow money to get married.  Things like weddings and cars depreciate.  A house doesn't, and nor does an education.  There aren't that many things that can be considered "good debt" but I consider the latter two to be.

# 5 – Build an adequate emergency fund
Done.  This was not my priority when I was in my early 20s.  But after seeing our economy tank in 2008 it was a wake up call that we all could lose our jobs, homes, etc at any given time with no warning. 

# 6 – Make your first, and last, investment mistake
I did some dumb things with my money after college.  I had my savings all over the place- in a Wachovia account, in a Charles Schwab fund, and I don't even remember the name of where my first 403b was (the second was ING, and that was a big mess too).  I wasn't properly managing all my accounts or keeping track of them.  Here's something especially dumb: I filed all the paperwork to contribute to my 403b, but it never got approved due to some communication confusion with ING.  I completely forgot about it for nearly a year when I then realized that crap, how come my paycheck doesn't have any 403b deductions?  It turned out that I wasn't contributing that whole, and therefore my old company was not matching.  So I lost many months worth of investing.  Yes, very irresponsible!  My retirement funds were pretty much a mess up until Jerry finally decided to overhaul everything a few months ago.  And someday he's going to sit me down and explain my retirement funds to me because this investment stuff really confuses me. 

# 7 – Develop a statement of cash flows
I do this in my head.  Kudos to those who keep spreadsheets though!

# 8 & 9 Max out a Roth & Contribute to your 401(k)
Doing and done.

# 10 – Get a degree or certification that increases your earning power
Done.  It's already paid for itself.

# 11 – Take a career risk
I'm pretty risk adverse when it comes to many things.  I've never jumped to a totally different career.  And now that that husbands and children are in the equation, I'm not sure if I will either... 

# 12 – Negotiate something
Jerry and I negotiate for better deals all the time!  Jerry will even go as far as to send in hand typed letters instead of emails.  

# 13 – Earn your first side grand
I don't know if this is for me.  I enjoy my job but I like to keep it separate from my personal life.  If I start spending my personal time trying to do more work, I'm not sure if I'll stay mentally happy or healthy.

# 14 – Start a sub-savings account for an upcoming financial goal
I do this in my head, but not physically.

# 15 – Set a target retirement date
2040 thereabouts!

# 16 – Monitor your credit
I went through a situation where a couple of people with my name with bad credit had been getting their credit mixed up with mine.  It was an absolute nightmare to fix, but I think it was finally done.  Jerry also really helped me out immensely by writing letters and faxing them to the 3 bureaus.

# 17 – Say no to a financial salesman
We say no all the time.

# 18 – Give just enough to make it hurt
I don't feel like I'm in a position to give financially to people that I don't know.  Maybe when I'm older? 

# 19 – Invest $1 for every $1 you spend
I'm not sure about this one.

# 20 – Start a 529 College Savings Plan
Done.  Probably something I wouldn't have done if I wasn't married.

11 Goals for 2011

Since I loooooooove making lists, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and start another one.  11 things for 2011 has been going around the blogs and reading about others' goals have made excited to set new ones for myself.  Here goes!

1. Visit a different state 
2. Beat my old 10k official best of 1:16:12 (I know, I'm so slow!)
3. Fly a kite (seriously, I've been saying this for years)
4. Buy a new-to-me vegetable to cook
5. Find a place to play badminton (or sneak into my old HS gym :P)
6. Find a volunteer opportunity
7. Attend a musical performance
8. Buy a new board game for our home collection (I've got my eye on Quelf or Foodie Fight)
9. Watch a movie on the big screen (the last movie I saw was summer 2009)
10. Go to a sporting event
11. Camp in a new place (I've been to 4 unique campsites in the last 2.75 years)

I'm very excited for 2011!

Peeps from the Past

A couple things prompted me to write this:

Last week, I was on my way to a meeting in Claremont and decided to take a rarely used shortcut to skip part of the freeway.  I passed by my mom's old manager's office and it was the first time I thought about him in over a decade.

Last night, Jerry ran into an old childhood friend that he hadn't seen since 6th grade...make that 20 years!

Both instances made me think about people during the pre-Facebook years that were part of my life and how I have no clue what happened to them now.  In some instances I don't even know their names but I remember things about them that have stayed with me until today.

Sodani Ung:
My best friend in 2nd/3rd grade at El Portrero ES in Moreno Valley.  We were one of the only few Asians in our school!  You would think with a name spelled like that...I'd be able to facebook her, huh?  Nope.  Since I moved to El Monte in 1991, we completely lost touch of each other.

Derek Brown:
Yep, I had crushes as early as 2nd grade.  (Which makes me feel like a late bloomer, given that kids nowadays are engaged by kindergarten.)  He was a cute white boy that went to the same school as me and Sodani.  That's all I remember.  He probably isn't that cute now...(Remember the taxi scene from 13 Going on 30- Chris Grandy?)

Eddie (no last name):
As a single mom my mom was pretty handy and did as much as she could around the house, but there were some things she couldn't do, so she paid Eddie, our neighbor in our cul de sac, to take care of odd jobs like mowing the lawn or mounting large frames to the wall.  He was always so nice, quiet, and laidback.  I remember that his wife had a very strong personality, and they had a lot of daughters, so he was probably overruled all the time. :)

Thao Vuong Quang:
We were neighbors (in the same cul de sac as Eddie) and used to walk to school together.  I was actually about 3 years older so we were able to play with each other for a while (pogs and bikes- not dolls and tea cups type playing), but we didn't really see each other that much since we both moved to different parts of El Monte and never overlapped in school again.  Now, I might have a shot at getting in contact with her again, as our moms used to be friends.  I went to her brother's wedding many years and we exchanged contact info...but that's all I remember.  I probably lost the slip of paper.  I don't know if our moms keep in touch anymore...I'll have to ask one of the days.  I totally wouldn't mind catching up with her now, 3 years isn't a big deal when you're older.  Again, she's not Facebook-able.  But then again, neither am I, as of September 18, 2010. :)

David Onsurez:
Another crush from 5th grade.  Seriously, that's all I remember.

The aforementioned boss:
I don't even know his name, and right now I can't even remember the Vietnamese name that I used to call him by!  I do remember my mom would ask him how's dating life, and he would tell us that his trick in screening girls on dates was to pick them up in his really ugly white van, instead of a regular car.  If the girls didn't seem to care, then he knew they weren't as superficial...but if they didn't like it, then he wouldn't even bother with a second date.  Now with Facebook, it's pretty easy to pre-screen a date, and not just go off the model and make of a car. :)

The Ly family:
Most of my family tree stays in contact with each other.  It's pretty easy because we all live in So Cal, with the exception of some folks in Germany, Canada, and Vietnam.  But there's one branch of my family that I haven't seen or heard from in nearly a decade, and they still live in So Cal.  The family feud happened the generation before mine, so I stayed out of it.  And hence, I don't know exactly what happened.  But cousins that I had celebrated birthdays with, that I had gone on road trips with- I don't know what's going on with them now.  The last time I saw any of them was when they came to visit me at UCLA during my freshman year.  Since the family feud involved the adults, I think we kept in touch via AIM and yahoo mail anyway, but as you know, something called gmail came along...

I wonder what happened to these folks.  I hope where ever they are, they're content and happy with their lives!

Do you have people like that from your past?  Ungoogleable, unfacebookable, unsearchable?

Listening To: Vitamin String Quartet

I had a really hard time choosing music for our ceremony at first.  I was torn between modern (but I did not want sung lyrics) versus traditional/instrumental music.  I've just never warmed up to Beethoven, Vivaldi, Wagner, and co.  And while Jim Brickman has composed some nice pieces, they were on the bland side.  I enjoyed the Love Story/Viva La Vida mashup from Jon Schmidt, but that was too short and I didn't want to keep playing it on a loop.  Finally, thanks to the plethora of blogs out there, I discovered the Vitamin String Quartet.  VSQ covers common/popular songs in a string/instrumental format.  Of course I immediately forgot about searching for wedding appropriate tunes but instead youtubed all my favorite artists that were out there and seeing if VSQ had covered them.  Eventually I did buckle down and chose this line up for the prelude:

VSQ- Boys Don't Cry (The Cure)
VSQ- Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol)
VSQ- Hands Down (Dashboard Confessional)
VSQ- Love Story (Taylor Swift)
VSQ- Marching Bands of Manhattan (Death Cab For Cutie)
VSQ- One Sweet Day (Mariah Carey)
VSQ- Shadow of the Day (Linkin Park)
VSQ- Stolen (Dashboard Confessional)
VSQ- Yellow (Coldplay)
VSQ- Viva La Vida (Coldplay)

Their covers are extensive and branch across many genres of music.  While I don't think that all the VSQ covers sound great (I didn't really like any of the Goo Goo Dolls covers as much), they do make great substitutions when you want familiar music that isn't distracting.  VSQ was perfect for my wedding.  I used them in the processional as well, but that's another post!

Right now I have VSQ's cover of DCFC "The Sound of Settling" on repeat.  Thanks to a $3 Amazon mp3 credit I was able to download it!

Found here:

and here:

 All images via Amazon.  Offer expires midnight tonight!

Okay, to piggyback off my last post- is it "settling" or "settleing?"  >_<

Spell-Check, Anyone?

I read a lot of food blogs/yelp reviews/chowhound/the like.  The spell-checker in me wants to correct people but I always refrain.  I just make sure that I spell/use foodie terms correctly/accurately myself!

It's banh mi...not bahn mi.
It's macaron...not macaroon (you don't buy Pierre Hermé and Ladurée macaroons!).
It's macaroon...not macaron.
It's wiener...not weiner.
It's chipotle/chilpotle, not chipolte!

Confessions of a Justin Bieber Fan

One of us is a Justin Bieber fan.  I won't say who.

Watching the AMAs:
Willow Smith: "Now put your hands together for Justin Bieber!"
One of us: ::clap clap clap clap::

Googling Justin Bieber:
One of us: "Did you know that there was a online vote to see where Justin Bieber should perform next and everyone chose North Korea??  That would be so funny!!"

Watching Justin Bieber tilt his head as his hair falls into place:
One of us: "You think if I grow my hair out it'll look like Justin Bieber?"

In the shower:
One of us: "Baby baby baby oh! Baby baby baby oh!  I thought you'd always be mine!!"

Out of the shower:
One of us: "Man, I wish I was a pop star."

On youtube watching the trailer for Never Say Never:
One of us: "Ooh can we go see that in the theater???"
(Keep in mind, the last time either one of us went to a movie theater was at least 1.5 years ago)

The other one of us likes Justin Bieber too.  Just not as much...

A Prime Rib Thanksgiving

We had my parents over for an early Thanksgiving dinner.  We wanted to cook the 8 lb prime rib that was hogging valuable freezer space before we stocked up on a new one (or two, although it really does take up so much space!) next month (PR goes on sale twice a year- xmas and easter- from $7/lb down to $3.50/lb!).

I usually defer any cooking that involves beef to Jerry.  He's really, really great at it, so why try to reinvent the wheel?

3/4 inch thick slices.  My mom killed an entire slice- I was impressed!  Although there was not much to dislike about this- absolutely tender and tasty.

As much as the PR was so delicious that it would have been to hard eat something else, I knew that I wanted a well rounded meal, so I made green bean almondine.  It's so ridiculously easy that I can't believe I used to only cook green beans with oyster sauce.  Now that I'm discovering new ways to cook my favorite veggies, I rarely reach for the aforementioned flavors-for-dummies stir fry sauce.

So I really wanted to show my parents what fresh pasta tasted like.  Our pasta attachment is absolutely wonderful and I bust it out any chance that I get to!  This was a simple egg pasta (eggs, flour, salt, water!!) that I dressed with basil/pine nut/evoo pesto and I added some baked tofu that I had marinated overnight in a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, sesame oil, and sesame seeds.

Not pictured:  I made a roasted cauliflower and potato soup that included bacon, onion, curry, stock, and milk.  It was probably the least popular "dish."  But since I made such a large batch we had it for lunch and I just served a small portion at dinner for my parents to try. 

These awesome cranberry chocolate toffee oatmeal cookies were for my parents to take home.  My friend C had come over earlier today and we made a few batches of cookie dough for some Thanksgiving baking.  I like recipes that allow you to prep days beforehand.  That way I can just bake when I need to and not worry about waking up early or staying up late in the name of freshly baked goods! 

It was nice hanging out with my folks and introducing them to food that isn't...white rice and stir fry/claypot.

Four Eyes

I'm back to being a four eyes...temporarily.

As those close to me know, I've been rocking glasses since I was 11 and contacts since I was 13.  Being a four eyes has been pretty costly for the last 16 years.  I'm grateful that my mom has always made sure that I had the best when it came to my eyes- whether it was special thinner lens or regular check ups.  However, my eyes have gotten worse over the years and I'm pretty much a mess when a contact shifts up my eyeball and I can't see anything for the life of me. 

I've always hated glasses and contacts, but since I've dealt with them for more than half my life, I got used to it.  I first found out about Lasik from my cousin, who did it nearly 10 years ago.  Of course back then it was a foreign concept to me.  Fast forward to a couple years ago when I made the decision that I wanted to get it done in the near future, before I had kids.  I didn't want to do it while I was in grad school because it was a costly procedure (and I don't trust places that do it for super cheap, it's my eyes, after all!) and I felt like I wasn't in a position to spend money back then on something that was cosmetic.  I really believe in not spending money that you don't have- so if you're in debt, what are you doing investing in a cosmetic procedure that would put you in even more debt??  Didn't make sense to me financially.  I also thought about doing it before the wedding, but since the recovery time is extensive, I didn't want to commit time to taking care of my eyes while having to do so much other stuff.  In addition, you're supposed to avoid extensive exposure to sunlight for at least 3 months...and our honeymoon was in Fiji...so the timing wasn't working out.

Since I had waited over 15 years, what was another few months?  So I finally decided that I would do it before the end of this year.  I knew all along that I would go with UCLA, as 1. three of my friends (including Jerry) have done it there with the same doc, and 2. alumni discount!  The procedure is still costly (over 5k), but definitely worth it when I think about how much my mom and I have spent on glasses, lens, solution, and check ups over the years.   The catch was that for those who wear hard contact lenses they have to wear regular glasses for 3-4 weeks prior to the consult and subsequent procedure.

Because my glasses were outdated and I couldn't see as well in them (yeah, I went 3 years without a check up, oops) I had to quickly make an appointment to get new glasses.  Thank god for insurance because when it was all said and done, I paid only 200 bucks for them.  I saved a lot of money by opting to use the same frame.  It seems kind of silly to pay that much money for something that I'll only need for a month, but since I spent 10-12 hours a day in front of the computer and also because there are times when I need to drive late at night, I needed the strongest and best quality glasses to enable me to do my job and live my life.  I've gotten a lot of compliments on them since many of my friends/colleagues don't see me in glasses...but honestly I hate them.  It's been a week and they already annoy me!  But oh well...my consult is in 3 weeks and my surgery is the week after that...so I'll think of it as the homestretch.  

Now if only they wouldn't get in the way whenever I worked out!

Photobooks Galore

Too many choices out there for photobooks.

I'm going to have to refer to this round-up when I need to start making some albums!  I already have a Groupon for $60 worth of Blurb books, but that probably won't go very far so I'm interested in trying out other companies.  Will post reviews...eventually.  I just feel so lazy to even get started!! 

Undecisive: Holiday Cards

I decided against making my own holiday cards this year because I have other DIY plans for the holidays.  Minted is offering 40% to former customers (I did my wedding invites with them) for one product, so I'm highly considering using them again.

The only thing is I can't decide which card!

Jerry likes this one more.  I do too, but I'm worried that it's a bit too cheesy lovey dovey?  I think I've made it clear that I'm not really one for PDA in any shape or form!  Or maybe I'm just being too paranoid.  It is awfully cute!!  And the pale blue is so pretty.

The picture is not as cute, but I like having two picture slots.  And it's "safer." 

I just realized that I could probably solve the snowman card problem by creating a collage out of 2 pictures and uploading it as one image onto the website.  But I'm worried about the quality, picasa tends to lower image quality when making collages, grrr.

I think I'm leaning towards the snowman one...but I don't know!  I'll have to sit on it for a week or so.