Happy 2010!!

Things I want to work on this year:

1. Actively budget my $
2. Finally start my E-Fund by depositing at least $105 each paycheck.
3. Find other modes of income – preferably passive income
4. Go to the gym at least 5 times a week
5. Drink 8 glasses of water a day
6. Blog more
7. Bring my lunch to work at least 3 times a week
8. Finish reading at least one book
9. Go to church on Sundays
10. Find a new hobbie

I think these goals will be easy to obtain… let’s all pray it works out! I’ll have a progress check in 3 months!

2000 – 15 – The moment I realized I could hustle men pnline because I was cute, Asian, thin and busty… lots of trouble and blackmail to ensue. The start of really bad karma… Moved in with Mom and sis as pop’s health was deteriorating… Rang in the NYEs at Together As One – still raving sober.

2001 – 16 – Nothing sweet about being 16. Became obsessed with things to preoccupy my thoughts so I wouldn’t have to deal with anxiety of dad being ill… the obsession? Food and exercise. 800 calories a day max, ran 4 miles a day, swam 250 yards + 100s of sit ups, crunches and weights – hit rock bottom & landed myself in the emergency room. Rang in the NYEs at Together As One – still raving sober.

2002 – 17 – Had an official boyfriend that I literally only saw 4 times out of the 4 months we dated. Hustled more money, and became the “it” forum gf. Couldn’t find a gamer or raver forum without my pictured plastered everywhere. Annual salary of being someone’s online GF? 15K for chatting, and never once ever speaking on the phone or meeting these men. Oh the times before Facebook and Myspace! This year, rang in the New Year at Disneyland… it was a good at idea before we went… terrible after we went. Too many people and crying kids!

2003 – 18 – Got tired of my life and checked out to Maui. Then, I ran out of money, sucked up my pride, and called my mom to ask her to take me home. Barely made it through school, most of my friends bailed out on me when I needed them the most, and dad passes on Graduation. Officially depressed, hello drugs and many other health problems!

2003-2004 - 19 – Sean P Jacobs. The beginning of a very long relationship with someone who would become by best friend and confidant – the nerdy power couple chapter of my life begins. I sobered up & things were looking up.

2005 – 19 – still with Sean. The weight gain begins (ugh) – still sober – No more hustling $$ – Survived a car accident to end all car accidents… the huge ball of debt begins. 

2006 – 21 Nothing new. Still with Sean, but the realization that we were just friends instead of bf/gf becomes very, very apparent.

2007 – 22 Finally get an answer regarding my car accident… I get no money although I was fully covered and the accident was not my fault… total medical costs $30K!! Maxed out every credit card I owned to pay for the Dr. EFF! This year, the geeky adventure with Sean ends as bf/gf. Very cordial break up, and we still remain friends.

2008 – 23 – The James chapter begins. It was fun at first, but it became stagnant, boring and stressful. We were good friends, but a terrible couple. Sean’s new love obsessively stalks me in every internet avenue available, and did not seem to understand the just friends concept… or that my personal belief of when it’s over, it’s really over, and I will never want to relive that chapter of my life.

2009 – 24 – The James chapter ends and the interesting chapter of Dwele starts. Lots of car trouble, lots of money trouble… but I’ve managed to get this far and I haven’t fallen apart yet.

2010??

Ducks peens can adapt to anything… whoa … this video is not for the faint of heart!

I’m a big fan of Yanko Design. The site is filled with creative, beatiful and practical pieces of art. Designs can be  submitted by visitors of the site, and I believe there are resident designers as well…

Anyhow, today I came across their article What the Pho… I love pho! It’s one of those dishes I can eat just about every day. It’s a traditional Vietnamese dish with white rice noodles, beef or chicken soup, and a plethera of tasty meat, served along side with basil, scallions, and bean sprouts.

I’m digressing again… well, Omid Sadri created this ingenius bowl set for pho. The large bowl at the bottom is for the pho, the middle bowl is for the herbs and bean sprouts and the very top most part for lime… I personally would put the limes with the herbs and use it as a dipping sauce bowl…. but either way… It’s amazingly functional and space saving! (My favorite things about anything I’m about to purchase).  It even includes a space for chop sticks and your soup spoon! Wow!

I don’t believe this set is available for purchase yet, but you can contact sadri.omid@gmail.com for more details!

Sometimes, someone can mean so much to you, and not even the truth can change your mind.

(From one of my feeds, don’t remember which one)

http://failblog.org/2009/12/20/sex-ed-fail-3

see more Epic Fails

First… how does she think babies are made? Secondly, one of my boyfriends? I’m lead to believe she’s probably ten!! Lastly, why wouldn’t you believe your mother, she had you! And if you didn’t believe her about how people get pregnant, why didn’t you ask her how else people get pregnant!

Star Wars Weather

Star Wars fans…. finally, weather news we can all finally understand!

I have a lot of love and patience…. even for those who don’t deserve it. those who don’t deserve it need it the most, and I’ll be the first to give and offer those things.

Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union by far is the most user friendly financial institution that I have ever used!! I originally opened a loan through Zopa.com which service transferred (sold) my loan to AAFCU. I had the loan for 2 years without ever even considering leaving Wells Fargo or HSBC. Then, my financial situation this past year changed considerably… less overtime, more expenses. With both HSBC and Wells Fargo, I’ve always had high balances, was never overdrawn… then one day for the first time ever with both accounts, I overdrew my account… and was hit with $35 overdraft charges on both accounts. $70 is quite a bit of money when you are pinching pennies… and both banks, despite my excellent history with both, and having been with each institution for over 5 years, I thought it was absurd that they would not waive the fee for me just this once.

I started shopping around, but nothing really stuck out. For a non-interest bearing account, Wells Fargo was much better than BOA (I could not stand their service) and Chase. Since previously working there, I knew the ins and outs so it didn’t make sense to go to a competitor. Then, there was HSBC – My online payment account yields 0.85% with a zero balance minimum and the first 3 ATM fees are waived… couldn’t find anything better there either….

Finally, I decided to take a look at Addison. My first thought was, I’ve never heard of them prior to my loan, why should I risk it? I took the initiative to research this CU (credit union) and realized it has been around for sometime (not nearly long as WF or HSBC) but long enough for me to feel comfortable with leaving my money there. As I continued my research, these are the wonderful perks that initially got me to open my account:

1. Zero balance requirement
2. 3.51% APY if you make 12 debit card purchases, 1 ACH debit/credit out of the account per month, sign up for E-Statements
3. Large ATM network – I can use any Co-Op (almost all credit unions are apart of this network) and ATM in 7/11 stores
4. If I meet the #2 requirements, any ATM surcharge from a non-network ATM will be rebated to me
5. $5 to start membership (waived for me because of my loan transfer)
6. $25 to open the account

Considering I almost never carry cash, and I am a slave to my debit card… 3.51% definitely outshined HSBC’s measly 0.85%. I decided to deposit a small amount of money to see if the account had the same benefits of my Wells Fargo account. With WF, I knew how their processing worked, so for the most part, it was easy to balance my checkbook, understand when things would clear… etc. The downside was, their processing system (Batch system) debit card purchases could take anywhere from 1-5 business days to clear my account. If I didn’t keep a register, and update it regularly, I could potentially overdraw my account. Thank God I am very OCD about my checkbook register and I’ve only failed to keep up with it once (damn overdraft fee!).

Once I got the account I’ve noticed these benefits!

1. Most debit card purchases clear within 24 hours. Some clear as soon as 8! I went to a bar and used my debit card… with Wells Fargo, it would take 4 business days to clear, and the pending charge that was reflected on my balance would only show the charge without the tip. I used my card on a Sunday night, and it cleared with the tip total first thing Monday morning… I honestly will never have to balance a checkbook again!
2. Refunds on debit purchases only take 1 day to post to your account!! No more waiting 3-7 business days!
3. E-Deposits – This is by far the most ingenious thing for people who hate having to drive or walk somewhere to do a very simple task of making a check deposit! All I have to do is scan the check, upload and voila, my deposit posted that very moment. I just need to keep the physical check copy for 90 days.
4. The first $500 of every deposit is available immediately and the rest is subject to a 2 business day hold. This is better than WF because it was only $100 available, but the rest would be available the next day. This is going to make it very easy for me to deposit my paycheck to this account until my direct deposit changes take effect. I never need more than $200 after payday, so the 2 day lag isn’t terrible.
5. Best customer service ever! I love that with their secure mail feature, someone always gets back to me within 1 business day, and it’s a real response, not a copy paste. And, M-F you can always call a branch, and they will gladly help you.

Okay… the downside stuff….

If you want to take to a live person, it has to be during their business hours. So far, I haven’t had any issues after hours mainly because everything about this account is so very user friendly.

They even make it easy to qualify for membership! For the most part, you would have to work for HP or some other techish company (list is on their site), but if you don’t qualify that way, you can qualify this way:

If you are not eligible to join through one of our sponsor groups below, you can qualify for membership by joining the Financial Fitness Association. It’s only $5.00 to join this not-for-profit organization. To sign up, go to www.financialfitnessassociation.org, click “Join Now”, and follow the instructions.

I’m so happy about this credit union, that I’ve been telling just about everyone! Please check it out!

www.addisonavenue.com

New Year’s is around the corner, and that means, New Year’s Resolutions, etc… I’m not really looking forward to it at all. Why? Because I am terrible about finishing what I start. I think a lot of it stems from my fear of failure or feeling pressured to complete things.

I’m going to take baby steps… starting with small short term goals… and try to work my way up. So far, I’ve done relatively well with my financial goals. I started Paxil… it made me feel very void, but it helped me in my motivation… but I’ve decided to stop taking it, and just sticking to the Clonezapam… Anxiety isn’t going to get me this time!!

Just a lot going on… and I really don’t know where to start or finish. Feeling rather random. Maybe , I should sleep.