January 25, 2008

• Money management

  One of the things I want to focus on this year is managing
  my money a lot better.  By that I mean
  paying more attention to my modest little retirement fund, making sure I pay
  down my debts as fast as possible and be a bit more conscious of how &
  where I spend my money.  I’m not exactly
  what triggered this.   Maybe it’s the
  recent gyrations in the stock market.  RRSP
  (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) season is just around the corner as
  well.  The tax filing deadlines is also
  not too far away too.  Or maybe I’m
  finally listening to my bf who has been reminding me to pay more attention to
  these things.  I don’t go crazy and spend
  wildly (well, except maybe this Christmas). 
  My bf on the other hand is careful on where he spends his hard earned
  dollars. 

  Here’s an interesting contrast.  When I’m over at his place, I’ll be checking
  the Best Buy and Future Shop flyers.  He’ll
  be scouring the flyers for all the grocery stores.   He
  knows what the average prices are for almost all items and wheter or not it’s a good deal.  On the other hand, I only know
  that if bananas are 39 cents a pound, it’s a good deal.   Why do I know that?  Well, when we first went grocery shopping together,  he almost fainted when I started to pile
  things into my shopping cart without checking the prices.  So his first shopping tip for me was: bananas
  at 39 cents a pound is pretty good price. 
  It’s too bad my poor brain can only remember this, nothing else.    

  So little by little, I’m slowly getting my financial house
  in order.  I don’t want to have a late
  payment this year – period.  Those
  interest payments add up and kill your credit rating.  All my bills, statements etc… are all over
  the place.  One time, I showed up at his
  place with all my receipts in shopping bags and shoe boxes.  He didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or slap
  me silly.  This may take a bit of time for me to get all my stuff organized properly.He’s actually quite good with
  money.  He’s negotiated car deals,
  mortgages & has even caught his bank making an error once! 

  After my bf took a look at my nest egg, he concluded that I’ve
  got too much cash and not enough equities. 
  My bf told me what he recently purchase and to take advantage of the
  recent drop in stock prices.  I made a
  couple of trades now and so far so good.  My bf is actually quite good with money.  He’s negotiated car deals, mortgages &
  has even caught his bank making an error once!  

  I try to do some simple things too.  I don’t buy tea at work anymore.  It’s $1.35 a cup.  So I buy tea bags and bring in my own thermos
  cup.  I try to keep to just one cup of coffee
  a day.  But there are days when I’ll need
  a coffee in the afternoon so I don’t fall asleep on the keyboard.  I even watch how I drive.  When there’s no traffic say late at night, I
  just coast along at the speed limit or just below it.  It’s a lot more economical this way than zipping
  along at 110 kph or 120 kph.  And of
  course, I only buy bananas at 39 cents a pound. 

  If I keep this up, I should be able to sleep better at night
  too.       

   And now for more food…

  The stock was a combination of chicken and pork bones.  The small meatballs are pork with finely chopped preserved salted
  radish (I think that’s what it is) and shrimp. 
  The veggies are Napa
  cabbage.  It takes a bit of time to make
  this but it was very good.  I added some
  finely chopped ginger as well.  I have to find a way to make the pork more "smooth" or tender.  Maybe I should mince it by myself instead.   
  

  

  • 1:30 AM
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