2016 in Review and 2017 Goals.

2016 in Review:
Wow, 2016 has truly gone by in a blur.  It's been an awesome year because every one is happy and healthy. Our lives have become much brighter ever since becoming parents. We enjoy every moment we have with our daughter. I learn a little bit more about myself everyday as I try to navigate my role as a mom. Watching my daughter grow has been the most rewarding experience. She's an incredibly loving and friendly child and I couldn't be more proud.
2017 is going to be even greater with baby #2 coming. Our finances has gotten better too with my husband's new job. We were able to save more and pay off some debts. But after buying the new van, we're back to square one in terms of savings. However, no regrets, we love our new car.

Our major successes:
 I paid off $20k of personal loan.
Husband paid off $6k owed on his Subaru.
We bought a new to us van with $12k down and gave the Subaru to my father in law ( we did take $2k from them, but the car is worth way more than that.)
We did not increase our standard of living even though we made more.

Our one major fail:
I'm the money person in our relationship and I'm simply did not keep track of our spending. We have a set amount of money we can spend on everything (my income). Although we never went over that. A lot of money was left unaccounted for, including the extra income I gain from my rental.

Our one goal for 2017- Buy a house.

Our place is ok  as a short term solution before you move into a more permanent place. The things that we were able to overlook due to the cheap rent is starting to annoy us. The lack of kitchen space is not allowing us to enjoy our at home life. Even making a pot of coffee is a hassle. The power always jumps anytime we have more than one appliances on. It's really effecting our everyday lives. Oh the laundry! Our landlords don't share their washer and dryer so we have to haul baskets of clothes to my mother in law's place to wash. She's very understanding and is more than happy to accommodate us, she even folds them after it's out of the dryer. But we're adults, we just wanted to do laundry in our own place.

The following are four major steps we'll take to make sure we get the funds to buy a house ASAP.

Save all of my husband's income
This one is just plain and simple. He's income goes to a different account and will stay there until we're ready to make an offer.

Save all of my rental income
If I can leave my rental income untouched it will expedite our savings for a house tremendously. And by house, I really mean a condo or a townhouse. We might be able to afford a house on paper, but that really is going to make us house poor. And plus, it'll take longer to save for the down payment. We're really ok with just having enough house for our family of four, even as the kids grow older.

Be more organized
Part of the reason why I felt like we failed in our finances is not keeping track of where everything is going. This year, we're going to be more diligent with our money. We're going to cut off more unnecessary spending. I even bought a chic planner to help me write down my goals  and set reminders to keep me on track.

Borrow money
Yup, I said it...We will borrow money to make up the difference that we need in our down payment. We'll save as aggressively as possible. But some interest free money is going to help a lot. Although, I still stick to the age old advice of not mixing family and money if anyone asks. But there are some lucky people who have relatives that don't tie money to obligations :).

I hope you all have a wonderful 2016 and Happy New Year~

Our No Gift Christmas

This may be a post from the Grinch...

This year, we are opting out of gift giving and exchanging. The main factor pushing for this decision is money. We wiped out much of our savings this year, with me paying off a personal loan, my husband paying off of his car and then with us getting a van (still no regrets in getting a car we can't pay cash for, it's amazing). We need to build it up again and this time we're saving for a house. Our place doesn't have a proper kitchen and it's starting to irk us that we don't have a proper place to make a meal. Husband and I love to cook and host get-togethers, but not having kitchen has not allowed us to do any hosting. Some days, we appreciate the low rent when we're too tired to want to cook. But the desire of wanting a place to call our own  is growing greater and greater.  I think even more so for my husband than me. I think his goal has always been getting a house when he finally have a decent job.

Another benefits of not doing gifts is the time I'll save from not shopping. Ever since I had my baby, I have more respect for time. I understand now that it's my most limited resource. Maybe because work has kept me away from her for most of the day, so any moment that I do have with her is more precious. Shopping to me feels like a waste of time since all my friends already have everything they need. I think they're a little relieve to not have to deal with gift shopping neither. This doesn't mean I'll never give any more gifts. I will, I actually enjoy giving gifts. My gifts now will be even more thoughtful because I give because I wanted to, not because a holiday mandates that I do. And isn't it more rewarding to see the surprise on someone's face when you unexpectedly gave them something?

And finally, we already have everything we needed and because we have more stuff than we have room for.  Ever since discovering minimalism and reading Marie Kondo's book, my mindset has shifted. I don't see a pleura of things as joy, but a responsibility. If you bring it home,  you have to house it and it take care of it. So if I bring something home, I must really love it or need it. I'm trying to simplify my life, not complicated.

So this year, we just want to enjoy people's company instead of things. We'll have pot lucks. I have family coming in from out of the country for a visit. We'll enjoy a short trip to Vegas with my husband's side of the family for a little get away. 

I'm not immune to Black Friday sales

So much for my plans of not buying anything this Thanksgiving weekend.  Many people spend more time planning their purchases than how they spend their time with their families during this time of year. I actually loathe Black Friday shopping. I think it's stupid how on a day where you're suppose to be thankful for everything you have and then before dinner even started you go and buy even more.

Although I haven't done any brick and mortar shopping during Black Fridays in years,  I'm not immune to their online sales.

I really wasn't planning on buying anything this year, but on a trip up north, I realized my daughter has outgrown her winter jackets, so I hop on to Carters.com to get her one. But oh no, there is a super cute sweater with a dog on it... It's sooooo cute! And added to the cart it goes. Oh, can't leave baby brother out, even when he's still in the womb. Gotta get him some shirts too.
Total spent at Carters.com $50

That super cute sweater with a dog... seriously, so cute! 

Oh, even before that, I saw a great deal on carseats from ToysRus. We been thinking about getting one for my husband's car, so he doesn't have to wait till I get home to pick up our baby. It's exactly like ours except the cover isn't removable. It's pretty excessive to have two carseats. But the convenience is worth it to us. We'll eventually need another one when our new baby out grows his infant carseat anyways.
Total spent for carseat $215

Got some emails that I 'forgot' to unsubscribe to. Damn you hollar.com and your cheap prices. They had a 40% one item. But free shipping starts at $25. I'm actually am pretty excited about these two purchases- the packing cube and storage boxes.
Total spent at Hollar.com $26

$10 for these packing cubes. 

$10 for these storage boxes. 

We visited my parents up north, while cleaning her kitchen cabinet, she asked if I've found the vegetable seeds she lost. She went crazy looking for it... turned out they were the kale seeds I bought her. So I immediately hop onto the good old internet and got her some. They were having a 35% off sale and I totally did not know until I check my email. I later hop back on to buy some herb seeds.
Total spent on seeds $6

It's the season to be giving right? So I've been on the look out for super deals. If I see a good deal that is too good to pass up, I will buy and donate.  I actually found a few that I felt the store was loosing money on. But I guess their lost is my gain. I bought a few fleece blankets for maybe the homeless or will be donating them to a woman and children center. I also found some great deals on dog beds. I bought a total of 6 from two different deals and stores.
Total on fleece blanket $16
Total on doggie beds $30

We actually had rain this pass weekend, and the weather dipped into the low 50's. I don't have any long sleeve sleepwear and decided it's time to buy some. Ultimately I ended up on the Old Navy website, everything was 40% off and an additional 20% off I believe.  But free shipping still started at $50. But guess what, on Cyber Monday, they had 50% off plus free shipping and a free gift.  I'm still piss off about that.
Total spent at Old Navy $58

I also bought some diapers and wipes from Amazon, they were too good of a deal to pass up and my baby is not potty trained so I better stock up.

Wow, so my total for this weekend was $401. That's just me on one credit card, my husband bought a few things too... probably another $50 worth. But next year, we'll do better, hopefully.

We Saved Half of Our Income

That got your attention didn't it? Husband's been working at his new job for a few months now. Even before he started, we vowed to not inflate our lifestyle and save all of his income. We did pretty well with the exception of the $1700 that we used to pay for our car insurance for the whole year. It felt really good for a few paychecks. All we see is money coming in and staying in. But, that didn't last long , once we had enough we took out about $6k to pay off his car. A few paychecks later we dive in and bought a minivan. We cleaned out his saving and now owe about $17000 to the bank. Not the most financially sound thing to do, but we think it's a good car at a very good price. And it being a Toyota, that machine will last us years to come. Which is good, we're keeping this car for as long as possible.

This is Sexy Beast.

Even though, we saved half of our income, our not so proud moment comes when we got a loan from the bank to buy the car. We got a very low APR, 1.74%, but any debt is a chain to your legs weighting and slowing you down from reaching your other goals. I seriously don't like debts, I don't think any one does. But to me, having debt is like having a gray cloud over your head, damping your mood and makes it hard to see anything else beyond it. We're paying it off asap for sure! 

Saving half of our income is fairly easy. I'm making ok money (not 6 figures, not even close to being close to 6 figures) and with the income I make from my rental, we are not living on a tight budget. So we're not really holding back on eating out or buying toys and clothes for our baby. However, this free spending streak is going to end. Because now aside from our emergency fund, we literally have no savings, not only that, we're in debt. 

One of the most important and most effective way to save a lot of money is to trim your reoccurring expenses. By that, I mean your rent. We went from paying $1200 a month to $820.  We don't live in an apartment or house, we're renting someone's extra spaces. It's cut off from the main house, we have our own entrance and everything. It has a nice size living room and bedroom ( with a small walk in closet), a bathroom and a kitchen space with no appliances. But, they do have an outdoor cooking space just right outside of our kitchen door. It's been fine, we're not cooking much anyways, we have no time and my mother in law cooks for us. The great thing about renting someone's house is that  the rent usually covers everything, gas, water, electricity etc. We lucked out on this place, it's in a nice neighborhood and our landlord is my sister in law's coworker. So if you need to find a place, start by asking your friends and family if they know anyone who has a space to rent out.

We also shop to make sure we're getting the best price for the coverage we want on our car insurance. Mercury came out on top. My husband carpools to work which cuts his driving by half. Not to mention he drives a gas saver. So we estimated that he gas costs him $100/month. I drive the van now and it will probably cost $150-$175/month. We haven't had our first gas fill up yet, so we'll see. 

Here is a list of our monthly bills: 
Rent:$820
Life Ins.: $256
Cell Phone: $100
Van Payment: $293
Childcare: $500 (yay for family) 
Gas: $275( roughly) 
Baby expenses:$100 (roughly) 
Food: $300 (I haven't been keeping track, but I'm limiting us to that much from now on. I think this is plenty considering we eat most of our weekday meals at my mother in laws)

This doesn't include misc. things, because I really don't know how much I spend on everything else. I'm terrible at documenting everything I buy. Although I really tried, but it's just a method that doesn't work for me or my husband. 

Our annual expenses include: 
Term life ins: $656
Car insurance: $1700 (for 3 cars, one's for my brother in law. We still need to add the Sexy Beast and take off the Subaru)
AAA roadside: $74

Our goals now is to pay off the car asap and save for a down payment. 

YOLO

I had a short but very disappointing conversation with my brother in law the other day. It all started with us borrowing his van to test drive because we're considering replacing our SUV for a van. When we dropped off the car, he said that I should get a van but I sighed and said it was too expensive. A new (to us) car means car payments and we don't have enough in our savings to pay it all off. Although, I wouldn't mind a small manageable car payment that we can pay off in a short time. It's still a big purchase involving lots of $$$ and we like to sit on it first. 
 He encouraged and said "life is short, don't deprive yourself of what you want."
 This part makes sense, we don't know if we'll still be here tomorrow and we need to make every moment count.
He then goes on and said that THEY SPEND EVERY DOLLAR THEY MAKE!!!! THEY HAVE NO SAVINGS AND HE'S OK WITH IT.
 That's when I became horrified. Are you serious!?!? That's is the most obscured thing I ever heard.  How can anyone with a mortgage, wife and 3 teenage kids say that? He's the breadwinner and they're all depending on him. He went on and tried to justify that he's behavior is ok simply because he wants to live his life in the moment.  I felt that he was encouraging me to do the same, I guess it would make his decisions normal if everyone is doing it. He went on and repeat with a wave that he has no life insurance, no savings, no NOTHING!
"I can't live like that,  I want to save money because I want to retire early." I replied
"55?" he asked.  I said, "No, 50, I don't want to work forever." He looked at me incredulous, as if my plan is naive and unattainable and said "I'm 50."
"What happens if you get sick?" I questioned. He nonchalantly shrugged and replied " I don't know, I don't care, if it happens it happens."
At this point, I was very irked by his irresponsible way of thinking. I retort, "if you get sick and can't work, you're going to loose your house, your car,  what's going to happen to your kids?" He shrugged again and said he only has enough 2-3 payments, I wasn't sure if he meant for his cars or mortgage, neither way, it's equally disturbing.
I went on and told him that I save money because I want to make sure we have a good future, I buy life insurance because if anything were to happen to me, my daughter and husband is financially ok. I told him that just because I budget and live below my means, doesn't mean I'm depriving myself.  I carry designer purses (I'm a purse girl), I buy my daughter what ever she needs, I go out and eat when ever I want. Our conversation was cut short because we had to leave.

But that conversation occupied my thoughts for the rest of the night. My husband and I always speculated that his sister and brother in law live paycheck to paycheck. After all, 3 kids, two cars and a mortgage ain't cheap. But, what shocked me the most was his admission that this is all intentional. I did catch a glimpse of uncertainty on his face when I questioned him on the possibility of him not being able to provide for his family. Perhaps, he's awaken to the fact that his ways are not sustainable. I felt like deep down, he knows he messed up, and perhaps the reason why he hasn't made any changes is because he's not sure how.  They've continuously inflate their lifestyle as their income grew, they've gotten used to having certain luxuries. So now, not having the newest model of iPhone or driving a car he really wanted might feel like deprivation. 

In someways, I completely understand his approach to life. I, too, came from a third world country. The things we didn't have was not easily comprehend by someone who had toilets in their house that flushes. We had to go the an community outhouse to do our business. Yeeep, super gross. But, it was life, it was all we had. I believe my brother in law felt that he's come from nothing and worked hard to be where he is, he deserves a gas guzzling truck because he wants it, he deserve  to buy all his kids iPads, and his wife a designer purse. But he's completely ignoring something else he deserves, STABILITY. He and his wife make a decent living. If they would budget a little, they'll be able to save for their future or a catastrophic event. They can take care of themselves when they're not longer are able to work. They don't have to be in the mercy of the government, hoping that they're benefits won't be cut. And if they try, they can even shave a few years off of their mortgage payments. What a nice gift it is to oneself, to rid yourself if your biggest debt a few years early.  

Unlike my family, money isn't discussed openly in my husband's side of the family. What I desperately wanted my brother in law to know is that it's not too late to change. Life is about the pursue of happiness, but happiness isn't necessarily derived from your purchases. If anything happens to him, those iPads and countless amount of toys he bought the kids isn't going to pay the bills. It's his  savings and life insurance that will pay for his mortgage, food and clothing. For the sake of his children,I hope he'll change his ways and set a good example. 

What We Did With Our Tax Returns

Let me begin by saying how important it is to have a good accountant who knows her shit. It truly makes a different.  I thought, since I only have a regular 9-5:45 job, my taxes should be cookie cutter simple. Twice in a roll, my return was a measly $1000 give or take a few dollars. My husband on the other hand was getting 2x as much as me. I thought, it wouldn't hurt to give his accountant a try. Last year, we filed jointly for the first time and our return blew me away. I mean, there are several factors to be considered and I can't really compare apples to apples when we file jointly versus married but filing separately. But I do believe his accountant is more knowledgeable than mine and thus able to get us a bigger return. Mine  was someone younger than me just starting out. **No offense to all the accountant just starting out, we need you. 

This year, our return was a little higher than last year, mostly due to the birth of our daughter, I made less because I took a 2 month maternity leave and I'd increased my 401k contributions. 

Last year, with our returns, we're able to pay off a small student loan my husband had. We sold my car and used proceeds with the left over tax return to buy a newer car. It feel so good to own a car outright. 

This year, we used the money and pay off our credit cards immediately. We had higher than normal credit card balances this month because we just celebrated my daughter's first birthday. We moved and needed some furniture for our new place. And, my husband took his car in for a 105k mile tune up... that was over $1000. If you take care of your car, your car will take care of you, I guess.

We still have some money left over for my husband to pay off his car, this move would make us debt free, with the exception of my mortgages. But he rather that we use this money to add to our savings. At first, I wanted his car loan paid off, this would save us $200 per month. But then, if we don't redirect that $200 else where immediately, we're bound to find ways to spend it. We thought it would be easier to keep our finances the same and keep the money to boost our savings. 

We didn't do anything "exciting" but paying off our debt is pretty exhilarating. Having a little bit of cushion in the bank really helps us sleep better at night. 

We're Moving... Again!

We are moving again and couldn't be more excited. We've only been here  less than 3 months but it feels much much longer.  Our current place has too many walls. The owner made this section of the house into a two bedroom so they can maximize on the rent. It would have been the perfect little one bedroom.

This is the entrance to the place, it looks fine when you haven't moved your things in.  What you don't see is that there is a wall to the left making this entrance extremely narrow. The lack of counter space makes it a hassle to cook. We probably only made two meals the entire time we've been here. And the brand new oven stayed a virgin.

\

To the left of the "kitchen" is this space. Don't be fooled, it's smaller than a compact parking spot. You have to be an extreme minimalist to live here. For a family of three, it just doesn't work. At $1200 (includes utilities), we thought it was a good deal considering the apartments that we looked at cost $300 more and  do not include utilities.

This is the rest of the house. On the left is the 2nd bedroom, bathroom and a deep linen shelf. At the end is the master bedroom. There is a closet to the right and a door separating from us the landlord's place.

Our new place is a one bedroom with a pretty decent size living room. There is a kitchen space much larger than our current place. But there is no oven.  However, for $820 bucks (including utilities and internet)... I'm willing to make a few sacrifices. I've already remedied this issue by buying a counter top oven. I won't be baking as much as I would like, but I won't have much time with a baby anyways. We have been blessed that my husband's mom not only takes care of our baby but she cooks for us as well. That's how we get away with not cooking.

One of my goals when we move out is to keep our expenses the same. The $1200/mo rent was really pushing some limits. We were using the rent I received from my rental to pay for childcare. When usually the rental income goes to savings. The difference we're saving on rent will really make a huge impact on  our overall budget. I'm still saving 40% of my take home income and contributing 12% with 3% match to my 401k.

But moving isn't cheap. We've already incur some expenses for the new place and we haven't even moved in yet.  We intent to make the new place more permanent so we made a few large expense to make ourselves more comfortable.
Replaced the old and dirty carpet with wood: material $300-400, labor: 200
A chaise for more seating: $145
Breville counter top over: $250
Over the toilet shelf: $30
Dinning set: $300 but will be returned and will purchase another one for $250.

New Place, New Mindset

I can't believe we moved out. It's still a bit surreal. Having only moved twice in my life prior, this is a huge change for me. I didn't move out of my parents house when I got married. There was enough room and I don't see a reason for spending 2x the money on rent and receiving no equity. At least when I pay rent at home, I know it's going toward paying off our mortgage.

During the move, I come to realized was how much crap we have. You don't notice all the stuff you've collected until you have to move it all and fit it into a smaller space. Even though I stop my extreme couponing, the things I purchase still haunts me. I can't bring myself to throw them way as they're still good products, but it will take me forever to use them all. I can't even cast it off to my family member because they too, have purchase more than they need and can no longer take my load. My brother refers to my couponing as "spending money to save money." Now, I feel like I've wasted money to save money. :(

On the bright side, it's an opportunity to change directions in my life and finally clean up the clutter. I listened to Marie Kondo's "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up." It was very inspiring and indeed life changing. This book isn't just about folding your clothes or getting rid of clutter, but it asks you to dig deep inside yourself to realize the life you want to live. The book encourages you to part with things from your past that's holding you back so you can move on.

I feel so much weight has been lifted now that I've gotten rid of so much stuff. Although, I'm no where near minimalism, but the things I choose to keep hold more meaning in my life. I've gotten rid of a few bags of clothes and now I'm happy to report that I'm getting rid of all these heels.


When I first got pregnant I thought  would wear them after I give birth. Now that I'm 9 months post partum, I finally realize I may never wear them again. I saved a few pumps that are appropriate for work and the occasional formal events. I was bragging to another mom that I only have about 10 pairs of shoes and she reply that she only had 3. I was blown away. I guess I still have some more work to do on downsizing.

Every time I get rid of something, I feel lighter. I breathe easier. In a world that is very much driven by consumerism, I didn't think I'd be the one who feels good owning less. I feel like I'm living a more purposeful life. I no longer am dictated by the thought of having more things will give me fulfillment. Fulfillment is a state of mind. I still enjoy buying things, but I've become more selective of what I bring home. Once you bring something home, it becomes your problem. So choose wisely :P 

My experience with ThredUP

I finally did it. I shopped second hand. I always thought the idea of wearing other people's clothes as icky. You don't know who they are and where they come from. That mystery has me thinking the worst. I eventually got over my irrational worries because there are so many people out there shopping second hand and there were no incidents reported. I think I'm safe.
My goal for 2016 was to consume less and to live a more conscious lifestyle. For anything I need, I'll try to buy second hand. Not only is this better for the environment but better for my wallet too.

ThredUP is thrift/consignment shopping for millennial. I'm so used to getting everything I need on the internet. I like how the "stores" online are open 24/7. I don't have time to go out and shop during the day. I only get some down time after I put my baby to bed at night.

I paid $85 for all 7 items and saved 74% ( according to ThredUP's calculation from the each item's original price). It's a bit inflated because I don't believe these items were purchased a full prices by the sellers.
As a Buyer:
What I love <3 <3<3
1. They carry my favorite petite friendly brands: Ann Taylor and Banana Republic.
2. New items are added every day.
3. 40% off for the first purchase up to $50. 
4. FREE RETURNS- for store credit- this is what finally led me to buy, I would hate to buy something that doesn't fit and I can't return it. 

What I don't love: 
1. There are only two views for the clothes you're purchasing- the front and the back 
2. Shipping starts at $70. It would make me happier if they lower it to $50. 
3. They don't carry anything for men, my husband was interested in buying second hand seeing how happy I was with my purchases. 
4. If you want refunds to the original form of payment, then the free shipping offer is void. 

I bought a total of 7 items and here are the 6 I'm keeping.

Everything fit me perfectly except for the blue jeans. I'm going to have them hemmed. 

This dress is so cute. It ends right at the knee; it's the perfect length. 

I like how they come neatly and tightly packed to avoid excess material. The same box is used to make returns.


This site can be addicting as they have new stuff posted everyday. To keep your budget and closet space in check, always ask "Do I need this?" "Does it make me happy?" "Will I wear this often?" "Does it match what I have in my closet?" If the answer is yes x4 then you close the site and go on about your day~didn't think I was going to say that, did you? If you still want it after a few days, then you should buy it. But what if someone else snatch it up? Oh well, you can live without it, because you've been living without it... make sense? To keep things from piling up in my closet, I got rid of 6 items that I no longer wear or is old. These items will go into the donation bin; they're still wearable, I just don't love them anymore.

Quick Tip: H&M will take your old clothes, wearable or not, and recycle them. In return, you'll get a 15% of coupon that is good for about a month.

As a Seller:
 I did not sell to their site, but I was contemplating. They will send you a bag upon request, it came rather quickly. But their condition for items received made me iffy. They don't tell you approximately how much you're going to get. I guess it's hard to tell if they haven't seen your clothes. However, they decided they're nothing taking your clothes/bags etc, they're going to donated it. If you want you unsold items back there is a hefty shipping fee about $12. I've read reviews that they pay pennies for stuff you sent in. I guess, if you want to make more money, then just have a yard sale or try other method of selling your clothes. But if you don't have the time and just wanted to get rid of your stuff, and seeing the few bucks you might get back as a bonus then this would be your place.

If you want to help a sister out and also get $10 to spent, here is my referral link to ThredUP.

February's expenses

Has it been a month already? I feel like it just flew by. February is a special month. This month, we celebrated my birthday, Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day and it's also a leap year so we get an extra day this month. Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money, and allowances were not given. I always look forward to Lunar New Year the only time I can get some spending money.
This month, we also did something really brave. WE'RE MOVING OUT! My mother in law takes care of my baby, but she lives 33 miles away. That's a 66 miles commute for my little baby everyday That's just too much, so we're moving to be closer to her. Now, I'll be commuting instead of her. Even after moving to a different office, my daily commute will be 48 miles total. I'm so not looking forward to that. But, you gotta do what you gotta do. We're also paying more in rent, now we really need to find a way to stick to a budget. 

We're using our credit card to pay for pretty much everything except gas at Costco and our shared utilities. 

FIXED
Rent	600	current, new rent will be 1200 :(. Paying rent hurts.
Life ins	253
Car note	200	I really want to pay off this car
baby care	500
SEMI FIXED
Gas	328
Groceries	248
Utilities	28
Trash	140	Paying for tenent's left over bill and I'm covering trash for the new tenet
Dinning out	64
TARGET	356	100 of that was paid giftcards
CLOTHES
Thredup	84
HEALTH
Dr copay	15
optometrist	158
SPECIAL EXPENSES
Bday cake	30
New Year	750	My parents were generous, so we pretty much even out on this one.
deposit for apt	1200
Mammoth	407	but we should be getting something back
Disney pass	1700
BABYGEAR	133	95 of that was paid with gift cards.
TOTAL	7194
subtract gift cards	195
	6999	Holy S**t this is a lot of money.

I can't believe we spent that much money in just one month. We barely bring home half of that. This goes to show when you start writing things down, little things here and there really adds up. Luckily, the money spent in SPECIAL EXPENSES are just a one time thing. Although it's a pain the butt to write everything down, I'm going to keep doing it, or try to anyways. I feel like once I see the bigger number, I'll be less incline to spend. 

**** My uncle finally paid us for the car we sold him. $4000. We're using that to pay my MIL-$500, March's $1200 rent, $2000 will be used to pay off some of the car loan, and $800 will go toward the credit card bill.  

March isn't going to be a lean month neither. We're moving into our new places and it's going to incur some expenses. 

January-No Spending Month- Update: Week 4 and February forecast.

January's No Spending Month challenge is finished! I think we did pretty good. No new pieces of clothing were bought with the exception of pants for my daughter (less than $5, bought with a gift card); and also the free leather cleaner I bought for free with a surprise store credit. I needed socks, but if we wash our laundry on time, I can get by with what I have. Haha. I also needed pants. I have two pairs of jeans that I can wear during the weekend. But I only really wear one pair because the other one is ripped jeans(the only pair of pants that still fit from my pre-pregnancy days and I'm not sure how to style it). Ever since I had my baby, I've gone up a pant size. oh well, no one noticed that I've been wearing the same pair of pants every Saturday. 

We finished off the month with a huge dine out expense; $204 for my birthday dinner last night. In our house, birthdays are a big thing. I invited a few friends to a fancy restaurant, where we dined on delicious food and have fun conversations. Life isn't about accumulating things, it's about cultivating relationships and creating memories. 

We spent another $70 on grocery in the last week of January, this includes the $30 at Target. I think we did pretty good in this area. I thought we were going to hit $400 total for groceries but we didn't. Yay!

February Forecast: February is going to be a huge spending month for us. 
1. Lunar new year ( 02/8/16), as a married couple we are expected to give out red envelopes. 
2. We're driving up north to visit family.
3. We are getting the Disneyland annual passes ($849 each with the 2 wk black out date).
4. A snowboarding trip to Mammoth. 

I will document every dollar spent in February. 

Happier With Less

I LOVE  reading stories on people who achieve financial independence. What these people have done for their financial lives is truly inspirational. What's more amazing is that most of these people who achieved financial independence never made over 6 figures in income. These people were marching to the beat of their own drum. They managed to shield themselves from materialistic pressure of society. I aspire to be like them. I believe they're happier in general too.

When I was younger, I thought being successful meant being able to afford expensive designer things. To me, part of being successful is looking successful. And I have to admit, having designer stuff does make me feel good about myself. I feel like I've climbed higher on a social ladder of sort. And honestly, I cared about what other people think. I certainly didn't want them to think I was poor. I didn't want them to think my their money is greener than mine. Looking back now, no one was thinking that, no one cared.

I started the no spending month as a way to kickstart my savings in 2016.  As a result, I'm happier now. Partly because my mindset has changed; my desire for having money for bigger things (like a house) over powers my desire for purses and shoes. I'm delaying instant gratification for something even better, financial independence. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I said no to a Chanel. Yup! I've changed.

January- No Spending Month- Update: Week 3

It's the third week of no spending month. I somewhat broke the rule and bought something. I didn't spend any of my money though. I got a $10 credit from Wilson's Leather from when I bought something with them last month. This came to me as a surprise and I used to it buy some leather protecting spray and wipes.

So far, we're at $176 for grocery and $43 for take outs. I want to round off the grocery bill to $200, because I bought some stuff with cash but do not remember how much. I feel good about my progress. Before, shopping was something to do when we're bored and felt like we have to do something. Setting challenges really changes things up for us and makes saving money fun.

I'm happy to report that I've only hit up Target once so far. But baby girl is growing fast and has outgrown most of her pants. Just score two pairs of pants on the Target website for $4.66 :) Not a bad deal. 

January- No Spending Month-Update: week 2

Just completed week two of no spending month. I must say, I feel liberated. I never thought I would say this but shopping can be exhausting.  Hours of browsing and decision making, hunting for discounts codes to makes sure I get the best deal. And then when it arrives, it might not fit well and you have to go return it. I don't know about everyone else, but every time I buy something, I always hang on to it a little longer before I use or wear it; just in case I change my mind. My husband often gets annoyed with the bags and boxes I leave on the floor because I haven't decided on what I want  to do with them, keep or return? What's annoying is having to keep the receipts. Not to forget, having to find time to make returns, it feels like a chore. See, shopping is exhausting. 

Oh, that brings me to another update. I cancelled my subscription to the Sunday newspaper. Most of the things I need I can find coupons for online. The newspaper sometimes has really high value coupons, but it's just not worth keeping it. And I hate throwing on all these paper every week. Even though we recycle, it's still a process that takes energy and resource.

I bought something

Ok, so January is no spending month, unless it an absolute need. I do consider the following purchases a need.
Reusable produce bags- I've just recently learned about the no waste movement. Although, I feel like this is nearly impossible for me to do. I'm going to do every little bit that I can to waste less. A bit ironic that it's going to take some packaging to get it deliver to me. But on the bright side, I won't be tearing off those plastic produce bags at the store anymore.
Breastmilk storage- I ran out of the storage bags. But instead of buying more plastic ones I bought the reusable ones. I mean, I can always use it for the next baby :)
Toothbrushes- Mine is so old, I don't remember when I bought them and you're suppose to replace them every three months. This is an emergency. Less than $9 for 4? That's an awesome deal and it requires no coupons. I also get to use the $9 cashback from Discover. So that cut the cost a bit. Total was around $31.

Update on my other allowable spendings:
I did say that I'm not going to put a $ limit on the each of my expenditures, but I will keep an update on the amount I'm spending. So far, 1/3 of the way into this month, we've spent $143 on groceries. You can spend a lot of money even at the grocery stores. I did stock up on some sales, and the food I bought is suppose to make quite a few meals for us. I just hope we'll be spending minimally on small stuff to supplement our upcoming meals.

Tips to not get tempted to buy stuff: 
You know how you buy something online and then you get emails everyday from that store with sales they have going on even thought you check off that you don't want any emailed updates or alerts?  This annoys the hell out of me. And a lot of time, I would just click in to see what they have and one thing led to another by seeing something on sale, it makes me feel like I needed it. That unsubscribe button does wonders if you don't want to spend money. But, if it's your favorite store and you do shop there occasionally, just simply deleted as soon as you see that email, out of sight out of mind. So every morning it's delete, delete for me.

January-No Spending Month-Update: week 1

It's only been a week? OMG! Time goes by so slowly when you can't buy stuff. There were some great deals to be had. But they weren't things I needed. There was a coffee machine on sale for only $15 bucks, it was the same one we use at home and perfect for our little kitchen. The old me would have bought it and save it for when the one we have breaks, but the new me says no to the extra clutter. No more just in case purchases. I did buy something that I feel like was as splurge, that is the pre-made salads from Trader Joe's. It would cost the same if not more if we make our own. And we save time because it's pre-made, so it's splurge I don't mine paying for once in a while.
 I was up about $63 bucks by returning some clothes that I purchase that didn't fit well. I could have made exchanges, I chose not to. Every little bit counts and that's $63 less I have to pay the credit card company.
 I scored on some diaper and wipes (things I'm allow to stockpile) from Target, it was 50% off with the subscription. I can't miss this deal. You can always cancel after.

The first thing I did with our paychecks was pay the rent. I then double check with my husband to see if there are any big expenses before the next payday. There was none, so I paid off one of our credit cards. $1027! I don't really wait till the due date to pay my credit cards, I just pay if off as soon as I use it.  Now we have about $600 to last us for a few more days till our next paychecks. There is not much to buy except for groceries.

I can't keep a budget

Like the title says, I can't keep a budget. I've tried, I really did. But it's so tedious writing and recording everything. Limiting the amount you can spend on something is like going on a diet, when you put a restriction on something, you want it even more. It just takes too much discipline. So, I'm done with budgeting, sort of. The book "The Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach really speaks to me because it tells me that it's ok to not have a budget, in fact, it's better that you don't; as long as you're automatically paying yourself first. I'm going to design a plan that works for me, now that I know what doesn't work.

I 'm already putting away 12% with a 3% match on my 401k. Forty percent of my take home goes to another bank account as emergency savings. Now, I'm going to create an account that takes care of the annual payments or payments that are infrequent.  I tallied up my annual expenses, that is about $4k- this includes, our term life ins, car ins, car maintenance, and our dog (this is more just for medical expense that may arise). The goal is to put away as much as I can in the beginning of the year, once that account is replenished, I can breath a little easier knowing that there won't be any surprises.

I'm no longer putting a dollar amount on every category of spending, like $200 for grocery, or $100 for entertainment or $100 for clothing. That just doesn't work for me. Instead, I'll pay the fix expenses first, like rent, child care, car payment, and our other life insurance (I'm a big believer in life insurance) and our utilities ( this number varies month to month but not by much and it's there every month). With the left over money, I can do what ever I want with it. I might want to do a bit more shopping one month and when I do, I don't want this voice inside telling me I'm going over my set budget.

January-No Spending Month

Happy second day of 2016. Like many people out there, I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to invest early. But I use the excuse "oh, my employer doesn't offer a retirement account." I wish I would have sock away at least a $100 since the day I started working 7 years ago at my current job. That would have given me a good $11k today if that money was growing at 8%. It was my first real full time job and I wasn't making much. There was credit card debt and the fact that I was young, I wanted to do things like going out to eat, make trips to Vegas and buy a nice Coach purse or two. I remember how I was budgeting my money so I can spend, not save. I guess I was trying to make it look like I was an adult and  I have money to buy things. But now I realized, the more adult thing to do was to invest and secure my financial future. 

I've learned now that the only person I need to impress is myself. I want to start my family to a solid financial future. The first thing we're doing is making January a no spending month. This isn't an effort to save money, but I'm pretty sure we'll save a good penny. It's more of an effort for us to be conscious consumers. Besides the usually necessities like food, toiletries and diapers, we won't buy things that are wants. But we're not going to do this cold turkey neither, we're still allow to buy some things like lattes because we have a gift card for it.  
We'll do our best to recycle more too, I just can't stand that we're throwing out a big pile of trash every day or every other day. 

Happy 2016

Happy 2016!!!! As I sit here with my coffee, I'm super motivated to get my financial life to an even better start. I've been reading so many blogs- J Money, Mr Money Mustache, Blonde on a Budget, Go Curry Crackers and many more. My everyday pleasure of listening to Farnoosh Torabi's So Money podcast. I just finished listening to an audio book- The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. After listening to the Automatic Millionaire, I upped my 401k contribution from 10% to 12% and with the 3% match, I'm socking away 15% of my income- paying myself first!

I'm 30, married with one child-the love of my life, cliche, but it's true. I'm grammatically challenged as you soon shall notice. I live in Southern CA, it's 52F  right now and that's freaking cold. The title of this blog is It Makes Too Much Sense. It's more of an inside joke, but I find it fitting for this financial blog. Because, more often than not, people know what they're suppose to do and what makes sense to do, but they often don't. Always coming up with excuse why not to do something.

I often blame my inability to save as much as I want to the fact that I live in CA. First of all, the cost of living is really high, and second, people are a bit more materialistic and always want to keep up with the Jones', I know this because I used be one of them. I love to shop 'GASP.' Now that my storage is full and half of the things in there I rarely touched or are still brand new, I realized I need to stop buying things. I found a nice brand new jacket in my closet yesterday and I don't even remember when I bought it.

The reason why I wanted to start a financial blog is because none of my friends are interested in personal finance. Maybe they don't see me as someone who's financially responsible because I'm always saying I'm broke. I only say I'm too broke to do something is because I've not allocated money to do that thing I said I'm too broke to do. Perhaps I should change my wording.  It's hard not having someone to talk to and this blog is way for me to get my ideas out and hoping to find other like minded people. One thing I've been most proud is putting away 40% of my take home income. Been doing that for a few months and my emergency fund is steadily increasing.

This year,  I vow to consume less. I will not buy any new purses, wallets or shoes. I will ask myself before I buy something is this what I want or what I need? I will stop stocking piling things with the exception of diapers and the specific toothpaste that my husband and I like to use, oh and toilet paper, you can't have too many toilet paper. I will start that 529 for my baby as I've been meaning to do.

Happy New Year and here's a to a great beginning. Cheers!