The weekend went by pretty fast. I was on call (from work) on Saturday and Sunday so it wasn’t fun but nothing major happened and I am thankful for that.
My husband is still at his (part-time) workplace. I miss him so much. He left at 5 and it has been 6 hours since he left. Shortly after he left, I went grocery shopping. There were so many BOGO deals at the local supermarket so I got bunch of those things. I got home around 7PM and then I started cooking and cleaning up the house. I made lunches and dinners for my husband. I packed his lunch for tomorrow. I got done about 9PM. Then I had dinner–angel hair pasta with clams in tomato and garlic sauce. At around 10, I had the time to take shower. I felt so tired afterward. I am ready to go to bed. But I miss my husband so much. I wish he was here. I am glad he only has to work Thursday and Saturday this week.
I rented bunch of old movies from Blockbuster several days ago and I plan on watching them all week this week. Hopefully tomorrow, my husband would watch one of them with me. He is not a big fan of old movies.
I am so tired.
I need to read the bible first before going to bed. And say few Novenas to the Virgin Mary. I plan on going to the church to attend the Novena mass tomorrow at noon. I have done this for he last 3 months now. I love it. I always look forward to Monday noons.
I hope everyone had a great week. If you did, please do not forget to give thanks to God. He makes all things possible. May you will be followed by another great week ahead.
God bless everyone.
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This week went pretty smooth. No major issues or anything like that–always nice, unlike last week (read: an entire week filled with drama of my old bank).
I started the week with a debate of what to do with the money my mom is going to send to me–a total of $25,000 (but $5000 is for round-trip plane tickets to visit my family). By mid week, I made a decision that I’d use the money to pay off both my husband’s and my debts. This will eliminate a little more than $800 in CC payments monthly. Therefore, it would enable us to save about $2250/month. I realized that we have super high car payments: 2 cars for $625. The payoff amount for 2 cars would be around $20,000.
We plan to eliminate the car payments by March 2009. I figured we’d be able to save $2000/month x 6 months (through March ‘09) = $12,000. Add about $13,000 in annual bonus from my job; this equals $25,000–by March 2009.
The $2000/month saving is the minimum we’ll save. After expenses+ misc. we should have about $2500/month left over but I say we’ll try to save $2000 and leave the $500 for miscelaneous. The $2000/month saving plan also does not include the money my husband gets from his part-time job either.
My husband has a part-time job (outside his full-time job) that will bring in about $400 – 600/month. I’d say $500/month in average. We plan to use this money for house renovation purpose.
The $25,000 that we’d save by March ‘09 will be used to pay off car payments. By April 2009, we should be completely debt-free except for the mortgage. And since we would not have any debts, we’d be able to save my paychecks and live on my husband’s paychecks alone.
So this is pretty much where we are as far as our financial situation. I know I am extemely lucky in this case to have very very generous parents. I feel that now I finally see a brighter financial future for me and my husband. I am extremely happy that we’ll be able to achieve our financial freedom in 6 months. And when we have the baby in 2010, we won’t have any debts–except for the mortgage–and a big chunk of savings.
Happiness is around the corner.
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What a tiring day today.
I started my day waking up at 8.30AM. I had a 9.10AM class at the local Catholic church followed by mass at 10 – 11AM. Then I stopped by at the church’s bookstore to get some new books.
My husband and I did laundry as soon as we got home. It took us an hour to finish.
The fun part of the day was when we went to take a short cruise at the ocean. Just me and my husband. It was about an hour and fifteen minutes long. Never done this cruise before so we had fun. And then we had a nice lunch together at a restaurant in front of the marina. We overspent by $14!!!!!!!!! Budget was $40. But it was worth it. I had leftover I brought home for lunch tomorrow. My husband and I walked around the surrounding area close to the marina. It was a nice day today. I saw an Italian gelato shop and I couldn’t resist to try. I had a Banana and Vanilla gelato ($4.20). Yum. I shared it with my husband. He didn’t like it much–too sweet he said. I liked it.
The weekend is almost over. Tomorrow is Monday already. I can say this week went pretty fast but I enjoyed it. I am looking forward to another busy and fun week!!!
Lastly, this is kind of random, I want to say that I am in love with my husband all over again. I am soooo glad I married him. Can’t imagine my life without him. I am so thankful for him in my life. He is one of the best things happened in my life. I will cherish the rest of my life with him.
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It’s Friday.
We have no plans for tonight. Just chilling out at home. My husband is running right now. I just had dinner–left over from last night. I wanted to go have some dim sum but I changed my mind. I just wanted something quick and I happen to have some left over so I just heated it up and ate it. Maybe tomorrow morning we’d have light breakfast somewhere.
I opened a new bank account today with local credit union. I opened a joint checking and saving account. I will have my direct deposit with this bank. Two people at work recommended it to me. My husband and I opened a saving account with another credit union a long time ago but we closed it. So far, my husband is planning on closing his Compass bank account and he will switch to our new credit union bank. We do not like Compass bank!!! They suck.
Tomorrow, saturday, my husband’s college football team is playing in town. I think he might like to go. I have some cash so I will see if we could scavenge 2 cheap tickets. If not, he’ll probably watch it from home. Or a sport bar. Either way does not matter.
I need to do some home improvement shopping in the morning. I’ll go early to beat the crowds.
On Sunday, after church, my husband and I are going to take a River cruise!! I am so excited. It’ll be nice and quiet. Just me and my husband. We’ll go on the cruise and have a nice lunch together. I am looking forward to it.
Cruise $0 (we bought the tickets long time ago on silent auction; we got it for real cheap)
Gas $20
Foods $30 – 40 (with tips)
Total: $50 – 60
Now talking about money, we have $3375 saved in my Emigrant Direct saving. I have $195 in my new saving account with the local credit union. My intention is to increase the saving with local bank to $6000 and eventually increase my Emigrant Direct saving up to $6000 as well ($12,000 = about 4 months of living expenses). I like Emigrant Direct since it is giving me 3% interest as of today. But since it is an online account, I do have little problem in accessing it in time of emergency. I don’t think the credit union gives any good interest rates at all but at least it is convinience when I need it (they have various ATM locations and many branches in town).
March 2009, I should be receiving between $10,000 – $13,000 in bonus (after tax) from work. If my mom sends us some money to fix up the house, then we could save all my bonus!!! I am hoping that I will get at least $200/month raise for year 2009 (after 2% increase in my retirement account).
Ok. My husband is here now. I will spend some time with him.
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My husband is helping his grandma right now. He’s only been gone for over an hour and I miss him already. I cooked but my husband is not here so I ate dinner alone.
My husband just called. He said that his grandma gave him a twin bed set. We happen to need one for our family room–for a daybed. So this is good. We won’t have to buy one which translates to money saving. Yay.
Today was so boring at work. I just couldn’t wait to go home. Tomorrow is Friday so I am super excited. I have no plans so far though. I think I’d like to wind down somewhere. Maybe at a small restaurant somewhere where they have live music.
Ok. Got to go. Bath time. The Office is coming up soon.
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What a busy day today.
We started the day by going to my neighbor’s estate sale across the street. Everything was 50% off. We bought a beautiful vintage sofa for $265. This was in the morning. Around 2PM, the sale was closing and the sellers were informing us that they were selling everything cheap. We went back to the estate sale and we bought an antique folding table for $25; an antique crystal chandelier for $30; and we got a free poster of our old city. All and all, we spent a little over $500 in a weekend. Boy. That was a lot of money!!!!!!!! But it was worth the money.
My husband painted half the floor in our family room. So ….. yes it is almost done!!!!!!! The family room is ALMOST done!!!! it’s 95% done I would say. I am so excited!!! I need to buy new window treatments–I am thinking natural materials, a big rug, a floor lamp, and maybe a pair of bookcases (maybe!!).
After we are done with the family room, my husband will finish the baby/guest room. I’d like to pick up the paint color by next week possibly or in 2 weeks when we get our paycheck.
I am just so happy that finally, even though at a slow rate, our house is coming together. There are still a lot of things we need to fix but we’re getting there. Slowly. I would say in a year or two, this house will be done.
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The weekend turned out to be a busy one for us.
I did a lot of shopping.
In the morning, we went to the antique shop to get a dresser I wanted ($89). Then I saw a small cabinet that would fit perfectly in our bathroom ($149). While we were shopping, my husband spotted another dresser (for him) on sale for $79. So we decided to buy all those 3 items. The dresser I bought for me we put in the master bedroom and the other dresser for my husband we put in the baby/guest room. He is going to need to share that dresser with the baby one day but I am sure it’s ok since he does not have many clothes anyway.
I decided to go clothes shopping in the afternoon with my husband. We went to Marshall’s. I bought all kinds of clothes that were majority on sale ($7 – 10 each). Ipurchased about 10 new clothes (tops, dresses, pants), some underwears, and several kitchen items. I was shopping when my husband’s grandma called. She asked my husband to get her several items for her apartment. After shopping, we went to grandma’s house. She made me some fish and steaks for my husband for dinner. It was good. My husband then took her to Walmart to get the stuff she needed while I stayed in her apartment watching TV.
Sunday morning we went to churh in the morning. Then we had lunch at a pizza place. I decided that I wanted to get a new bedding set from Belk (their Biltmore collection – Angelica set). So I bought the whole set. It was pricey but I absolutely love it and it goes well with the décor of the house so I am going to use that for a long long time. I also bought a pair of black satin shoes that day. It was on sale. I got it for $35 (Nine West). After that we went grocery shopping.
I cooked dinner that evening. I was pretty pooped out when I was done with everything.
Next weekend I am going to take it easy. I know I need to take Melissa somewhere but I think I am just going to take her see a movie on a Saturday morning. I have no plans on going shopping next weekend. Might need to get some rugs for the master bedroom actually. I plan on finishing decorating the master bedroom before the end of the year.
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Tropical storm Fay just passed. I am glad it is almost over. There was no major damage to our house—just some leaks and lots of debris in our front and back yards. Everyone is safe and that is the most important thing.
My husband and I still keep on discussing about having a baby. Who knew it would be such a hard decision to make. I know I am getting older although I don’t look and feel like it. Anyways. We’re just trying to figure out our plans on getting everything ready for the baby. Like I mentioned earlier, if we could get the majority of the living areas in our house done, that would be wonderful. Then we can start on the baby but until the house is baby-ready, I do not want to start. I want a safe environment for the baby.
So far, we have the living room and the master bedroom done. The family room is 90% done. Next step is the baby room. I want to paint it light yellow/ivory. I figured yellow/light ivory is a neutral color. We plan to use this room as a baby/guest room anyways. The most fun part of decorating a room is choosing the color and the decorations for it. I am having so much fun flipping through home magazines and catalogs. I got Pottery Barn Kids catalog today and I saw several things I really like and I might get them for the baby’s room. I want to decorate the baby room with neutral colors and lots of animal-themed decorations. My husband, on the other hand, wants to decorate the room with sports-related theme.
Today, we stopped by at my favorite antique shop and I saw a cute little dresser. I need one to put in the master bedroom so tomorrow we are going to buy it. It is only $89 which is not bad at all. I same 2 other ones I like but they are around $200 so we’ll have to see if we really want that.
Tomorrow, I might go get a gallon of paint to get the baby/guest room ready. My husband is going to finish the floor. After the room is done, I am going to get the bathroom ready. I am not sure what color we want for the bathroom. I am leaning toward a light blue color.
Ah almost time to go to bed. I have no plans for this weekend except clean up the house and decorate. It’s going to be a nice slow weekend.
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It’s been a fairly great weekend for my husband and I.
Friday evening we didn’t do much. We decided to wind down at home; relaxing with the dogs. It was the Olympic opening ceremony night. I made Shrimp Boil. I used a pound of shrimp; 4 corn ears; about 2 lbs of red potatoes; and 1 onion. Mixed everything together with the seasonings (premade; I bought it from the grocery store). It was good. My husband loved it. We ate it while watching the opening ceremony on TV. My husband loves sport so he is so excited that the Olympic in Beijing, China is started. We enjoyed the opening ceremony so much. I thought it was spectacular.
Saturday morning I took my little sister (from Big Brothers Big Sisters) to get her school supplies and we also went to the library. I came home around 1PM. I made Pumpkin cookies–I know it is Summer but I am craving for some pumpkin cookies. Saturday evening, around 8, we went to a friend’s graduation party. He finished his Phd in education. It was a fun celebration. The foods were great and we met so many new people from the neighborhood. We came home at 11PM. I was so tired by the time we get home. But my husband was so excited about the Olympic he decided to watch the game himself. I don’t know what time he actually went to bed but I think it was late.
Sunday morning, we went to the 10AM mass in our church downtown. Mass was good. I lit a candle and say prayers for my husband’s aunt (who just diagnosed with a colon tumor, galbladder stone, and uterus tumor), a coworker who has been trying to sell his house for 2 years, my husband, my husband’s grandma, and me. Well, of course I prayed for my families and my husband’s families as well in general.
The morning mass was a bit special today because we had a visiting priest. He is from a country in Africa. He travels around the world and he is trying to raise money for the missionaries in Mexico. I literally emptied out my wallet (it stinks that I only had about $8–some in coins– in my wallet) to donate my money for his missionaries.
After church we went to have lunch at a Vietnamesse noodles restaurant. It was good. As always. I had the shrimp pho. We also ordered the Vietnamesse summer rolls. Good stuff. I left with full belly.
We wanted to visit my husband’s grandma so we headed off to her house right after lunch. Initially we intended to stay for a couple of hours. But then something happened. Grandma served us her homemade soymilk that I enjoyed so much. My husband, all of the sudden, had some kind of allergic reaction to it. It turned out grandma put cashews in the soymilk. My husband is allergic to nuts. He started feeling unwell. He tried to make himself puke but he couldn’t. He was in the bathroom for a looooong time!!! Grandma tried to help but after 2 hours trying I said ok let’s go to an urgent care clinic. So off we went. My husband was given some kind of shot. The whole time he was having a serious pain in his stomach. The clinic people thought it was unusual. Anyways. After the shot, the pain didn’t subside. It got worse. They decided to wait and finally the pain subsided. They sent us home after my husband felt better.
On the way home, I decided to get a car wash (you know the express car wash!!). Well, I don’t know what it was but that stupid thing stopped working when it was supposed to sprinkle some clean water and dry my car. I sent my husband to ask the attendant. He gave us a new ticket for free. We got back in line. We saw one car went in and the machine did just what it was supposed to do to the car so we thought ok great it is fixed. Off we went inside the machine thingy again. Right before the machine was supposed to spray fresh water to our car, the machine stopped again!!!!!!!!!!! Ugghhh. We waited and waited and waited. I talked to the attendant and he gave me a refund. I had to stop and hand dried my car!!!!!!!!! Bummer.
Sunday evening, my husband had left over Shrimp boil. I grilled him skirt steak and diced potatoes for lunch. I also packed him some salad. I made myself some caesar salad for lunch. For dinner, I ate leftover pasta in clam sauce and I topped it with fried eggs. It was good actually. Well, at least my husband is feeling better now. I am glad. He is watching the Olympic again. It is past 10PM already. I need to get ready to go to bed. Tomorrow is a brand new day. Can’t really say I am looking forward to it. I don’t care much about my work day. I am looking forward to coming home to my dogs and my husband tomorrow!!!!!!
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