Chicky Finance: February 2008

My Budget Strategy: Zero based budget

Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Budget

I've tried many different types of budgeting, some years back, I used Quicken for a while, and found myself frustrated and realized nothing is really working for me and finally I decided to give a chance to zero based budget. As a matter of fact, mine should be called Minus based budget because when I add all expenses and CC payment etc, it is more than what I earn. Believe it or not, I do this in purpose, whatever (-) $ amount is I try to come up with that amount at the end of the period. For example; on last month's budget I was short for $338.71. I ended working PT for an other job, selling things online, at the end I had that $338.71!

This pay period my challenge is even harder. I need to come up with $479..My plan is to sell some stuff on ebay, work on the weekends, make money on selling books on half.com and payperpost sponsored postings. BTW, so far within 4 days I've made $30.15 extra cash from payperpost and $38 book sale from half.com. For most of my expenses are being charge on my debit card, this month I am going to try something different; take some money and put in entertainment,lunch and grocery envelope. Yep you've heard it right envelope system. I have not tried it before, so I will :) Seems like those three items I keep lose track of...I'll keep eye on those envelopes make sure I'm not spending too much.

My February accomplishments:

*Haven't charged anything on CC

*Under budget, I had $50 in my checking as of yesterday

*Haven't bought any clothing, make up,shoes, bags

*Haven't gone to any mall

*As of today paid of $2,004 debt (since mid jan'08)

*Started making money on PayPerPost, half.com, cash4books,ebay,craigslist

I call this Chicky Victory! What do you think

How Much Make up Products is Enough?

Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2008 comments (2)

It seems like never enough..Women buy one lipstick and one eyeshadow set and go shopping again, buy one more lipstick slightly different shade and one more eyeshadow set...My new challenge is "Buy NO MORE make up products until what you have is gone!" First I need to make an assesment what I have.

Here is my inventory,

* 16 Eye shadow set, yes you've heard it right 16!

* 10 Lipsticks ; the strange thing is they all look the same color..hmmm something to think about..

* 2 Powder..This is one is reasoable "kind of"

* 2 Foundation

* 2 Concealer

* 7 Mascara.I just wonder, WHY? Why did I get 7 mascaras?

* 3 Blush

I think one of the reason why I kept buying so much stuff because all of my make up products were unorganized, so whenever I look for a mascara, I could not find. As a result, I ended up getting a new one I guess. Now, they are all nicely organized in a box. :) Lesson learned! This many make up should last me quite a long time...I invite every girl do the same thing, you will amaze what you already have..

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New Place to search rebates, coupons, and free shipping offers

Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2008 No Comments
Labels: PayPerPost

Note: the following post is sponsored

When you purchase things online, you know you go to check out cart and it usually asks you promo code somewhere in the page. If you dont have it, you pay the full price otherwise you put a code and you get discount.

WebbyPlanet.com is a new search engine that provides coupon, rebates, sales and free shipping for over 5,000 products. It is especially good for online purchases, occasionally for hard copy prints. For example, if you want to buy pet products you click on petsmart link and gives you this code Save $10 Off Your Order of $70 or More Expiration: n/a Coupon Code: SAVEJAN..As I said this just an example there are many more codes just like this one that you can put in promo code while checking out.

My Lovely Debt (not really) Break Down

Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Debt, Progress

My title says "Lovely" , the reason for that is I truly believe if one wants to pay off their debt, he/she has to be in peace with it. I need to know how much debt exactly I have and who I owe this much money; this is called accountability, responsibility.

Let's start (since I've started blogging);
CC#1: Paid off
CC#2: $300 interest %19
CC#3: $850 interest %13
CC#4:$3,614 interest %0
CC#5:$4,177 interest %0
Loan: $14,625 interest %12
Sister: $400

I know it is not a good picture to look at :(. However; please consider I've paid off $2,000 in 48 days, 1,5 month. According to my calculations, I can pay off my entire CC debt 19 months..I am looking forward to..*sigh*

While I am writing this, I noticed I made a sale on half.com $38 :)

My Bi-Weekly Budget for March Part-1

Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Budget

Just like most of us I'm looking forward to see my paycheck in my bank account this friday. I dont really know yet how much I'm goign to take home after lowering my exemptions to 1. I am just hoping that there is not going to be drastic difference. Anyways the list below is my bi-weekly budget for March Part-1;

* Income for this period ~$1,300: I'm not sure exact $$ due to change in # of exemptions I claim. update: I got my paycheck today it is $1,356
* Direct tv and netflix $83 (fixed expense)
* Dentist $227 (paid): I was actually quite suprise when I got the bill, some reason I thought my insurance would pay the full amount which was ~$500

* Passport fee $70: my passport has expired, I must renew asap b/c you never know when my family might need me back home.

* Gas $100: every week I spend $50 on gas, comes around $100 for 2 weeks period.

* Grocery, food, entertainment $150 for this one I will designate an envelope if possible pink :) and only spend from that envelope

* Hair $85 + $10tip= $95

* Loan payment $300 (paid)

*CC #2: $352 (paid)

*CC #3 $50 (paid)

*CC#4 $100 (paid)

Total: $1,427

Difference: (71)

I am not really sure where to come up with this money. If you remember, the last pay check period I had the same dilemma for $300 something and proudly I can tell you that somehow I made that much extra money, so for this period I'm going to push myself to come up with extra $71. I'm excited to see if I can make it happen.

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Unexpected Expenses Coming up

Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 comments (2)

Even though seems like first part of the month I was within budget even saved $250, I'm afraid of starting the second part of the month..Why? I'll tell you why; with the next check I'll get, I need to pay;

* Dentist bill: $227
* Car registration: $224
* Passport: $70
Total unexpected bills: $521 not good. I'm not sure if I can pull it off without touching EF fund. I will post my detail budget tonight.

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Wanna get dirty?

Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 No Comments
Labels: PayPerPost

I love sports especially the ones involve outdoor, competition and thinking such as; tennis, paintball. However, we all know these sports cost money sometimes a lots of money. I remember almost two years ago I paid almost $1,000 for my tennis ball machine. Even though I don’t have much experience with paintball, I know that there are some gears you have to have your own; paintball mask, paintball tanks, paintball guns, not only that you don’t want to be a penny pincher because you want to buy a gear that is going to last looooong time, so for paintball perhaps, going with brand names Tippman, Spyder, Smart Parts, Dye, Empire, Draxxus is the smartest move. Although there are several places you can purchase paintball supplies, I recommend you to take a look at http://www.pntball.com/ It is one among the largest online paintball store and they carry the latest and hottest guns which includes Tippmann A-5, Tippmann 98 Custom, Smart Parts Ion, and Spyder Pilot ACS.

Note: This post is sponsored by www.pntball.com

Things I want to sell on Ebay ASAP

Posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 No Comments
Labels: For Sale

Tonight I was looking into my stuff to see if I have anything that I would consider selling, I came up with this list;
* Sidekick phone
* Sidekick phone #2 this one is not working right but maybe someone wants to buy for parts.
* Video recorder. I use my camera's video function %90 of the time
* Wedding dress. I've been thinking about it for a long time. I want someone else also wear my wedding dress because it is just too beautiful to put in a closet.
* Books
* Sony book reader
* Body Bugg it counts calories that you spend all day long since I'm 114lb, I dont think I need this anymore.
If I sell everything on this list, it should bring me around $1K. I will start listing them on ebay right now!
By the way, I can not still believe it is almost the end of the month, I have $40 cash in my pocket and $80 in my bank account..

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I'm Approved by PayPerPost!

Posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 No Comments
Labels: PayPerPost

Today I received email from payperpost notifying me for approval of my blog "Chicky Finance"! I'm very much delighted to hear this news especially while I'm trying to save money for CPA exam. I've heard so many good things about PPP; in fact, when I first submited my blog I used referral link from "Give me my five bucks'" website. That time my blog didn't have long history, neither it had many posts as a result I got rejected...:( I guess after a couple of months PPP editors decided to recognize my determination! Thanks!

When I post a sponsor link, I will make sure that you are aware of them , also I will make sure I'm fair for both advertisers and other PF blog readers. So guys I hope you don't mind...Also time to time I will give numbers to how my PPP $$$ hopefully is growing, and generally which strategies work and don't work in PPP enviroment. Many bloggers indicate that PPP is one of the best leginimate way to make money on the internet. While signing up PPP is very much straight forward, getting approval is an another story. Once you get approval you can start choosing opportunities that fits your blog. When you click on each opportunity, you will see the requirements for that blog post. Once you fullfill requirements, your tip jar will start slowly but surely looking good!

Ski Cost per Run - Saturday Adventure

Posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 No Comments

Last Saturday my husband and I went to night skiing to Mountain High,CA . Even though it is a small mountain, it was fun and the snow was powdery. It is only an hour from us so gas didn't cost us much. The tickets were $35 each(night skiing is cheaper), my husband paid for. It was funny because my husband and I were trying get done as many as runs possible all night long. But our motivation was completely different. He enjoys skiing immensely that’s why he was going up and down the mountain so quickly..I love skiing too but my motivation was to lower cost of per run.At the end of the night (we were there almost 5 hours) we had 20 runs when you divide 35$/20run per run cost us $1.75 not bad, what do you think?

Money Made Online since Feb1st'08

Posted on Friday, February 22, 2008 comments (3)
Labels: Extra Money

Since I've started this blog, I've been reading so many wonderful PF blogs. They motivate me, help me going through this really fun (not really) journey...*sigh* So many of them are writing about the ways you can make extra money besides your FT job.

Here is my say about my progress since Feb 1st;

Craigslist: $80.00

Inbox dollars: $36.00 read related post Why you should not enroll inbox dollar and cash crate

Cash4Books: $25.00 (I will talk about this on my next post)

Amazon book sale $8.00

Half.com book sale: $15.00

Linkworth: $3.75 (I will talk about this one too)

Total Money made online: $167.75! not bad not bad at all...

Other extra money I earned from PT job: $170

Total money made in addition to my FT job in February: $337.75

Oil Change and 3000 miles Myth

Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 comments (2)
Labels: Saving

Do you change your oil yourself? Or do you take your car to oil change place every 3000 miles as it is RECOMENDED? (Oil places usually put sticker on your front window that indicates when you should come back)

In our household my husband is the one changes oil and filters, and proudly we don't change our oil every 3000 miles; however according to California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) three-quarters of Californian drivers change their motor oil more often than automaker recommendations.

If you want to save money and go green, read your car's manual for guidelines when to change oil. I know it is not fun to read a manual but you must!

Of course it depends many different factors such as; driving conditions, car's model, year..In fact; if you are driving in severe conditions, you probably need to change your oil more frequently than someone who drive their car "normal" conditions.

Severe conditions,

*Extreme Huminity

*Cold cold wheather

*Extreme heat (if you live in death valley. just kidding like more than 90 degrees)

*Repeated short distance trips less than 5 miles.

I change oil only when it oil indicator comes up in my car..So far I have 34,000 miles and if I remember correctly, my husband has changed the oil only 4 times...Almost every 9000 miles instead of 3000 miles. If you decide to go with your car's indicator as well, don't forget to reset your car's oil indicator every time you change oil.

The bottom line is if you want to save more money and live more environmentally friendly life, go and read your vehicle's manual! :)

My new blog: Chicky not CPA yet

Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 comments (1)

Today I started a new blog named Chicky not CPA yet-be witness how to become a CPA..I will have fun with this new blog but more importantly if it can motivate me as much as Chicky Finance does, I think I will reach my goal quicker than anybody can ever expect. Check it out! http://chickycpa.blogspot.com/

Today's spending update: $7

How to Lower International Phone Bills? What about FREE?

Posted on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 No Comments

I'm sure by now you know that I'm an immigrant from Europe, in summary, what that means for me $$$$ international phone bills. My parents and the closest friends I have still live in my home country and I love to keep in touch with them. Until I figured out the way to FREE phone calls to love ones, I've spent hundreds of dollars since I've moved here. I know many of you dont have anybody overseas to call, but I'm hoping that even if I can reach one person, that's a good thing.

If you look at my biweekly budget, it shows howmuch I paid for interational phone calls for the last month only $13 even though I've been talking to my mom (she lives in Europe) everyday sometimes for hours. That $$ amount used to be around $80 or even $90 some months.

Here comes my solution; SKYPE!

God bless whoever invented skype :)

I got one of these skype phone so that I dont have to use my computer, in fact the device is just like regular cordless phone, you can switch back and forth between your regular landline and your skype account. Voice quality is super A+++ and my mom can call me anytime she wants. The only thing is a person you want to talk must have skype account. I mean even my mom figured out how to use internet, check her emails and log into skype account. Overall, it saves me a lots of money without giving up endless conversation with my loved ones overseas.

ps: Phone brand I have Phillips, the picture above, I've just checked on amazon you can buy it for $104.00

T-Mobile,Verizon,Sprint,ATT(Cingular) Short Review

Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 comments (1)
Labels: Saving

I've worked for them and learned alot so you don't have to!

During my college years in the States I've worked in a wireless cellphone store as a manager. I thought what don't I share with you some inside view I have. Even though my favourite and current service provider is T-mobile, I am not going to be bias because each customer value different things while choosing a wireless service provider. For some reception is the most important thing and for others customer service and affordability comes first. Overall, I can easily tell you that customers seem to care only 3 things; Reception, Customer service and Price$$. I put a chart together below that you can see strenghts and weaknesses for each service provider. For me customer service and price most important things as long as reception is reliable and works in Europe. Therefore my choose is T-mobile. They have multiple awards from JD Powers for their customer satisfaction and personally whenever I call their customer service, I always have good experience. Their reception is not great but much better than Sprint. On the other hand, I know many Verizon customers who switch Tmobile and not satisfied what so ever. Verizon has great coverage all over the country but they are pricey!!! Cingular currently ATT has terrible customer service, just for this reason I would not even consider it. Sprint it is cheap but has no reliable network or honest, knowleable customer service. The bottom line is if you have money and you live middle of nowhere, go with Verizon otherwise Tmobile.

By the way, a couple days ago I changed my current price plan to $29.99+ 4.99 (400 txt) so with taxes and fees I believe my current phone bill should be around $40 instead of $70! I hope I don't go over my minutes though ....In fact, I know that's what they are hoping for! :)

Today's spending update: Proudly "0", I didn't each lunch today, some reason I was not hungary, what the heck I just stayed in my office and studied for CPA.. :)

Inbox Dollars & Cash Crate Review

Posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 comments (3)

I've tried so you don't have to!

In a nutshell, both cash care and inbox dollars promise to make money without using your brain cells just by reading emails sent by them, taking offers from their website, completing surveys.. Even though I've made $36 in a very short time, I don't think it is worth anyone's valuable time to spend on these website.

Cash Crate:

Pros:

Very simple layout
Free to start
Legitimate

Cons:

Once you click on a survey or an offer, small windows start popping up every corner of your computer, very annoying!
Once you complete surveys, you need to wait for several days to be credit to your cash crate account (not bank account), sometimes they never credit the money you earned.
Min pay out $10
You give away your personal info over and over again. No wonder there are millions of identity theft victims every year.

Inbox Dollars:

Pros:

Easy layout
Free to start
Legitimate

Cons:

Min. Payout $30 and there is $3.00 processing fee
Read emails. You will be making 1-3 cents per email. If you think you have nothing better to do, then by all means sign up and start making 3 cents per email. (don't do that to yourself)
You can make most money when you complete offers and cancel before trail preiod ends. I made $36 just simply signing up for some offers and cancelling them after few days.

Here is my excel spreadsheet sample to keep track of all the offers I signed up and cancelled. According to inboxdollars' website I should receive my check in the beginning of April.We'll see...

Personally, I have account with both websites and I will be closing them as soon as I get my money.

My Personal Finance Goals (as of February 2008)

Posted on Sunday, February 17, 2008 comments (3)
Labels: Budget, Goals

Short Term Goals (1-2 years)

Pass CPA exam A few days ago I received email from california board of accountacy basically states that I can start scheduling my exams. I am taking first part in April, second part in May, third part in July, fourth part in August
Pay off Car Loan I need to start paying $1,000 towards my car loan; currently I can only pay $700. I am hoping that if I get a new job with better salary, I can afford $1,000 payment.
Get a new job Even though I'm happy with the company I'm with right now, lack of its size, salary, and challenge makes me consider changing the company seriously.
Build Up Emergency Fund to $5,000: I opened account with ING Orange and started putting my $250 every month.
Pay Off Credit Card Debt $24,969 If I can pay off $1,000 towards my CC debt, it should dissapper little bit over 2 years.

Overall within 2 years you should be reading a blog that belongs to a CPA with $5000 emergency fund, no car loan with car worth $20K and no credit car debt..Sounds so great!

ING Referral Linsk: Earn $25 Sign Up Bonus

Posted on Sunday, February 17, 2008 No Comments
Labels: ING Referral Links

Two days ago I opened my ING saving account by using Fabulous Finance's ING referral link and I was suprised that my $25 credited my account instantly, so I decided put my referral links on my blog and give everybody else chance to make $25! You need to deposit at least $250 to get $25..Current interest rate varies 3.40%-4.00% APY. When you receive your $25, I will receive $10 referral fee from ING as a reward!
Referral Link #1

Referral Link #2

Referral Link #3

Referral Link #4

Referral Link #5

Happy Chicky Saving!

Grocery for veggies and fruits

Posted on Saturday, February 16, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Grocery, Saving

When it comes to shopping for veggies and fruits, I don't shop from Ralphs. Instead I ussually shop from a huge middle eastern market 10 miles from my house where they have many europeans brands as well. For this pay period I have $100 for grocery and lunch. Today on my way I stopped by this market, and I got so much stuff and only paid $29.05.
Here is the list;
*Cucumber
*Potato
*Feta Cheese
*Green Onions
*Baby Carrot
*Parsley
*12 eggs
*Frozen mix veggies
*Tomato
*Cherry tomato
*Blueberries
*Eggplant
*Mushroom
*Bread
*Pastries
*Fruit rolls
*Black eye beans
and few more things..and afterwards I stopped by Ralphs and got meatless ground beef (soya), newspaper and seasoned potato in a ready package, paid $7.11. By the way, I will go to grocery on monday just to do grocery game. After that I dont need to anymore grocery until at the of the month. If you dont know what the grocery game is, click here to read my previous post. The bottom line is my total grocery is so far only $36.16.

My Bi-Weekly Budget for February

Posted on Saturday, February 16, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Budget

1-Income: For this period I have $1,480 however, since I need to change my exemptions from 6 to 2 or even "0", my projected monthly income $2,550 after taxes taken out for the rest of 2008. I will know this fact for sure at the end of this month.

2- Car Loan- $700 (paid) I dont think I will be able to make $1,000 towards my car loan b/c I have so many other unexpected expenses came up for following months such as; cpa exam fees, tax that I owe, passport fee, car registration fee.

3-Sister-$200 (paid)I owe my sister $700 and it bothers me alot so I am going to pay $200 every month and get rid off that guilty feeling

4-Netflix-$9.69 (paid)subscription Not much to say about this one, it explains itself.

5-Credit Card payment-$315(paid) I committed to make CC payment every pay period whether it is due or not.

6-EF saving-$250(paid) I finally opened ING account! and deposited my first $250 and got $25 bonus

7-T-mobile -$71.00 (paid) I changed my plan last friday. Starting from the next month my phone bill should be around $40

8-Gym membership-$60 for two(paid)

9-Gas-$100 sad but reality is that gas is expensive!

10-Food- $100 this includes lunch at work and grocery for home

11-Land line-$13.02 (paid)

My expenses for this period: 1,818.71

My income is only: $1,480

Difference: (338.71) I need to come up with this money.

This week saturday, sunday and monday( monday is president's day so I dont work at my FT job) I will be working at my part time job that I keep just emegency times. (my boss at this partime job is really nice and flexible) that will bring me $300(update: earned$170 only worked 2days instead 3)+I sold my ipod $20(earned) and I have some change in piggy bank for $18.71 bukcs. Total comes down to 338.71. So I should be able to survive without touching any credit card this period.

Selling my IPOD Shuffle for $15

Posted on Friday, February 15, 2008 comments (3)
Labels: For Sale

I am selling my Ipod shuffle for $15 if anyone interested in shoot me an email. chickyfinance@gmail.com It works just fine, the only reason I'm selling because I already have Ipod nano and I don't want shuffle to sit around in my drawer. Before I put on ebay or craigslist, I wanted to post here because I know we all look for good deal. :)

By the way I just found out CPA exam fees;
California exam fees
Audit: $209.33
Financial: $197.40
Regulation: $173.55
Business: $161.63
Total: $741.91
I have to come up with this money within 90 days!

Update for Ipod: Thank you guys alot. I sold my ipod shuffle the same day for $20! Chicky finance rocks!

I am Tickled Pink because...

Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 comments (2)

I am so overjoyed right now because I've just received email from California board of accountacy basically states that I'm approved to sit for the CPA Exam as a California candidate.. The best V gift ever..That means a lot to me, from now on I can excel even more in my career! Starting from today, hard study marathon begins..

CPA exam is total 4 sections,March is a blackout month that means they don't offer the exam. Therefore, I can schedule my exam earliest in the beginning of April for the first section. I believe the exam fee for the first part is little over $100 hmm how should I pay? I'll probably pay it from tomorrow's paycheck and live rest of the month accordingly :)

Suzeee Orman and her book Women & Money for FREE

Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 comments (1)
Labels: Offers, Saving

In my native language Suze's last name Orman means forest, so every time I hear her name it reminds me green forest while I'm sure to most people it reminds "Green $$$" If you are interested in buying her Women&Money book, DONT SPEND MONEY on it. She is giving her Women & Money book for Free in .pdf format through Oprah's website. You can download it until the evening of February 14 at least that's what it says on O's website. Anyways, I read this book two times but when I saw this free offer I thought I am obligated to blog about it. Here you go, if you want to take a look here is the link http://flv.oprah.com/suze_orman_eng.pdf .

I am GUILTY, Just Spent $100

Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 No Comments

I do not really know how I'm going to justify this $100 but I'll try my best..I actually knew that I will be spending $100 today because it was well advance planned. Perhaps you wonder why then I feel guilty? Just because...

Your next question probably what I did with this $100...Well confession time..As you know tomorrow is Valentine's Day not only that february first was our fifth year together with my husband so I want to suprise him and take it to couple's massage place. $39 each so total $80 plus $20 tip=$100 Best of all, he really loved it and we had a good time..The only thing is tomorrow will be really painful for me because I have basically no money until 15th except couple quarters in my wallet.. *sigh* I'm 28 and feel chest pain :(

Anyways, Let me cheer you up and myself a little bit!

First part of february money wise was generally good;

1-I have not used credit card at all.
2-Paid $1,300 toward my credit card that took $25,970 down to $24,670

3-I have not bought any clothing,purse or shoes etc

4-I signed up http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ which already saved me nearly $18.00 with almost no effort.
5-We have not gone out for dinner nor ordered take out for dinner since beginning of february. This is itself a huge accomplishment for us. I started cooking every night.

6- Sold book on amazon made $5 after shipping etc, sold another book on half.com made $12 total book sale profit: $17.00 not bad, not bad at all.

After all do you still think I acted like spoiled girl when I spent $100 for our 5th year celebration with my husband?

About Me

Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 comments (8)
Labels: About Me

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Chicky Finance!

I started this blog in mid January after reading several PF blogs; I got so motivated that I decided to share my "not so smart" mistakes and hope that someone else can learn from my miscalculations at the same time witness my journey of becoming debt free!

I will first tell you how my jouney started in the U.S and how I got trapped under a mountain of debt...My journey begun six years ago when I decided to move US to learn English..By the way, six years ago I could not speak even a word in english, now I am writing a blog! What a wonderful world, isn't it? :) Anyways I thought I would learn english and go back to my home country and find a good paying job etc..Things worked out differently.. As soon as I stepped out from the plane, I fell in love with this country and decided to stay here until I die.

I was determined, I was going to learn english, get educated,get married and have so many adventures in this country.. I started going community college to learn english as an international student I had so many obstacles, the tution I was paying 10 times more than US citizen students..Per semester would usually cost me $2,000 (community college) I worked so hard to learn the language and make ends meet..I was working full time at a restaurant and going school full time..After a year I met my husband; he was so sweet and supportive financially and emotionally..We've dated for 3 years and got married last year...

This was the happy end for love side..What about money?? During those 3 years I was under international student status which was really hard because this type of visa does not permit work..So even though I had BA in Economics, I could not apply for an office job. During that I kept going school and more school..I went to UCLA accounting program for 2 years completed all needed credits for Certified Public Accounting exam. I finally finished the school in mid March 2007 and found accounting position in July for $40K. ( I guess I could find better paying job but I was at the point I needed this income ASAP) Since July I have been putting almost all of my money towards CC debt and car loan.

When I started this blog My credit card debt total was $25,970 and car loan $23,244..I plan to get rid off all of my debt and become debt free by Jan 2010. The most of my CC debt accumulated during those 3 years when I have to pay super high tuition. Of course there were times I was so overwhelmed that I thought I deserve a couple of trips to mall here and there and fancy dinners and gifts to friends etc..You know what I mean? *sigh*

I will do whatever takes to pay off my debt and become debt free..The only thing I need is your support, are you going to be with me in this journey?

Today is "Have a spend nothing day"

Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 comments (1)

Today I got a new domain name http://www.chickyfinance.com/. I think it will be up within couple days.

Today except for the domain name I plan to spend zero. From work I need to go to straight to home and study for CPA exam. By the way, it is so hard to concentrate CPA exam..While the exam is already hard and overwhelming for native english speakers, imagine me...I don't know if I have ever mentioned but English is not my native language therefore if I make any grammar or expression mistake, please forgive me but not only that please let me know!

Also I decided to make a meal plan for this week (applying frugal dad's recommendation). Suprisingly, making the list took only 5 min.

Here it is (it might inspire some others);

Tuesday-fettucini pasta w/mushroom tomato sauce and egg with spicy potato scramble
Wednesday-lentil soupRice, vegetable, chicken
Thursday-salmon fish with angel hair pasta
Friday-veggie crepes (spinach, zuchini, cheese, tomato),
potato corn soup
Saturday-eggplant moussaka with ground beef
Sunday-Traditional cauliflower meal with tomato and all kind of spices.

My shopping list;

Potato

carrot

onion

chicken

assorted vegetables

eggplant

ground beef

cauliflower frozen

tomato paste

This list should not cost me $25..So for $25 I can manage cook 6 different meals? After all it is not a bad deal huh? :)

I can not believe just saved $17.79 on GROCERY!

Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 comments (5)
Labels: Grocery, Saving

I could not wait until I come back from lunch and share with you guys that I've just saved $17.79 on my grocery and end up paying $12.46..In fact I got several free stuff with coupons/store promotions combined.

Free stuff;
.Spagetti
.Kellogs Strawberry rice cereal

I have a secret to tell you about this grocery shopping;

The Grocery Game! Their website is http://www.grocerygame.com/

It was very easy and at first try as you can see on my receipt I saved $17.79 which is more than %60 of total amount.

What is grocery game?

Their website explains it all.

"The Grocery Game is a fun, easy way to save hundreds of dollars on groceries each month. TERI'S LIST reveals the "rock bottom" prices on hundreds of products each week and matches them up with manufacturers' coupons for the best possible savings at your local supermarket. The Grocery Game has exclusive databases that track manufacturers' coupons along with weekly sales and specials, both advertised and UN-advertised. With TERI'S LIST, the days of time consuming work required for effective coupon-ing are over. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, presented in a quick reference format on the internet each week, as TERI'S LIST. Members log in, spend a few minutes with a pair of scissors.The Grocery Game databases track the sales history on nearly every item in the supermarket, waiting to use a coupon on "rock bottom" sales, saving members even more money. Now, the best possible savings are quickly accessible to "coupon pros", busy professionals, overworked moms, single adults and anyone who wants to cut their grocery bill by as much as half or even more."

What does TERI'S LIST look like?

If you decide to join please put my email address on referral box. Chickyfinance@gmail.com Every 3 referral gives me 12 weeks of free usage of the website.

Take Care!
I still Can not believe I saved more than %60 on my grocery!!

Coupons and Grocery Shopping

Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2008 comments (1)
Labels: Grocery, Saving

I must admit that I'm neither a great coupon collector nor organizer. The most of time I either misplace them or I try to use them after expiration date. *sigh* So it does no good for me...

I have a new way doing things now and I want to share with because I'm sure that there are hundreds of people out there just like me who are not good at using coupons timely manner..*guilty smile*

Here is my newway;

1) You should have your shopping list on your hand (it is the crucial step for the method I use)

2) Once you know what you need you can sit in front of your computer and start printing coupons you need. Here is how;

I'm not going to give you 10 different coupon websites and tell you search for items. Because I believe it is a waste of your time. What you need to do is to go to "Manufacturer's Website" and print a coupon directly from their website. From my experience %90 of the time you will find the coupon you've been looking for. For example; I need to buy tootpaste, lets say it is colgate brand. I go to colgate website and there is coupon link on ther website for $1.50. Ralph grocery doubles manufacturer coupons therefore $1.50 comes down to $3.00. When I go to Ralfh I notice colgate tootpaste is $3.99 after I use my coupon it is only 0.99 cents.

I also found this article 20 Money Saving Tips for the Grocery Store [Frugal Dad].

He gives several tips for grocery shopping;

1-Sign up for customer loyalty programs. I do this. I actually go to two grocery store Ralph and middleeastern store near my house.(it has incredible deals for veggies and fruits)

2-Coupons are your friend. As said earlier I only use manufacturer coupon from their website.

3-Plans meals two weeks in advance. I am hoping that I can plan my meals a week in advance.*guilty smile*

for more from Frugal Dad click here.

Say NO to "Offers"

Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 No Comments
Labels: Offers

I opened my mails for the day and discovered I had received offers and more offers from credit card companies, retail stores etc. One of my favorite store is "Express" because they have good quality clothing for

work and they are reasonable priced. I used to make sure taking advantage of all of their promos, especially the ones I receive in the mail. Anyways, the picture you see on the left is a coupon for Express $50 off for $150 Purchase so it is little bit more than %35 off. As soon as I saw this coupon I was all excited and started thinking about which day I should go to mall..What a mistake! Then I remembered my main goal " becoming debt free", I put that coupon in the trash bin and decided to write about it...

It is hard to say NO to "good deals" but if I don't say No, there is no chance for me to become debt free anytime soon..That's why when I threw away the express coupon, I felt I'm one more step closer to becoming debt free.

Chicky Finance

PROGRESS

DEBT-O-METER