Learning the ropes

Engagement gift the shutterfly way!

2010-12-02T10:18:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Before my daughter was born, I used to think, who would pay so much for photo gifts? Oh boy! Did I ever change my mind...once my daughter was born I went photo crazy and shutterfly was my partner in crime.
Photo Books - check
Photo prints - check
Oh no...it doesn't end here...in fact, the interesting world of photo gifts just begins with photo prints and photo books...
I made Photo Calendars - complete with all the birthdays and other occasions marked along with phone numbers. I made photo cards...not just with my daughter's pics, but also with the pics of all her cousins. Photo cards with baby's pic is now my go to gift for all the new parents, whatever else we gift them, we always include a nice photo card of the baby, and parents just love it.
Not to mention the posters...there's something really nice about seeing the moments of your life in a big snapshot..right there on your wall.
You would be wondering, how much money did I end up spending when I did all those things...All I can say is...very little. With all the great promotions that shutterfly keeps rolling out all the time. I spent very little compared to the enjoyment we got and the gifts we were able to give.

Shared here is the photo book I made from a friend's engagement pics. She doesn't even know that I made this book for her. I'll just order this and gift it to her at the time of wedding. Bet she's gonna love it. How do you like it?

Now a little something for you:

If you are a blogger, Shutterfly is running a promotion where if you share your creation on a website or blog, you may be eligible for a $25 Shutterfly gift certificate.
The details from Shutterfly:

Create and enjoy photo gifts with shutterfly

2010-12-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

Some Observations from Europe trip

2009-01-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

Sacre Coeur, Paris

1. Europeans are much more environment friendly than other continents. Much more public transport, avid bikers, energy saving. This is something we should learn from our Dutch or French counterparts.

2. Europeans in general are more reserve then Americans: Its a common thing to greet a stranger with a cheery "Hello, How are you?" or a "Good Morning" in America, not so in Europe. At the very best, one can expect a Nod, or a smile.

3. The Paper is not as ubiquitous in Europe as in America: Ok they do have TP in the restrooms, but don't bet on Paper towels near sinks or in your hotel rooms. They use paper sparingly, most of the places still believe in the old fashioned fabric.

4. People are lean: There were many times when I looked around on a crowded subway platform and didn't find a single person seriously overweight. (How do they manage it - Bicycles?)

5.People are fashionable: In the cold January morning you can find women in sheer stockings. No sneakers for ladies - I looked around many a times and found that I was the only one ( gasp!) donning sneakers around.

6. Paris and Brussels are stunningly beautiful - We kept walking from one place to another and the cities never failed to amaze us. Average walk a day 7 miles or more. Yaay!! for my sneakers.

7. You PAY (Gasps!!!) for the use of restrooms: Seriously people! thats something I had to check twice to believe. Even in restaurants you've to pay to use the restrooms, at least in Holland. And to think they pay big taxes out there.

8. Graffiti Everywhere: I think spray cans are dirt cheap in Europe. Top of the buildings, subway stations, tunnels, trains...nothing has been spared of the big bold letters. I saw graffiti even in the places really difficult to get to, like the inside of a tunnel where trains were passing every two minutes. Either Europe needs to nurture its graffiti talent by organising graffiti marathons and graffiti olympics or they need to increase the price of those spray cans.

9. Going to Europe - Pack an adapter and a pin converter for your electronic devices. The voltage is different and so is power plug design, make sure you are equipped to work with that.

10. Charge, Charge and Charge - This is something that we goofed up on many times. We had a camera, cellphone and a GPS. We inevitably kept forgetting to charge one or the other of these, and ran into issues like the camera dying on us at Notre Dame or GPS threatening to die on our way to hotel late in the night ( We used GPS to navigate in pedestrian mode.) Its a good idea to let the critical accessories charge as soon as you reach your abode.

11. Despite having high speed internet connections, I figure that Europeans dont make a big deal of internet. You wont find many surfing internet on places with wi-fi availability, like the hi-speed trains. In fact, a lot of tourist attractions don't even offer tickets on internet.

12. Walking on foot is enjoyable - Although most European cities boast a robust and efficient public transport system, for closer distance it is actually better to walk. You will come across many a sights and things that you wouldn't otherwise. While going to Sacre Coeur in Paris, we decided to walk and came across a vintage car rally. We wouldn't have seen it we had taken a Metro instead.

13. Metro is the best way to get around in Paris. For 19 Euros per person, we could roam freely through the city for 3 days.

14. Make sure you have a small backpack on you when you go to the tourist attractions, otherwise carrying things like water bottles, light snacks, guide books, umbrella, camera etc would be problematic. It isn't easy to take pictures while your shoulder or other hand is balancing a water bottle or tote bag. We actually faced this issue and had to buy an overpriced backpack at Paris.

15. In Paris, be prepared to stand in long queues, whether its Eiffel Tower, Louvre or Versailles. There are long queues everywhere.

16. Looks like the French skimped on signs and directions, I found that signs for crucial information were missing at many prominent tourist places.

17. Pack sufficient cash and if possible get it converted into Euros while you're in the home country. That would give you a chance to get the best deal for currency conversion, or you'll lose a serious chunk of change when you do it in Europe.

18. Ticketing machines and many offical cash registers don't accept US credit cards ( and sometimes not even European cards). While you are out there, cash is king. Also make sure you have some 50c or 1Euro coins on you to pay for restrooms, train tickets etc.

19. Contrary to my assumption, not everyone understands English in Europe. It will be a good idea to learn some basic words and phrases in French/German depending on where you're going.

20. Europeans are not as big on tipping as Americans. Although we're still expected to tip the waiters etc, it is not mandatory to tip every person you deal with during the course of travel.

Resoultions for 2009: Is it too late for it already?

2009-01-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

Setting goals for the coming year (ok, the year is not 'coming' anymore...its already there) is always lot of fun. It makes me look forward to the new year and it makes it sound promising. It also imparts a feeling that I'm evolving as human being and not just aging. So here I'm, writing them down in black and white, for all to see and committing myself to them.

Financial

1. Have 20% down payment for our house by the end of the year. We're a little over 10% right now, so this seems doable, but I wanted to set right expectations this year, because of the state of economy.

2. Invest 10K in stocks to keep. This is BEB's demand. He is not happy with us keeping all our eggs in a single basket so he wants to build an investment portfolio.

Health and Fitness

1. Keep up the workout schedule from 2008.
I would like to elaborate a little here - I'm extremely proud of my achievements in this area last year. On Dec 18, 2007 we bought a new bike for me and begin to bike regularly. We kept at it until our India trip in May. While I was in India I couldn't exercise well and indulged in various Indian delicacies which resulted in my putting on about 4lbs. I wanted to lose this extra weight but biking wasn't helping much there. So we joined a gym and it has really helped me achieve some of my fitness goals. This year we want to be a little more aggressive towards this goal. I estimate that we went to gym about 70% of days last year. This year BEB wants to up the ante by taking off only for 50 days through the year. So thats what our first fitness goal is.

2. Keep up the good eating habits from 2008 but work on portion control: We worked to cut down our fat intake aggressively in 2007. It resulted in weight loss for BEB, and he really liked himself better that way. We tried to continue that in 2008 and soon got tired of the tasteless food. I didn't feel like cooking because even I myself didn't like the food cooked with so many omissions. So I reintroduced some oil and salt into my cooking and the results were wonderful. We ate more of healthy food and liked what we ate, indulged ourselves ocasionally and felt healthy overall. The additional fat was taken care of by the extra exercise we were getting at the gym. With all this experiment I feel that moderation is the way to go in order to eat healthy. Depriving ourselves from everything we liked didn't work too well in the long term.The only thing I see amiss from our eating habits is portion control. Both me and BEB are foodies and even though we have learnt to control the kind of food we eat, we still have to work on the amount we eat. We usually dine together, sharing anecdotes, talking about our respective workdays and life in general and usually keep eating till we are completely stuffed. I will try to be more vigilant about how much we eat.

3. Eat Slowly: One thing I keep reading about is that eating slowly helps in losing weight. What I feel however, is that besides losing weight, it also helps us in enjoying our food better and that I believe, is the key to being a good cook. I come from a family of fast eaters and due to the demands on my time, I have only nurtured this habit over time. Now I want to shift gears and try eating slowly and mind my food.

4. Increase the intake of proteins: Indian cuisine leans heavily towards whole grains and vegetables but lacks in proteins. This issue is especially problematic for vegetarians like us, who don't eat meats or eggs which are a n obviuos source of proteins for others. This year I'll try to make pulses, lentils, beans and soy a bigger part of our diet so that we can get proteins we need.

5. Better regime for Skin care and oral care : I have a very sensitive skin and thats why I need to be really vigilant about maintaining it. Caring more for it was my resolution last year but I couldn't really keep it that well. I'll try again this year. Also I'm good at brushing my teeth but not at flossing them, I will try to stay regular at that too.

Career Goals:

1. Aspire to become a better employee - continued from 2008. Last year I tried to get rid of my erratic work schedule and settle into routine working hours like everyone else and was successful to a big extent. This year I want to be proactive in my work and go an extra mile that what is expected of me.

2. Work on my dream career: I recently dabbled a bit in sewing and dressmaking and found that I still love it. I'll get some more books on sewing from library and try to sew more.

3. Be regular with my blog posting: Although this blog is more of a sounding board than a source of income, I would still want to keep blogging regulary. This is something I enjoy and after an year I find that I could write at least a few posts that had value for some other people so why not!

3. Learn Dutch Language: This is a hobby that I picked from my visit to Europe recently. My Sister-in-law initiated me into the language with a few words to enable us to get around in Holland. On our flight back I picked up a newspaper and a travle brochure in dutch and was immidiately hooked. There's something really exciting about trying to read a 5 word sentence and ...FAIL, after a long time. I want to be able to read and understand a dutch novel by the end of the year. Its not really a career goal but I figure it will be a good exercise for my brain and an added lanuguage is a skill anyway.

Social Goals

1. Keep in touch with friends and relatives in India: Make at least two non-regular phone calls to touch base with friends and relatives overseas. Populate my calendar with more birthdays.

2. Make friends with at least 2 new families: By get acquainted I mean, going to each other's place, taking trips together. Having a relationship where they can count on us and vice versa in times of need.

I know how corny the above goals sound, and selfish too. Let me explain - We have been in the US for two years now and till date, whenever we get stuck, we can think of only one family to turn to. I feel that thats not a very pretty situation to be at, especially when we are thousands of miles away from family and friends. It also leads to a lot of boredom, specially for husband when there's nobody around to spend time with except your spouse. Since we had fairly big social networks always, I don't think there's something inherently wrong with our behaviour. I think the only thing amiss is that since we're so used to social network built automatically that we never actively pursued it. It was fine in India, because we knew so many people through schools, work etc and wherever the wavelengths matched, it was the begining of a lasting friendship. It is different here, because we never studied here, worked with a limited number of people, and have no connections through our families. So here we have to actively pursue whatever little connections we make. Also a big issue earlier was my being very picky about friends, again this worked in India because I had a lot of people to choose from but I quickly realised that I was wrong in doing that. Nobody's perfect, so it will be foolish to expect that somebody will fit all your criteria, before we can make acquaintance. I now feel that a better way would be to just keep in touch, if there's a connection, friendship will evolve, if not, we can still keep in touch and stay on talking terms. So as corny as they sound, I'm still going to stick with these goals for this year and see where they take us.

Spiritual Goals:

1 Learn to let go:This is something I really need to work hard at and at multiple levels - I often try to juggle too many things at a time and get frustrated when some of them don't work out the way I want them. I will have to work to understand that its ok to not do that fabulous deal at Walgreens, its ok to pay the 25C penalty on a library book once. I'll try less to become the superwoman.

Besides this, I also have the memory of an elephant - while it comes in handy most of the times there are times when it is not such a good thing - I never forgive some one for hurting me, especially if that incident deals with my big ego. While I am still not sure giving somebody more chances to hurt me would be a good idea, it would be nice to be able to forget the incident and all the negativity attached to it and move on. I wish I could just let go of all the bitterness I feel towards the people who wronged me. I'll try to do that because even writing it in here makes me feel much less bitter. I hope I'll be so busy keeping up my other resolutions that I won't have time to feel negative about others. :)

January Half Month pulse check: Getting my bearings back

2009-01-15T11:46:00.000-08:00

After two months of extraordinary expenses and whirlwind activity ( buying gifts, packing, travel, sight-seeing, jet-lag) we are trying to settle back into routine life. Last weekend was a weekend at home after a long time and I did appreciate the time to catch my breath.
We celebrated the down-time by watching back to back bollywood flicks ( me), repairing the laptop (BEB) and having some heart-to-heart talks about our financial goals in 2009 ( more on that later).
Now on to our financial status for the first half of January: Things are again falling into place after a long time, so far our balancesheet shows all the regular amounts and some of the extra expenses from our trip to Europe, but since there weren't many big expenses during the trip, so far it looks good.
One small change has been in the newspaper bill, which they keep on increasing every 6 months, but I couldn't take it anymore. So I had called the Customer Service and showed my disapproval of their policy and canceled my subscription. I'll probably buy only Sunday newspaper to get coupons from now on.
All the other expenses look fairly balanced, but we got a big shocker in the form of our IT dues. We made a mistake in calculating our dues for the year, and now we have to cough up something to the tune of 10K before March. That would mean no savings for two more months. Oh! How I hate it when we have to live on zero savings, and this is going to be the fourth consecutive month, bravo!
On the brighter side, had we known about this we would have reconsidered our trip to Europe and that would mean missing out on so many beautiful experiences and memories. Good that we came to know about our goof up only when we came back. I hope to still squeeze in some small savings by cutting corners here and there. I'll keep you posted.

Lessons from spending 16 hours at the airport

2009-01-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

Photo Courtsey: Creative Commons

This happened to us on our way back from Schiphol, Amsterdam to San Francisco. We had to take a connecting flight from Dulles, Washington to San Francisco and due to long immigration check and security check lines we missed our connecting flight. This was at 4:00 pm . Airline offered to put us on stand-by for the next flight, but after making us wait for two hours told us that they had no seat for us and we were put on stand-by for the next flight four hours later. Four hours later we were told that this flight was full as well, after speaking with customer service we found out that we couldn't get a seat until now because of our low priority status. She bumped up our priority status, but since the next flight was at 7:00 am, we had to spend the night at the airport. Due to the early flight, it didn't make sense for us to go to a hotel so we had to stay at the airport. It was a long night, but here're some of the lessons we learned:

Before your journey

If your port of entry is not your destination, keep substantial difference between your connecting flights. At least 2 hours, more if you're not a US citizen.

A blanket of your own in the carry on is a big blessing.

Charge, charge, charge - laptop, cellphone, shaver, ipod. Whatever is good enough to carry in your carry-on is definitely good enough to be carried fully charged. Especially cellphones - they're lifesavers in many situations, having it die on you while you're stuck could be a double whammy - and the worst part - you won't even have a security line to blame it on.

Cash is king - Have some change, and some high value bills in your pocket of whatever currency is used at the airports you will be traveling through. Not all countries honour credit cards - even at the airport.

Never ever make the mistake of flying without toiletries in your carry-on. The hassle of putting them in a ziploc and getting them checked separately during security is well worth it. Ladies, some basic make-up is good too. I'm not asking you to carry on a 2 sqft vanity case. But having a lipstick, eye-liner, foundation won't hurt.

If you have the space, pack some dry snacks that you're comfortable eating. It is not really essential because most of the airports have eating options. But the options available may not always match your tatse or preferences and moreover, it will be expensive. It will be good to have your food with you. However, that may not always be possible depending on what else you're carrying/where you're flying from.

A change of cloth is also a good thing to have. The comfortable, the better.

You probably know this but its worth repeating - put some unique, robust and easily identifiable tags on your luggage. Ours are fluroscent orange cloth ribbons with mine and husband's name embroidered on them and they are actually sewn through the luggage handle. When we went to claim our luggage at the destination, I was missing one piece. I just said out aloud - "My suitcase had this similar orange tag with my name" one of the airline agents remembered stowing the suitcase with that tag in the backroom and immediately brought it to us.

You have missed your connecting flight, now what

If you miss your connecting flight, don't just take the default stand-by status for the next flight. Asked to get confirmed, failing that, asked to be promoted to a higher priority. Negotiate, plead, tell them over and over again that you are a passenger from an international flight (If you are). Nowadays there are so many categories of special passengers that if you're on an ordinary passenger status, chances of your getting a seat are next to null, specially in a high season. Moreover, airlines do give special consideration to international pasengers who missed their connecting flights due to immigration checks and/or long security check lines, so a little pleading will go a long way. Try to remain polite though.

Take advantage of what your airline has to offer. If you want to go to a hotel for the night, ask if they have any discount coupons. Our airline offered us 50% discount for the hotel. I think others may do the same too.

Make sure that your luggage boards the plane with you. Although it is airlines' policy to not load the luggage until the passenger boards the plane - you can never be sure amid all the chaos that ensues with all that holiday rush. In fact, our luggage arrived the destination before us. So check and double check the whereabouts of your luggage. The next worst thing to spending night at airport is to arrive at the destination and not find your luggage.

Hang on to your luggage tags that airline issued after they checked in your baggage. They are the only proof you have that you had some luggage with you, and it is with the airline now.

So you're in for a night at the airport

Inform your relatives/friends about the situation you're in. If you've made any arrangements to get picked up at your destination airport those need to be changed as well.

If you have to spend the night on the airport, try to get comfortable. Find yourself a lounge thats dimly lit, a relatively quiet corner, a set of chairs on which you can lie down instead of sitting. Getting a little sleep would help you kill the time, as well as make you feel somewhat refreshed for the day ahead.

Depending on the availability of resources, try to do things as you would do routinely at your destination/home. Brush, Shave, have your breakfast, read a newspaper. Key here is not to focus too much on the lack of things/comforts you don't have but to be as ready as possible for the day with what you do have. If you have your razor and cream, shave and feel good about it, if not, see if you have a fresh pair of clothes and can change. While dwelling on the lack of this/that will frustrate you, using what you have will make you feel glad that you packed it, keep you occupied and let you be more prepared for your destination, when you do get there.

The restrooms are cleanest between 4:00 am - 5:00 am. Take advantage ;-)

If your phone is working - make all the calls that you'd wanted to make but never had time. Call those long-lost friends, or touch base with your clients. Now is a good time to address that pesky issue, for which you needed to call the customer service of some provider(only if you have all the details). Just be aware of the time-zone that callee would be in. You don't want your friend in Los Angeles ( whom you're calling after an year) to wake up at 3:00 am, just because you wanted to say hello while you're stuck at JFK, New York.

If you have a laptop - Now is a good time to compose all those emails that you never seem to get a chance to write. Some articles for your blog, goals are all good. You can even chalk out your budget if its something you'd always wanted to do.

If you only have your mind - Now is a good time to brainstorm on some puzzling issues. Since you're somewhat removed from your day to day life, you can think fairly objectively and may have your 'Eureka' moment. One word of caution though - try hard to steer clear of any negative thoughts, you're probably tired and likely frustrated with your airline, security process etc. If you start feeling like banging the help desk or throwing your backpack at the security agent, get up, take a walk, use restroom, haggle with shop associate over the price of candy. You don't really need more trouble than you're already in. Jokes apart, I really feel that although there are people who can use such times for creative thinking, for most of us mortals, it is not easy to put aside all the discomfort and frustration and get into a zen state. If you can, think about the good things in your life. If you still feel like negativity building up in your mind and find your self feeling bitter about something or the other, tell yourself that this is not a good time to think about this issue. A better idea would be to chat with fellow passengers, reading a magazine, doing something to keep your mind occupied.

This is based on our experience as a couple traveling back to US. I can't imagine the plight of passengers with young kids and travelers to other countries who find themselves in similar/more difficult situations. Do share your experiences/tips in comments. Enjoy your jouney.

December Half Month Pulse Check: All set to break the bank

2008-12-14T20:20:00.001-08:00

Photo courtsey: Mysza831

The bad news - We're spending a lot this month. In fact, at the time of writing this post, we have already spent the equivalent of our monthly budget.
The good news - The expenses were expected, planned for and didn't slow us down on our saving goals.

So yes, December has been an expensive month around here. The biggest expenses had been the gifts for friends and family and some of the preparations for the trip we're going to take during the Christmas break. It also helped that we had been planning this trip since September, so some of the costs were spread over the earlier months. It also helped us find the best deals for the gifts that our family members had asked for. Now that we have purchased the gifts and some other stuff for ourselves that we'll need while traveling, I hope that second half is not as expensive.

Other than the gifts, rest of the expenses have been fairly routine. In fact, in rest of the categories we actually spent lesser than usual.

Hydrate and protect skin the natural way

2008-12-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe that my mom uses in winters to keep skin clean and hydrated. It also repairs the skin that has been exposed to the harshness of cold winds.

Ingredients:

Glycerin: 2 Tbsp
Rose water: 2 Tbsp
Lemon Juice: 2 Tbsp

Pour all these ingredients in a glass bottle and shake well. Keep this mixture with your skincare kit and apply a little whenever you've some time. It will feel a little sticky because of glycerin, so its best to use it when you're not expecting company, and have time to keep it on for half to one hour. In fact, I apply it right before sleeping so that I wake up with soft supple skin. Do apply it on your neck and arms as well.

Note: It okay to have a little tingling sensation in the beginning, it happens because those parts of your skin have been exposed to harsh weather and has been irritated already, the lemon juice in the mixture causes this tingling. If you continue to apply this mixture the skin will get repaired pretty soon and this irritation will go away.

If you try it, do let me know in comments how it went.

Weekend project : Dress for my niece

2008-12-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

I love the small sewing projects, there's something gratifying about spending 2 hours with needles and fabric and scissors and getting a little something made by myself at the end.

This weekend, I carved out a few hours to make this dress for my niece. We'll see her this Christmas for the first time, so I thought I'll just get her something handmade along with all the store bought stuff.

I just had to share it with you all.

Improving skin complexion with saffron

2008-12-06T17:00:00.000-08:00

Winters are harsh on skin and if you have a dry skin like me, the cold dry winds can wreak havoc on the skin. I usually apply some extra measures to take care of my skin during cold weather. I have seen visible changes in my complexion over the years I have used this recipe.

Ingredients:

Saffron: 3-4 leaves(petals)
Milk: 1 teaspoon
Sugar: A pinch
Olive oil or coconut oil: 2-3 drops
Water: 1 teaspoon
Plain bread: 1 slice

Method:

Pour water in a small vessel and add saffron leaves in it. Keep it overnight. By morning the water will turn yellowish, add milk and sugar to this water and then pour coconut oil drops in it. Now take a small piece of bread, dip it into this mixture and wipe your face with it. You might be left with bread crumbs on your face, Don't worry, just rub your face with your hands, they should be easy to get rid of. Try to not wash your face for 15 mins after applying this, then follow your usual cleansing and moisturizing routine.

Note: You can also do it in the night if that suits you better. Just know that you have to soak saffron for about 12 hours before you can use it.

Benefits:

Saffron is a time tested ingredient for improving complexion. The only catch is that it is considered to be a hot element, so using it in hot climates during summers results in small breakouts over facial skin. Its best to take advantage of this boon for skin during winters.

You can skip oil if you already have an oily skin and don't face any dryness problem in winters.

Ingredients Availability:

Except saffron, all other ingredients are usually present in your pantry. I found my pack of spanish saffron at Trader Joe for about $5. If you can't find it anywhere else, an Indian store will definitely carry some.

If you do try it and have some feedback on how you liked it, do let me know in the comments.

November Budget Report : Fallen off the bloggerwagon edition

2008-12-05T14:28:00.000-08:00

This was one of those incidents where you just can't get around to doing what you would very much like to. I was under the weather for most of the thanksgiving weekend and so many things got piled up that I couldn't get to blogging even after getting better. Finally I got rid of this writer's block/over-activity and came up to share my budgeting results for the month of November.

Surprisingly, this month has been really good for budgeting. Despite spending money on several extra ( both needful and discretionary) items, we still managed to stay under our targeted budget and with the way things are going for last 3 months we have also decided to lower our targeted budget and to try to get there in 2009.

In November we also managed to hit two of our long term goals. Here are the highlights of the month which I can't wait to share with you.

1) Hit our target of saving 10% of down-payment for our home. Yaay!!!
Over to saving 20% now to avoid that no-good PMI.
2) Hit my targeted weight for the first time in 6 months. Although I couldn't stay there for long, I'm hoping that its a positive step towards attaining it in the long run.
3) Sewed two dresses for my niece and a reusable bag. It has been a long time since I last sewed anything and my last project was a disaster. This time I remained very careful with measurements etc and made sure that I go exactly by the book. I'm so looking forward to trying them on the baby. We will be meeting her on the Christmas.

As for the spending categories this month, we saved a lot in gas, thanks to gas prices. We also managed to stay well under budget in Groceries and Dining out, Personal grooming and auto maintenance. The only category where we went well above budget was the expenses on family. Although it showed up as an extra expense on our worksheet, we had actually known this expense and had accounted for it while planning the expenses for this month.

So in all, a good month for budget and the great thing is that it has made us keep high hopes for the coming year.

Best places to eat Indian Vegetarian Food in Bay Area

2008-11-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

When we were relocating from India, food was at the top of my long list of concerns. Only after landing in the bay area did I discover how unfounded my fears were. Because of the high influx of immigrants, this area has a large number of thriving ethnic restaurants and there's no dearth of Indian restaurants either. Being a vegetarian, we needed a place which had a lot of vegetarian options. Soon enough we were able to locate many such restaurants nearby, now it has come to the point where in some of these places we don't even bother with the menu. We just order our favorites as soon as we are seated. If you happen to be in the bay area, you may want to visit one of these budget friendly eateries for a taste of India.

Chaat House
Some background here - Chaat in Hindi is usually a melange of various things with the final version being pleasantly spicy, sweet and tangy. There're various versions - often featuring one particular dish as the main item with a lot of garnishing and condiments often customised to suit the taste buds of the person eating it. It can have potato pattis, chick peas, sprouted beans, puffed rice as the main ingredient and these main ingredients are then mixed with a number of sweet, sour chutneys, yogurt, red chilli powder, green chillies, chopped onions etc. Often the quantity and variety of ingredients results in each cook have its signature dish when it comes to chaat.
The name Chaat House suggests that they are big on these Chaat varieties but actually they have a decent offering of Chaat as well as other usual Indian fare like Chapati, Daal, Curries etc. Since the owner is from North India ( State of Punjab), the menu leans heavily towards north Indian dishes. Ironically, Chaat is not very recommendable at Chaat House. I find it a little too raw ( contains more raw veggies, lacks usual condiments), but then we go there for a full meal and not snacks.
There are quite a few restaurants on El Camino Real with this name. We love the one on the intersection of N. Mary and El Camino Real. They are not great with the fancy stuff, but we can trust them to supply us with home like food on the super busy days. BEB loves their "Makki ki Roti, Sarson Ka Saag" ( Bread of corn flour with Entree of Mustard Leaves combo with a choice of Chai or Chaas for dink), While I order anything from Daal (Lentil soup) and Chapati ( Wheat flour Indian bread) to Rajma (curry of beans) and rice. For the first timers I recommend trying something from their combo meals. It would give you a meal with nicely matched side dish and entree and will be easy on your pocketbook too. We spend in the neighborhood of 25$ for a dinner for two here.

Udupi
Background - Udupi is a place in Southern India which is famous for its preparation of Idli. With time, the south Indian restaurants sprang up in the rest of India and were commonly referred to as Udupi restaurants. In India these are lean mean working machines, serving inexpensive south Indian dishes in a clean, hygenic and efficient environment. In India, these places are often frequented by employees of nearby establishments during their lunch hours.

Udupi Palace in Sunnyvale ( On El Camino Real near Wolfe) is a restaurant born from that tradition. It has all the usual fare offered by traditional Udupi restaurants like Idlis, Vadas and a variety of Dosas. Along with it they also offer all the regular North Indian options like Paav Bhaaji, Chhole Bhature etc. But if you do go to Udupi, I would recommend ordering traditional South Indian fare, its their area of expertise, its delicious, its healthy ( well, for the most part), so why not? If you are not watching calories, try their Rava Masala Dosa, its the best I've ever had. If I'm going to Udupi, I'm going to have Rava Masala Dosa. Period.
One thing thats free, and that you must try while at Udupi is their after dinner mouth freshener, they prepare it themselves from coconut and its amazing. I usually pickup a handful everytime I'm leaving. I would also recommend grabbing a Paan(Betelnut leaf with a garnishing of rose petal jam among other things) on your way out. It is not complementary though ($1.5 apiece), but it will be a nice way to finish your dinner.
On a typical visit we usually spend between $20-$25 for a dinner for two ( including tips and taxes).

Passage to India
I always thought of it as an Indian bakery until I actually went there to pick-up a cake. They have a cozy little dining room tucked in the corner of their shop and they do have a mouth-watering menu for lunch and dinner buffet. This is the place to be if Chaat is your piece de resistance - They serve really good chaats, and their tamarind chutney and coriander chutney is quite close to authentic. Although there are a bunch of other things in the buffet like burger, pizza, noodles, My recommendation would be to stick with Indian cuisine while you're there and you'll have plenty of them to try. If you're a vegetarian Indian like me you must be having a hard time finding eggless baked goods. If thats the case, you'll love Passage to India for their eggless pastries and cakes (although they are not part of the regular buffet).
The buffet here costs $10 in the evenings so we end up spending about $22 for the two of us here.

Rajjot
Low cost is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Rajjot. This is not a place to take your girlfriend on your first romantic date but if you're hungry and looking for cheap and good Indian food, Rajjot is the place to go. Their paranthas(kind of tortillas stuffed with different vegetables) are very good and I have also heard good things about their Puranpoli (again like tortillas but with a sweet stuffing of lentils). Like its peers it is also very conveniently located on El Camino Real and Wolfe. There are a lot of Indian families in the bay area which rely on Rajjot for their weekly supply of Chapatis (Indian meal staple). They make nice, big, well roasted Chapatis that will keep well for a week in the fridge. I'm not sure how much we spend on a typical visit but it has to be in the neighborhood of $15. Don't expect very good service here though, they even mix up the orders sometimes. So be sure to double check if you've ordered a takeout.

Milan Sweets
Located in Milpitas this is a vegetarian restaurant + sweets shop. The owners are from Gujarat. I think thats the reason that even the typically spicy dishes have a hint of sweet in them here. Its choice of sizzlers is hugely popular and after sampling two of them, I can see why. Those hot off the griddle dishes have found a striking balance between non-Indian foods like pasta, noodles and Indian delicacies like bhajia, kebabs and various sauces. The ultimate result is yummy. The small Kachories (Flour roundels filled with spicy lentil stuffing) is another thing that you must sample while you're there. People also love their Paneer Tikka ( Grilled Indian cheese with vegetables). While some of its snacks taste really good and are popular, it is more than what could be said of their curries and other dishes. We have ordered things like Thali (supposedly complete Indian meal, with Chapati, Dal, rice and curries) once and a few other dishes on other occasions and were disappointed with them. In my opinion, one should stick to the popular dishes while ordering at Milan. It a self service place, you have to place your order at the counter and pay up-front and they will call out your name when your order is ready. Our average bill runs up to $25 here.

Whole Foods - A bright spot among cookie cutter stores

2008-11-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid review

Yesterday I had to buy some hard to find oils and other things, so we took this trip to Whole Foods. We usually don't go to Whole Foods that much becuase it is quite far from where we live and when I had last visited them I found it to be on the expensive side.

I didn't know that I was in for many pleasant surprises when I stepped in Whole Foods yesterday. Near the entrance I saw this big savings ad, apparently they had put some coupon book in the store, using which I could save some money. Being a couponaholic, I decided to get the book first. I couldn't locate it in its usual place near the entrance, so I inquired a store associate, he looked at the stand and he couldn't find it either, so he checked with the management and was told that it was at the back of the store. He told me the same, and I thought that I'll just shop first and grab the coupon book before checkout. Imagine my surprise when another WHole Foods store associate approached me while I was shopping and inquired if I was the one looking for their coupon book. When I said yes, she handed me one of the coupon books and said that she had only 3 left. Have you ever heard of a store associate actually locating the customer and handing them the store coupon book. At least I haven't.

Being a fussy vegetarian, I often find myself looking for hard to find products, in order to avoid any meat content. During this trip I had been searching for cheese which didn't have renet in it.

There were two gentlemen at their cheese shop, I reluctantly asked one of them if he could help me locate a cheese which doesn't have an animal content in it. Yeah, I phrased the question wrongly, All cheese has is animal content - it is made of milk afterall. But he guessed what I actually wanted to ask. He showed me how to find out from the label whether the cheese had any meat content (Renet) in it. He also recommended some varieties of cheese that might go well in the recipes I planned to try. I often feel intimidated by store associates and usually drop the plan to buy things instead of approaching an associate, but Whole Foods folks were really friendly.

Once I got everything I wanted we went for checkout. I was preoccupied with something else so I forgot to offer my reusable bag while the cashier was ringing up my items. When she begun to put my stuff in their paper bags, the employee next to her told her "She has a bag!" and offered to put my items in my bag. Now that was a first. I have been to stores where employees are reluctant to put things in reusable bags because it takes a few more seconds of their time. I don't know whether I should blame them, but I now try to put my things in the bag myself, so they don't have to feel that my reuable bags are extra work for them. Anyhow, it made me really happy that somebody else also cares for this.

While we were heading out my husband commented that its rare to have three good experience in a single trip to any store. I couldn't agree more with him. From now on, I'm an official Whole Foods fan :). Is it any wonder they top the list of America's healthiest grocery stores (thanks to Like Merchant Ships for the link)

My Post is in Make it From Scratch Carnival #90

2008-11-18T10:09:00.000-08:00

Make it From Scratch Carnival # 90 has gone live and my post on DIY Passport pictures has made it. Go here to check out other interesting projects.

Novemeber Half Month Pulse Check: So far so good

2008-11-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

I'd been expecting some big expenses this November. We had to get our car serviced and its AC repaired. We had to make some big ticket purchases ( for our home as well as gifts). Since we held off making those purchases until Black Friday and BEB didn't get a chance to research a good mechanic for our car, we haven't incurred any extra expenses yet. But I know that they are on the horizon and we'll be getting those things immediately after Thanksgiving. So November has been ok so far but I am estimating that it will turn out to be expensive than other months finally. We'll see.
Other than finances, there are a couple of changes that I have made this month, which I'm hoping will bring some zest into our life.

Instead of gunning for exercising everyday, now I try to exercise 6 days a week. The rest day can be any one of the days when I'm really hassled or we have something extra to do, or when I just don't feel up to it. After doing it for 2 weeks now, I find that it is much better for my sanity and now that I've officially included in the plan, I don't feel guilty about it. Really, everyday is too big a commitment.
I'm also trying to actively increase my stamina while exercising, this would help me to burn the same amount of calories in 6 days as I used to do in 7 days.
To bring back a little fun in the food, I have decided to allow myself to go a little liberal with oil and butter. Not that I'll be serving fries everyday, but once a week we can have something with a little butter on it or the vegetables that I cook can be seasoned in a little more oil to cook them well. I found that it greatly enhanced the taste of food and both of us look forward to our meals again. It had become too drab earlier, when we had tried to drastically cut-back on oil and spices.
In the same vein, I have decided to let go of our regular food of chapati and vegetables on weekend and replace it with some fun food. Mostly it is whatever we feel like eating, although I consciously try to control the amount of fats that go into that. I am also actively looking for long forgotten recipes, or easy to try dishes to add more variety to weekend meals.

Really, a few simple changes can make life so much better. Here's to the healthful as well as tasty November.

Review: Lombok - Eastern Inspired Living

2008-11-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: This is a paid review. However, I have tried to review the site in as unbiased manner as possible.

Lombok is a UK based furniture and home furnishing company. They make high-end furniture and home accessories and sell it all over the world through their website lombok.co.uk.

Their website catalogs all their furniture home and decorative items in an attractive and organized fashion. I found that they have very unique offerings in decorative items like lighting, candles, decorative bowls etc. Although I found them a bit pricey but if you want to create a certain look for your home you might find yourself willing to spend the amount. Right now they are also offering 20% discount on selected items which makes them much more affordable.

The furnishing section is also intersting. Most of their cushions, throws and other furnishings are created with high end materials like silk, velvet and taffeta and are hand embroidered. This makes them attractive as well as expensive. I didn't quit like the fact that most of the furnishings are dry clean only but I do realize that we don't need to get furnishings cleaned as much as we do our clothes so that might not be such a big expense.

The furniture available on the website has more classic designs, with simple, yet stylish structures. The company claims to have built most of its furniture from reclaimed teak planks called "dinglik", imported from Indonesia. This makes the company and its products very eco-friendly because they are recycling wood, instead of cutting live trees to make their furniture. They also mention that this recycled wood is sturdier and less likely to be ruined by moisture. Currently the website is offering buy 2 get 1 free promotion for all of their furniture. Considering the fact that the furniture is genuine teak wood and the B2G1 free offer, the price seems to be about ok.

Bottomline:

The website will be a good resource for people who have a certain look in mind for their home furnishing and furniture and wouldn't mind spending a bit more to create that precise look. Since the raw materials used in the products are quality I would think the items would last. One good thing about the furniture and accessories are that they have a classic look about them so they won't go out of fashion soon. If you're outside Europe then you may have to consider the shipping costs too, which may be substantial. I tried doing a dummy purchase to find out how much shiping would cost me in US but the website says that I'll have to call to find out shipping charges.

Since we have bought most of our furniture used, I found the prices on the website to be a bit high for my tastes, although I caught myself drooling all over their silk cushions and the quilts.

A good problem to have!!!

2008-11-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

Recently, I ran into this puzzling issue. BEB is big on drinking water. He drinks water before he sleeps, after getting up, Before tea, after tea, while heading out, as soon as he comes back...and every 10 minutes in between.

Wow! you would say...I wish I could have this habit! so do I. Drinking plenty of water is good for health and I'm also consciously trying to cultivate that habit myself. So often, while I'm franatically fixing dinner for us, I get this "Honey! could you get me a glass of water". Now getting that glass of water would mean, leaving whatever I'm doing, washing my hands, drying them, finding a glass, filling it and handing it over to dear husband. It looks like a small thing, but when I'm already in a hurry, it used to become an annoyance.

So I had a nice problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.

I would have continued with this state of affairs if I hadn't come across this deal. A pitcher and 4 glasses for $8 at Macys. Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle fell in place. Now every morning I fill the pitcher and keep it in the living room. Whenever I get a chance I refill it, while BEB drinks to his heart's content. Having a pitcher in the room even encourages me to drink more water. Isn't it an elegant solution to a nice problem!

An Idiot's Guide to DIY Passport Photos

2008-11-07T15:54:00.000-08:00

When we got BEB's passport photos for his visa, I realized for the first time how steep the price of passport photos are in US. In India it was a no brainer - need a passport photo, go to a studio, get one clicked and for less than a dollar you will get 4-8 nice passport size photos of yourself.
But here, $16, No Kidding!!!

So this time, when I had to get my passport pictures, we decided to try doing it ourselves. I think it would be interesting to share with you my efforts and the results. If you do it the right way, you can get your passport photo for about a dollar.

The things you'll need:

1. A digital camera in which you can turn the flash on/off.
2. A computer with Windows, you should have permissions to download and install softwares on it.
3. A pen drive to take your edited pictures for printing. Other media will also do.

For my pictures we went to my office and used the white-board there as a background for clicking the pictures. Since the room was well lit, we clicked pictures with flash switched off.
Next we came home and downloaded the pictures from camera to our laptop.
To edit the pictures we looked at paint, picasa etc. but they didn't suit our purpose. So we downloaded gimp to edit the pictures.
After downloading and installing GIMP, we opened my pictures in it and selected the one we found most suitable to turn into my passport picture. Then we looked up the required dimensions for the passport picture. In our type of visa it was 3.5 cm X 4.5cm.
Now that we had everything ready, we wanted to get the picture in precise dimensions. The trick is to shrink the picture to the required size without changing its resolution. Lesser resolution will result in grainy pictures. This was probably the most difficult part of the whole project, because we didn't know what options were available and what the final effect will be, unfamiliarity with GIMP also contributed to spending more time than what was required. But you don't need to worry because I'm documenting the precise steps to follow in GIMP, to get perfectly sized passport pictures.

Step 1: Cropping the picture to select the right area to be printed.

If the picture that you have taken has more background than a passport picture would need you will be required to crop it. Cropping the picture is also required to get it into the required ratio. 3.5 : 4.5 in this case.
From the GIMP toolbar select Rectangle selection tool. Below the toolbox, there's an option "Fixed [aspect ratio]" put 3.5:4.5 here. Now use this tool to select the portion of the picture you want to use. When you're incrementing the cursor to fit the picture portion of your choice look at the bottom of the picture window. It will show you the pixel size of the frame, in my case it is 604X777. Note it down. Use Ctrl+X to cut the required picture.

Step 2: Saving the picture in proper ratio and resolution
Use File->New to open a new image file. Before opening Gimp will ask the size of the file. Use the number you noted down earlier (808X766). Ctrl+V to paste the image you'd cut earlier in step 1.

Step 3: Scaling down the picture, while keeping the resolution intact
Use Image -> Scale Image. In the dialog box first choose the metric as milimeter and then specify the picture's true size in mm. First specify width 35, hit Return key, the height should automatically be adjusted to 45, or else you haven't done the first 2 steps properly.
Now save this picture. Check Image -> properties, its resolution should be the same as original image. Lets call this Image1.

Step 4: Making a standard print size picture(4X6 inches) with the true size image
Open File->New. In the File size dialog box, Now select the unit in inches (width =6, height = 4 ). Now Ctrl-C on the true size image that you'd saved in step 3 (Image1) and paste (Ctrl-V) it in this new file, lets call it Image2. Once you have the image in Image2, drag it to the top left corner. Now again press Ctrl-V, and you will have another Image1 on top of first one, drag it and arrange close to the first one. Repeat this until the whole image is tiled with the pictures from Image1. Save it in jpg format. Gimp will ask you the permission to export it. Say yes!

Voila! you have a 4X6inches image with 8 passport pictures on it. Copy it into the pen drive and take it to your nearest print shop. Select the picture size as 4X6 and print out 8 nice passport pictures in half a dollar.

Random events of this October

2008-11-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Karva Chauth. In this Indian festival married women fast through the day until moonrise. This fasting is for the longevity of their husbands. We also celebrated Diwali, although I doubt BEB enjoyed it a lot ( he's swamped with work in his office and finding it hard to take interest in anything thats not work)

We skipped the gym for 3 days in a row, and I almost burst into tears when I stepped on the weighing scale afterward. My sulking stopped when the weight returned to normal 2 days later. I have skipped gym for 2 days again...gosh! how I dread that scale :(

Me and BEB both were almost buried under work at our respective offices, we just somehow managed to get through the week...and I had a big presentation this week. It went fine and I got lots of appreciation *smug look*

I have learned to whip up meals almost out of thin air this past week. Even I'm surprised at how efficient I have become.

I had earlier talked about how we'd stopped coming home for tea from work. Ok, we couldn't keep up the resolve and its back to twice a day for us and I dont see it stopping anytime soon. To add insult to the injury, we have also begun to have our lunch at home :-/ Actually, it is working out quite nicely, we come home for lunch, and before we sit down for our meal I place tea on the stove on low flame. Tea is ready by the time we finish our lunch, and then we can have it before leaving for work again. Goodbye drowsy afternoons! Goodbye lunch box cleaning. My dish cleaning time is half now, I spend no time in packing lunches in the morning and I don't feel guilty leaving the office in the afternoon. It IS lunch time after all!

I think I have finally found my groove with coupons and mail-in-rebates and freebies. I have finally found a right system to manage all the pending mail-in-rebates and now have taken to carrying forward last months rebates to the next month. Its not perfect yet, but I am finding it much easy to manage all the chaos that occurs from having 100s of coupons, multiple stores to match them with and multiple months of sales. Now if only I could find a way to get my hand on the 'on sale' items before they fly off the shelves...

October gifted us with a big bouquet!!! Don't believe me? See for yourself.

October budget report: Do you want to cut your expenses by one third

2008-11-04T16:03:00.001-08:00

No really! Do you want to do that?
First let me ask you some questions. Do you have any kids? No? Good. Are both husband and wife working? Yes? Good. then this technique is suitable for you.
When you reach your office tomorrow, see your boss the first thing ( I know how this ruins your day, but is this day more important than your one-third budget?) and when you see him/her tell her how well do you like your current job-profile ( doesn't matter that you don't, in fact the more you dislike it, the better, just don't tell it to the boss). Then ask him if you can have some more of it...the work. At this point your boss may become suspicious about your ulterior motives...salary hike, replacing him, promotion etc. gently alleviate his fears. Just explain that you currently have a lot of free time on your hands and you'd like to get some work done in it. Hopefully this will result in your being swamped with work.
Once you have it try and get into a position where you have some impossible to meet deadlines. That's it! Believe me, these simple steps will lead to a healthy bottom-line.
No more time for grocery shopping - no expense on food, no time for meandering into that mall and spending money on fashionable clothes, after-all you'd be sweating it out in the office on weekends you will barely manage to keep up with the laundry. While you would be busy analyzing that data, you wouldn't even realize that the new batman movie has just released in the movie theaters. You get my drift...
Well, this is the long and short of what happened to us this month...except for asking for work. We booked our tickets to Europe in the beginning of this month and after this ~2000$ expense it seemed that our monthly budget with shoot up to an all time high this October, but then we started getting busier, and busier. Since we had no time left after work, we didn't go shopping, and didn't spend money. So apart from those tickets, which have to come from our separate travel budget, we had finished this month considerably lower than our targeted budget. Although this could be a cause for celebration, I'm not really happy. I guess, our time is as important as our money, sacrificing one may result in saving the other but I don't want to go down that road. I'd rather hover around our targeted budget and have some more time to myself and hubby. Hopefully November would be more balanced!
Our savings had increased a bit this month. Now we have about 96.66% of our 10% down payment. While we are still far from actually buying a house, it feels kind of nice to have money for it. I want to pull that number up to 20%, so that we can escape the mortgage insurance and also be more in control of our mortgage payments...in time of course.

Review - MoveMe - Renting or Buying, Reconnect your life

2008-11-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: This is a paid review. However, I have tried to review the site in as unbiased manner as possible.

MoveMe is a site that provides users move related services and tools. The first thing that I noticed about the site was its neat interface and intuitive presentation. They claim to take the stress out of moving. While my experience says that it may not be entirely possible, I'll hand it to Move me that it offers a lot of nifty tools and services that can relieve you of a lot of move related worries.

The first thing that I found instantly appealing is their move planner. Using it, you can create a step by step list of activities leading up to your day of move. I've a thing for lists so maybe I'm just being too happy, but they have a really neat list of "to do" things that we need while planning a move, like informing our banks and other institutions about our new address.

The web-site has been made to become a one stop shop of all move related needs and it seemed pretty comprehensive. It has lot of resources depending upon your particular situation (e.g. buying, selling or renting, moving with children etc). I felt that the checklists provided and the suggestions given can be a good starting point for anybody considering a move in the near future.

MoveMe has a big section of referrals for various services and move related products. Since the advertisements are practically absent ( there are some but they are not prominent), I guess the website earns some referral bonus for its recommendations. You can request quotes for practically everything that you would need during a move - Movers, Removal quotes, Insurance etc. They even offer financial ( mortgage quotes, credit report etc), legal services for people who're considering buying/selling houses. You can request free mortgage quotes, Home Survey etc here.

I haven't tried getting quotes for any services because I don't need any right now but they have categorized the services nicely. I remember that when we had moved last time I had a hard time getting quotes from movers. I had posted an ad for moving help on craigslist and all the calls I got were by big movers whose minimum was too high for me. At that time we had very little stuff and all we needed was a mover with a truck who would haul our stuff to our new place. Move me has a special "Man and Van" section for such needs.

It is a relatively new site and it shows in its interface, some of its input forms show errors when there are none, but I'm sure they will be able to remedy that with time. The site has advertisements on its homepage but I found them unobtrusive. MoveMe has also been awarded Yahoo! People's choice award and Yahoo! Innovation award for the year 2007.

To summarize, here are the things that I really liked abut the website:

Easy to navigate interface
Comprehensive resources and nifty tools
Unobtrusive advertisements

Few things that I didn't like/don't know about:

The input form had an error on it.
Don't have an idea about the client base that it has. It is fairly new so its possible that it doesn't have as many vendors in its database, although I didn't request for quotes so I can't comment on that.
Doesn't have a special section for students moving to dorms. I strongly feel that this particular group of users needs to be targeted with a special section tailored to their needs.

All in all, MoveMe is a resource worth checking out if you're planning a move of any kind in the near future. It even offers a free moving box as a promotion.

Why I celebrate and why you should too!

2008-10-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

Photo courtsey: Swami stream

As the festive season comes knocking in the US, In India its already upon us. We are past Dussera and Karva Chauth and its a couple of days to Diwali, the biggest festival of Hindus. As the big day approaches I just thought of sharing what I'll be doing and what I did last year.

Diwali is celebrated in the honour of Ram, the prince of Ayodhya. This day marks his return from exile after 14 years.

When I was young we used to celebrate Diwali with our extended family and everyone tried to be at home on this particular day. We would light clay lamps and wear new clothes. There would be a feast and lots of pictures and then we would worship Godess Lakshmi, the godess of prosperity. Just the mention of Diwali brings back such precious memories. Well, then I grew up, and for my studies I had to stay away from home fo quite a while. Athough, living in dorm and doing on my own taught me a lot and made me very independent, it also made me very practical. Sometimes too practical for my own good. I now think of everything as how well it fits with my current life, if it doesn't, it goes. And now that I am married and working, time is at a premium and I have scores of things that I want to do everyday, this strategy seems to be best.

Since my husband is also happens to be on the pragmatic side, sometimes together we become too blinded by the reason and logic to notice that there's a part of life that's slipping past. Take last Diwali for instance, it was a working day and must have been little hectic. We had bought some stuff to celebrate, but by the time we came back from work, we were just too tired to celebrate and went on with life as usual.

Its only now that I realise that since we don't have our parents here, its our responsibility to keep up the traditions. I just tried to imagine, what it will be like if we just didn't celebrate Diwali
any year...and shuddered at the thought. My parents had been busy too, but they took time out to celebrate festivals and showed us there importance and in process created lots of sweet memories. Missing a whole year's worth of ocassions would be just letting those opportunities to create memories slip by and wouldnt it be just letting the life slip?

So I commit to celebrate all the occassions that I get an opportunity to celebrate and I urge you to do that too. Doesn't matter whether you're away from your loved ones, living alone or just with your spouse. Look up the calendar, and mark all those festivals that once excited you in red. Bring on the decorations, the nice dress, the food ( doesn't matter if its just the grocery store cake or even bread). Raise a toast to life! Even in the worse of time, if you just look around, you will find a lot to be thankful for.

Live it up! Carpe diem!

Online Earning Opportunities

2008-10-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

Youdata:
Youdata is an innovative website with a sleek interface and a brilliant concept. On signing up they ask you to watch the ads from their clients and in return award you money. You will need the following for sigining up - A cellphone number and an email id. Every week they deposit the amount you earned into your paypal account. That means you'l need a paypal account as well to earn money on youdata. But it is a neat way to make some money. Thanks to Bella Casa for telling me about it.

1000 Mypoints:
Blockbuster usually offers 1000 mypoints if you sign up for the trial AND become a paying member, but this time I'm told they are offering selected members a chance to earn 1000 mypoints just for signing up( you don't need to become a paying member). If you haven't yet used any trial offer from Blockbuster, watch out your Inbox carefully for this cool offer. I'm normally wary of trial offers but a reputed company like Blockbuster shouldn't be a problem in that regard, just don't forget to cancel your account within the 2 week trial period.

StartSampling:
Start Sampling is a nice site if you'd like to get some cool samples. I've used them to get many samples and magazines. Its easy to sign-up with them, and you can request any of the available samples. The only constraint is that you can request only one sample a day.

October Half Month Pulse Check: No news = Good news edition

2008-10-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

October has been uneventful month so far. We have had all the usual expenses and then some for my gym clothes. This time we also spent all our entertainment money on a movie at the theater. This month also included more than usual trips to restaurants but since they were relatively inexpensive and I had some coupons we didn't spend a lot. I am about to concede that we consume ( and keep consuming) more gas than I thought we would. Our gas expense is all set to hit a new high this month as well. I'll try one more month before setting up a higher limit for it.

Thanks to Walgreens our toiletries and other household expenses have been kept in check. So if nothing untoward happens we should be hitting our targeted budget this month.

My post included in Carnival of Personal Finance

2008-10-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

I had submitted this post quite a few days ago and was a little disappointed( and surprised) that it didn't made it to the carnival...or so I thought. I always used to get an email whenever my post was included in the carnival and the carnival went live, since this time I didn't get that regular email, I just thought that my post fell through and got on with life.

Lately, when I started getting hits from BankerGirl I decided to check out the source and was pleasantly surprised to find that my post indeed made it to the carnival. Read my post here.

Like they say, better late than never.

Big Deal

2008-10-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

There's this money-maker deal going on for Sure Deodorant. Sure Max Clinical Power is free after Mail-in-rebate here.

When I searched through my coupons, I found that I have a $2.5 coupon for this same product. I don't remember which insert it was in, but it was in one of the Sunday inserts and it is still valid. So you can expect to make $2 on this one after taking into account your mailing expenses.

Bootstrapping: Motivating yourself towards your goals

2008-10-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

Many years ago I heard this during a conversation "You just can't maintain status-quo, you either make progress and improve yourself, or you go backwards and downgrade yourself, you just can't remain the way you are.The catch is that making progress requires a lot of effort but going down doesn't. If you don't do anything to make progress you will fall, it may be a slow process( if you're lucky) but it happens for sure." I don't remember anything of the conversation that led to this, but these words remain etched in mind because they are so true and profound. And therefore, I always strive to become better than what I'm today. I keep trying to develop better habits, to maintain a positive attitude.

This year I had made the following changes:

1. Trying to stay fit( read lose weight)
2. Saving for our home down-payment
3. Eliminating plastic bags from our life
4. Work on generating some extra income
5. Maintain a small container garden with some flowers and herbs.
6. Live on a budget

I believe all these things will improve our life slowly but surely. And I'm already seeing the changes, in our financial position, in our outlook, in our priorities, basically everywhere. Some have a smaller impact and some bigger, but the impact will be positive. It wasn't easy to do all these along with a full-time job and all the household work. Here are a few things that worked for me while developing new habits and achieving my goals.

Set microgoals
Losing 30 pounds would seem like a huge undertaking, but working out everyday may not. I broke the goals into tiny microgoals and tried to achieve them instead of trying to achieve that big goal all at once. It has worked well and while I eventually saw myself moving towards the bigger goal, the smaller successes in micro-goals kept me motivated.

Work out a routine
Try to make a routine of whatever you need to do to achieve your goal. Try to save a little bit everyday, try to workout everyday, carry the reusable shopping bag in the car even if you think you're not going to use it. Even if you've little time, try to devote just one minute to actually doing something towards the goal you've been trying to achieve. Do at least a little bit everyday or as frequently as possible. While trying to insert exercise in my busy schedule I promised myself that I'll exercise everyday, while I kept at it most of the days by biking down the trail or working out in my office gym there are days when it is simply not feasible. So I bought a skipping rope and now on busy days, I just workout for five minutes in my home by skipping. It may not be burning all those calories, but what it does is it helps me keep up the good habit. It encourages me to go to the gym next day.

Write down / track progress
This is a big morale booster, don't ignore its power. Keep a close tab on what you've achieved (or not achieved) so far. Tracking my weight almost daily, looking at the plants in my garden and clicking snaps in their various stages, tracking my bank account for any increase in my net-worth, give me some sort of high and leave me more motivated than ever to follow through. With the web2.0 applications available today, this goal tracking has been easier than ever. Here are a few things that I do :
Write a blog : I write about my monthly goals and how did I do with respect to those goals on my blog. This makes me accountable and keeps my spending in check.
don't break the chain : This is a nifty website, which makes tracking the goals super-easy. The concept is very simple, if you're trying to do something everyday ( or weekday, or once a week), it tells you whether you broke the chain this time around. For every time you completed your effort, it lets you mark with color. So you'll know in a single glance how many times you dropped the ball. It will take at most 15 seconds to make an entry in it. I have been using it for 8 months for tracking my exercise, "no-expense days" and my skin-care regime.
zoho sheets : These are simple worksheets like MS-excel, but they store your docs on internet so you can access them anywhere. There are many such services, but zoho is the one that I have used most. I use them to write down my daily weight, store my grocery list etc. Once benefit of tracking my weight with them was that I became aware what was stopping me from losing weight. I used to exercise well during the weekdays, but on weekends I worked out very little and usually ate a lot. So my weight was consistently shooting up on Mondays. Once I became aware of this fact, I joined a nearby gym, and now I sweat it out on the weekends as well, and I'm seeing some improvement in just 2 weeks.
So I would recommend tracking your progress, even if there's none. Just don't fuss over it too much. Its ok if you can't log it for a day or two, or you don't track it using the niftiest tools available. Doing it in an old notebook will have the same effect as doing it in the fanciest of the organizing gadgets.

Don't worry too much about the results
I know, easier said than done. I'm a strong believer in Karma, I believe that if the efforts are in right direction the result will be right. Of course, it may happen that the results may not be in the form that we had expected originally, but the hard-work has a habit of paying for itself miraculously. You have to try it to believe it

Don't worry too much about setbacks: Minor or major

Life happens and with all that I have said above, there are still those crazy days when I can't work out, there's a pebble that hits the car's windshield and wipes down the savings for the month. While its easy to get disheartened with these events and lose sight of your goals, you can choose to do otherwise. There's always tomorrow to work double as hard, there's always next month to save even more, look forward to that. And then there's the other side of the things to see, what could have happened if we weren't saving already, instead of wiping our savings that pebble could have thrown us down the path of debt. If I compared those two, saving money and paying from the savings for emergency definitely looked good. It's been eight months since I have started working out, and I haven't lost any weight...it's very easy to get discouraged and think that exercise just doesn't work for me, but I choose to think the opposite, if it hadn't been for my workout routine I would have become really fat by now.

Evaluate your goals periodically for relevance

Some of your goals may need to change over time. You may exceed the goal in lesser time than you initially allocated, and you may need to think about the next step. For us it happened in the house down payment category, because of the falling real-estate market we had to re-evaluate our goal and decide to leave the money aside for next year, instead of buying a house this year. It could also be in the form of a change in priorities, for example having a child may cause generation of alternate income to take a backseat. Nobody can make that decision for you except yourself. But a periodic evaluation of your goals will save you a lot of frustration and disappointment in the long run.

Bring your spouse/children on-board
I can't emphasize this point enough. Talk to your children and spouse and other family members about what you're planning to achieve. More often than not, you'll find out how supportive they are of your ideas and how helpful they can prove to be. I used to fret upon saving money until I talked about it with my husband, together we worked out a plan and once he was on board our savings went upwards very quickly, he worked on reducing our insurance premiums, our phone bills and that made a big difference to our bottom-line.
Even if you're met with an initial indifference or resentment, be patient and try to show by example. My husband never believed in coupons, that is, until he saw them in action. Now he asks for them for his toiletries and jokes that if I pay anything more then zero for any of our toiletries we're not getting a good deal. He even came up with the idea of no-expense days to save money.

Be with like minded people
If you're trying to go frugal, it wont help if you go out everyday with a friend who believes in retail-therapy. Either you'll end up resenting her for spending callously or you'll feel inferior for not having that much extra money. Neither is a very pleasant place to be. Same is true for anything you're trying to achieve. Being with like minded people helps you stay focused on your goal and encourages you to go that extra mile. As bonus you also get to share a lot of tips and tricks and meet interesting people and potential friends. If you find it difficult to meet such people personally, you can always do it in the virtual world. Join a community of bloggers, become a part of mailing aliases. I have learned a lot from "Frugal Hackers" community of bloggers and you can too.

Try to make things as convenient as possible for you to achieve your goal
Making yourself better doesn't mean that you've to fight with yourself, you deserve rest, happiness, leisure, me-time as much as anybody else. While you try to work on your goals be on the lookout for things that are making you miserable and things that can make your life convenient. When I first started working-out I tried to do it in the morning and my already busy mornings became nightmare. After a lot of tinkering with the schedule, I found that evening workouts work best for me and thats what I'm sticking with now. I was always forgetting to water the plants in my container garden, until my husband bought a timer based watering system. Another thing was constantly forgetting to bring my reusable bags to the car, and ending up getting plastic bags. So I bought 2 more of those reusable bags and kept them in the car always.
Get creative to make yourself comfortable, you're trying to enrich yourself, not harassing yourself.

Celebrate success (but dont break the bank)
Achieving your micro-goals is a step towards your bigger goal and a just cause for celebration, make most of it. Even if an elaborate celebration is not in order, just prepare your favorite dinner, go on a picnic, fly a kite. Do something different from the routine and let the feeling of achievement sink in.

Cut yourself(as well as others) some slack
Don't feel guilty or resent yourself for falling behind on one of your goals, take a look at your past achievements and other goals that you've achieved and reassure yourself that you'll achieve this one too. Also keep in mind that the other people in world may have different goals and values than you and that doesn't necessarily make them any inferior. Don't try to judge people on the basis of your achievements, thats a sure way of losing friends (quickly). Celebrate your achievements and try to be supportive of what the others trying to achieve in their respective lives.

I guess you would like to know what is my status on my goals, here is the breakdown:

1. Trying to stay fit( read lose weight) - Worked out 75% of the days since last December. Lost the holiday weight that I put on during my trip to India in May. Other than that the loss in weight has been...err...slim ;-) But I feel more fit than ever.

2. Saving for our home down-payment - Have about 7% of the down payment in savings right now. This is besides the property we bought in India recently, including which it would become about 20%.
3. Eliminating plastic bags from our life - Done. :-)
4. Work on generating some extra income - Generated about 100$ in surveys and using mypoints. My blog is also climbing up in popularity slowly.
5. Maintain a small container garden with some flowers and herbs - Its a work in progress, but I was finally able to see some plants in the arid soil in our tiny yard. The flowers (calendula, mums, poppy) and herbs (mint, basil, fenugreek) in my container are doing well.
6. Live on a budget - Made (and broke) budget in June. And we look all set to hit our targeted budget this month.

Oct 12 - 18: Notable Walgreens deals

2008-10-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

Walgreens:

Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent: 26 - 32 Loads: $2.99 - $1 MIR - $1 Coupon here = 99c

Bounty Basic Paper Towels: 89c - 25c = 64c

Walgreens Heavy Duty Plastic Cutlery: B1G1 = 2 for 99c

Bic Comfort 3 Disposable Razors (4 pk): $3.99 - $1 (Easy saver coupon) - $2 coupon = 99c

Kotex feminine care products : 3/$9 - $3 = 3/$6

Aquafresh Toothpaste: 2/$3

Ban Antipersipirant Deodorant: 2/$3 - 2*75c (Oct 12 Newspapers) = 2/$1.5

Crest Whitening or Nature's Expressions Toothpaste, 6oz: 2/$6 -$2 RR - 2*$1 (P&G coupons) = 2/$2

Oral-B Advantage 1-2-3 or Toothbrush: 2/$6 -$2 - 2*75c (P&G coupons) = 2/$2.5

Always Infinity Feminine protection 14 - 18 pk: $4.99 - $1RR - $2 (P&G coupon) = $1.99

Jane and Jane Be Pure Mineral Cosmetics: B1G1 - $2 coupon

Glade Plugins Scented Oil Refill with Warmer: $1.99 - $1(MIR) - 99c

Friday Night Link Love

2008-10-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

What's holding you back: This post from This wasn't in the plan hit home. I myself can think of many things that I should be doing or should have done, but didn't do because of some psychological reason. I didn't have any logical reason or excuse of not doing it, and when I did get down to do it, I was surprised by how simple those things were.

Ten things I wish I'd Done Differently While Buying a House: The Simple Dollar explains in this lucid post about his experience of home-buying and what we can learn from it. Since we are in the market for a house right now this post had a lot of value for me.

How to avoid a good deal gone bad: Money Saving Mom has this guest post by Spin the Deal. She gives great tips on how to snag that perfect deal with all those coupons. How I wish I had this post to read and follow when I had just started couponing. I have learnt many of these things the hard way. Follow her tips and you'll never face that post-deal regret.

Some new money making opportunities

2008-10-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Photo courtsey : Daniel Starrason

I have gone over my experience with online money making opportunities in my guest post over at Wide Open Wallet. I was trying out some of them at the time and hadn't redeemed any prizes so I had refrained from talking about them in the post. Now that I've had some experience with them I thought I would share it with you.

Swagbucks:

This is a search engine that claims to use Google and Ask.com under the hood. It awards you one or more points on some of your searches. My experience has been that it awards points once everyday. It looks like they are keeping track of ip addresses, because when I have tried searching from my home PC and office PC on the same day, I got points for both. Since I anyway do a lot of searches it made sense for me to start using Swagbucks. It took me about a month to get enough points for my first $5 gift card. Since the prizes start from as low as 30 points ( or less if you're into gaming or collecting baseball cards, which I'm not), its a rather painless way of getting some gift cards. Although, like other online earning opportunities, it wont be a life changing amount ( or even substantial)...but hey with the holiday season approaching soon, I'm not complaining some 'Free' gift cards. If you're planning to join them I would appreciate if you go through my referral link on the sidebar.

Cash-Crate:

Been there, done that, didn't work. Most of the offers were trial offers and I'm not really into trying out things for points/cash and canceling them later. I find it too much of a hassle. So I quietly bid adieu to cash-crate.

Wellness360:

Now this is a novel concept that I absolutely love. You register here and fill in some details about your general health. They promise to keep it confidential but I would still recommend exercising some caution while filling in some sensitive data like a life threatening ailment or some medical condition that you wouldn't want to be popping up in Google searches...after all you never know in this world of data leakage and internet scams. Its not wellness360, its the general state of the world, I always take things with a pinch of salt. Once you're registered you can log-in your daily exercise data and food intake. They award you points for practically everything you do on their website, fiddling with their tools, clicking on their various links and filling in details about your exercise and diet. I haven't redeemed any money yet, but they mention that I can claim the money after 15th of every quarter, provided that it is above $25, which seems quite achievable so far. Along with this, you also get 25% of the amount that the person referred by you has claimed. So I hope that it is another decent way of earning some money. I used to log in all these details in a worksheet earlier, so its basically the same thing for me, except that now I get paid for it and they have some snazzy tools to show my progress using charts etc. As earlier, if you plan on joining it, I would appreciate if you let me earn the referrals using this link.

Bzz Agent Jono:

This was something that I had registered for and forgotten about but was reminded of them when they'd sent me an offer to join Sweet Tomatoes campaign. Incidentally I had been bugging BEB to take me to Sweet Tomatoes for a dinner, so the timing couldn't have been better. I jumped at the opportunity and soon enough , I received a kit from them which had One dinner voucher from Sweet Tomatoes and lots of Buy 1 Get 1 50% coupons. So this has been a pleasant surprise. So I recommend Bzz Agent Jono highly.
By the way, I liked Sweet Tomatoes, because they had plenty of vegetarian options and the food was yummy. One bonus of joining BzzAgent is that all the points you get there can be credited to your MyPoints account.

Things that I've been trying:
ChickAdvisor:

This is something thats in the pipeline. Its a nice girly forum to voice your opinion on anything and everything related from health and beauty. I had been writing some reviews of the products that I've used personally. They let you join their tester panel once you've contributed 5 reviews. I haven't done that, so we'll see how it goes. By the way, this won't give you cash or gift cards but I have heard that they send great products your way to test and provide feedback on.

Disclaimer: I'm not getting paid for any of these reviews. Although, I might get some points if you join one of these using the referral links I have posted.

Kite flying: Frugal family fun

2008-10-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried flying a kite? I had been wanting to try flying one for a long time, this weekend we went to Fry's for something and there were beautiful kites on sale there. I couldn't resist buying one, BEB was initially reluctant to the idea but warmed up later as I assembled the kite at home. So this Sunday we went to Half Moon Bay and there, BEB started off the kite and once it was flying he handed me the string. It was so much fun. I even named it Nemo - because it was in the shape of a fish. On the return trip we were treated to colorful pumpkin patches throughout our ride. It was a truly funday , sunday. Here's Nemo flying high - who said fishes dont fly?

September budget report: It wasn't that bad really

2008-10-01T20:13:00.001-07:00

So I'm back with my results for September. This month was a month of some extra expenses which I should have planned beforehand, but didn't, and that resulted in our going above budget. Also we decided that we wanted to spend some money on our fitness and paid a substantial amount upfront, which was also unaccounted for so that led us to go over-budget this month.

So our major budget breakers this month were: Personal grooming ( this included gym membership fees) and gifts for friends and family. Besides these, we relapsed into our habit of coming home from our offices for lunch+tea and that combined with some picnics, so we paid almost 2X for gas this month. Apart from this we did really well in all other categories.

After all is said and done we ended up going 64.13$ above our targeted budget. I also expect to get $57 back in mail in rebates, so it is actually $7 deficit. So I think it is not so bad after all and I just need to be more careful about irregular expenses next time.

So that was the lowlight for the month, and now about the highlights:

1) I am pretty excited about the new fitness regimen that we have been following. Recently BEB and I completed 50 days of uninterrupted daily exercise. Now that's a first and I hope we'll have many more such milestones.

2) My efforts to generate alternate income have been gathering momentum, slowly but surely. I have gotten really good at handling coupons, snagging deals. I have had many freebies and gift cards coming through various survey and test-drive opportunities. BEB was initially ho-hum about the whole idea but now he has become open towards it. This blog has also seen some progress in terms of new opportunities, although I haven't been able to devote the kind of time I would have liked.

3) I've also become much better at taking care of my appearance. I have been updating my nail-polish frequently, paying more attention to my clothes and trying to look better in general. And you know what, it shows...I got many complements from my colleagues about my clothes :)

4) I've paid more attention to the upkeep of our home as well. Now I try to clean it more frequently so that I have to spend less time on the weekends in cleaning. I think this is working out well but we'll see...

5) We have made great progress towards saving for the down payment of our house, but we still have a long way to go before we reach that "No PMI" mark, i.e. 20%.

By the way, I celebrated my birthday in September. In a way it felt like all those freebies, new opportunities and rewards were some sort of birthday gift for me because I have been working on them for such a long time with little returns and suddenly this month it all started falling into place. I just hope this wave of good events continues and with that, I look forward to October.

Clutter corner

2008-09-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Today the bathroom is squeaky clean, except for the corner where I keep my swiffer stick. The kitchen is cleaner than it has ever been, except for the corner where I keep my cleaning rags. Somehow at least one corner always remains cluttered at home and ironically its the corner where cleaning supplies are kept. I'm sick an tired of looking at the corner and thinking "Oh how I wish..". So I turn to you today, there's got to be a way of keeping those nasty areas clutter free and pleasing to eyes, like other areas...how do you do it...please share your tips on how you keep all those dusting clothes brooms and mops out of sight.
PS: I don't have the luxury of a broom closet yet.

Looking back: Did I really use money wisely or was it just my imagination

2008-09-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

I had been reading Trent's blog The Simple Dollar, when the idea of doing this exercise struck me. Over the last year I have grown to be much more careful with my money and wary of wasteful expenses...or so I think. I am going to put this notion to test. I'm going to look at all the things that I bought this year, that are over 50$. And see if I have just bought things that are useful, or I have also collected some junk. I can already see that it is going to be fun. It will be easy to do this exercise because I usually jot down all my expenses, with a short note on what item that money was spent on. If I have time, I'll also try to evaluate the expenditures between $25 and $50, but for now, I'm sticking with $50 limit. Let's see...this is going to be interesting.

January expenses over 50$

Breakfast bar - being used almost daily
my shoes - used almost daily - now worn out
BEB's hoody - impulse buy - but used quite a few times

February

BEB's jacket - Used it a lot last winter, took it to Lake Tahoe trip
My training pants - Currently using them a lot in gym
BEB's Jeans - Has been wearing them day in and day out

March

My bag - BEB bought it as a gift for me, the most expensive bag I've ever had. I had used it a lot during India trip.

April

Patio set - Have not used it as much as I would have liked and summer is almost over.

Sewing machine - Not used it a lot, although I sew a skirt and a bag and repaired a couple of clothes. So its not a total waste but could have been used better.

May

My clothes - I consider it money well spent. I have never felt the dearth of clothes after that shopping. And I love the clothes I bought then, am wearing them everyday to work.

June

Food Processor - This was a long pending item, but we still bought it on impulse. Although we use it daily. I still feel that we overpaid on this item. Lesson learned - never go to a store when you're to exhausted to compare and check.

GPS - the verdict is still out on this one. We do use it when we travel out of the city and on those rare ocassions its a life-saver.

Bed - It was a delayed purchase that we should have made an year ago. But I couldn't be happier when we finally bought it. Its good.

July

Sofa - This may get the award of best purchase of the year. We bought a very lightly used one and the price at which we'd snagged never fails to amaze people. We spend most of our time at home on it and we just love it.

Biking gear - We used it for a month but then we started going to the gym, instead of biking and now it is not being used that much.

August

My clothes - These were solely want based purchases, but I have been wanting to buy these kind of clothes for almost 6 months, and now that I have them, I just love wearing them. Pls I got them at a super low price from the clearance racks. I can't classify these as bad purchase.

September

Gym membership - so far so good. We have been going almost daily.
Bathroom accessories - This is also one of those "nice to have" purchases. We didn't really need them, but then I got tired of our dull looking bathroom, so we just went ahead and got them.

The verdict - Except for the patio set, there isn't much that I can classify as bad investment. So I can pat my back on this one and can reassure myself that I have gotten better with money.

September half month pulse check: Sweat it out edition

2008-09-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...we have been doing ok, but not as good as I would like to see us do. We made use of all the wiggle room we had already. A Gym membership, some gym accessories and bathroom makeover later I see that there's no way we are going to hit our targeted budget in September.

The good news however is that we have been making full use of our gym memberships, this is our fourth week in the gym and both of us are really happy with our decision to get a membership. We have been going there everyday ( touchwood! ) and now that we have become fairly comfortable with their cardio equipments, we have been trying some weight training as well. So yes! Its one extra expense but this is something I would like to keep despite the expense.

Coming back to the expense report, we have already spent about 70 percent of the month's budget and we still have half a month to go. The biggest mistake we made was being a little lax in the beginning of the month. We didn't observe "No expense days", ate out twice and spent on purchases that could have been postponed, and before we knew the 'total' went through the roof.

So now we have to be more careful with our purchases for the rest of the month and try to get away within our targeted budget - its not going to be easy.

By the way, the bathroom looks really good and inviting after adding new curtain, and matching bath set. I might just ignore the budget mismatch for once.

Frugality is not about cheap, its about the choice

2008-09-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

I like the frugal way of leading life. I like living light and having less stuff. I like the money in the bank and peace of mind that comes from being debt free. But even with all this I had a very difficult time explaining to myself why should I look after every penny I spent, why can't I buy a few things ( inexpensive) on impulse, why don't I feel right whenever I spend even a single dollar that I could have saved. Very recently I got the answer to this question through a personal experience.

Me and my husband used to go to a nearby trail everyday for biking. It was a great workout, we got to spend some quality time together and it was nice to breathe in the fresh air. It worked out really well from December to April but as summer approached our routine began to change. In summer, the sun would shine even before we could get up and get ready. Most of the days I began to avoid going out once it was even a little hot. Growing up in India and that too in relatively hotter parts of the country, I have this habit of avoiding sun as much as possible. Now the habit has become so ingrained that I can't stand even mildly hot sunshine. I experience headache, parched skin, breakouts and get really jumpy and irritated if I have to remain outside in full sun.
So during summers our workouts became smaller, because I just didn't want to remain outdoors for long. Now, that led to another problem because I was desperately trying to lose weight and reducing workouts was not really an option for me. To solve this problem I started going to the gym at my workplace. We have a nice one at my office and it is free for employees. I got a great workout and could see the impact on my weight. Still, a small issue remained. After tracking my weight for about one month, I noticed this pattern - my weight would steadily decrease during the week, but would climb back to its original place on Mondays. It was easy to see the reason for this - no workouts and an increase in the calories consumed. I realized that my weekends were undoing the whole week's workouts. Biking was not possible on weekends because we would usually get up late and by that time, sun would be shining brightly, making it difficult for me to remain outdoors for an hour or so. I had an obvious choice - taking membership of one of the gyms around here. So we tried a couple of gyms in our area and have finally settled on joining one of those. We're currently in the seven day trial period, but as soon as it ends, we are going to become paid members here. What has it got to do with frugality? Everything.

Had it not been for leading a frugal lifestyle, I wouldn't have been able to isolate needs from wants. Once I had known that I needed a gym membership for my physical well being, it didn't take me any time to make up my mind and add this expense to my monthly budget. Contrast this with the situation when I already had subscriptions of n magazines that I never bothered to even flip through, had paid for the fees of 4 classes that I had left after 2 days, had numerous unfinished craft projects stowed away here and there, I would have had a difficult time convincing myself that this gym membership is different, I really need it and will use it.

Frugality is not about sacrificing, its about choosing and prioritizing. Frugality makes you sift through unending list of expenses and come up with a few that are really important to you. I feel that it unclutters your view so that you can focus your time, resources and energy on the few things that really matter. With this thought in mind I add another twenty dollars to our monthly budget. Here's to a healthy life...!!!

Guest post - Making money online

2008-09-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

I have written a guest post about online money making options over at Wide Open Wallet. Check it out and share your experiences if you've tried earning money online.

August budget report: YAAY!!!

2008-08-31T23:08:00.000-07:00

We passed the August budget test with flying colors. *Screams loudly* YAAAY!!!

Yep! We finally made it to the end of the month significantly under our targeted budget, and there were very few categories where we actually surpassed our allocated budget and quite a few, where we were below it substantially. After adding all the expenses, we're still $200 under our targeted monthly budget. Now thats what I call a phenomenal success.

So now it seems possible that we can live on less than the targeted budget and I don't need to bump it up to meet it. That sounds like good news to my ears.

Highlights of the month:

1) A few calls saved us almost 400$ yearly. I still can't believe we were paying so much for the insurance.

2) I finally started seeing some substantial money from my online money making efforts. This month I got about 50$ through various survey sites, I had been working on. It may be an exceptional month, or it could be such that these efforts have really gained momentum now. We shall see.

3) We have finally decided to take renter's insurance and a gym membership. In fact, we have already taken renter's insurance and we're trying a gym right now for a week where we want to enroll if it works out well. I am just amazed at how much effort it takes to cut down expenses and how easily the new expenses add themselves into our life. Well, this was a bullet I had to bite, I'll write another post about why I found it necessary to take a gym membership.

4) We looked into buying a house once again, we came across some decent homes, but so far it looks like they are not really within our budget. I think the right time hasn't come yet. We'll have to wait for a while, it seems. The good thing is that we're very close to 10% down payment for our housing budget. I would like to bring it to 20%, but it is not going to happen for a couple more months.

5) We again lapsed into the habit of coming home from office during the break. Our gas expenses took a serious hit because of that. We need to drop that habit.

6) I have also written into many carnivals and even organized make it from scratch carnival here at Learning the ropes. This blog has really become a big part of my life now.

Goals for the coming month:

1) Reduce waste: I feel that we could reduce our grocery bill significantly if I can reach that sweet spot where my refrigerator is properly stocked with the staples, but nothing gets wasted.
I've worked towards that in August but have more to do in coming months.

2) Find a way to maintain the leather furniture we have. We have off white Italian leather sofa, but I don't know what cleaners to use that can clean it without harming its texture.

3) Need to simplify my life a bit. I am now feeling that I have a lot more going on that I can comfortably handle. One big thing towards that is to plan a menu that I can get going easily during those crazy weekdays. Sometimes just getting the food on the table becomes such a big hassle.

So with a pat on our back, we look forward to September.

A different kind of insurance

2008-08-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

A friend of someone I know has been diagnosed with blood cancer, just thinking about his young children and aged parents breaks my heart. His friends have planned to organize a bone marrow drive for him. Now, I'm as selfish as the next person but I'm still considering going there and getting tested for a match and donating if there's a match. Why?
When something like this happens to someone you know ( if only vaguely), its difficult to remain impassive to it. Cancer is not something that you can opt out of, sure you can try to exercise, eat well and steer clear of unhealthy habits and it may help to a certain extent, but a deadly disease like cancer is still a jackpot of bad luck where anybody can be dealt the card that entitles him and his family to all the suffering that follows. When I try to put myself in the shoes of that person, I find it difficult to breathe, what if it were to happen to me or worse, a loved one of mine. If I were to ask a practically unknown person to donate something as vital as blood to save my life, can I really do that while looking into his eyes. If I haven't helped anybody who's doing it right now, what defense will I have when my time comes? Will I be able to say to myself that "Well, I did it for somebody else, there's no reason why somebody else won't do it for now." Of course, I won't be able to force anybody into helping me out, but at least I'll have the strength to ask for help. And I'll have the comfort of knowing(hoping), that ordinary people like me would come forward and help me.

So you see my reasons of being in a bone marrow drive on a Sunday are purely selfish, but if my selfish act can give somebody a fighting chance against cancer...well...why not?

The activities and events in bay area under $5

2008-08-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

Take a big city, combine with a lot of small cities bubbling with activity and innovation, add some year round good weather, throw in a couple of nice beaches for good measure, toss it all up with multi-cultural potpourri, stir-fry with a sizzling culinary scenario, the heady mix you get is what we know as San Francisco bay area. Listing just 10 activities in this region is going to be difficult (although the $5 limit does help). Here's what my list got down to:

Farmer's markets
Since bay area has a great climate, it is rich in produce and every town has its own brand of Farmer's Market. Santa Clara, Sunnyvale farmer's markets are small and very family friendly, especially in Santa Clara, on a Saturday you'll see a lot of kids playing around the fountain on Franklin Square, while their parents sample the delicacies and shop for produce.
Go there with some time on your hands as you won't want to leave the scene soon. Sample the spinach crepe from the Russian stall or taste the Samosa from Indian, or buy delicious organic produce.
If you just mean business, go to a rather big Mountain View Market. Adjacent to Mountain View light rail station, it has a lot of vendors coming to sell produce as well as baked goods. It doesn't have a lot of seating area around it, but it has a lot of variety in produce.

Flea market
San Jose's flea market is where you go when you want to shop but don't want to spend money (well ok, lot of money). For two bucks you could get a big pineapple, or for 5 bucks you can take home a spaghetti top. Located in Berryesa, San Jose. The flea market has maintained its own identity against all the malls that have popped up everywhere. I could buy some nice satin cloth for just 2$ a yard. Whatever you're interested in buying, just give flea market a try. You will keep coming back to it, if only for the eclectic atmosphere.

Trails
Bay area has miles and miles of trails for joggers and bikers. With the sunny Californian weather they're nice place to workout for free and have fun at the same time. Go along with bike strollers and pets in the tow. Some easy family trails around bay area are West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, Point Reyes - Bear Valley Trai and Calaveras Big Trees South Grov . To learn more about the level of difficulty and uniqueness of these trails visit two heel drive, a comprehensive resource about the bay area trails.

Gay parade
An annual event at San Francisco, it is an spectacle in itself. You can share the glee and joy as hundreds of gay and lesbians express themselves in their very own parade.

Mystery spot and Redwood Forests
Located near Santa Cruz Redwood forests, mystery spot is a must see because this place doesn't follow the laws of gravity. 5$ would buy you a ticket to the tour where you would see amazing things happening that would happen when you take gravity out of the equation. Children below 3 get free admission here.

San Jose Tech Museum
San Jose Tech Museum offers hands on learning experience for students and some very good exhibits that would interest adults and children alike. The general admission ticket is 8$ per person but the museum offers a number of discounts to enable everyone to access its exhibits. For those who cannot afford this price on tickets they have open access policy where you can go and talk to the museum staff to get the fee waived. Besides this they also offer passes through San Jose and Santa Clara libraries, from the museum website it seems that they are hugely discounted, although the final price is not mentioned here. The best option for parents with school going kids is to have the school participate in the "Free field trips to tech museum" and volunteer as an adult chaperon.

Golden Gate bridge
A major landmark of San Francisco, this bridge is free to walk on for pedestrians and you will get yourself some really cool views of San Francisco skyline and Pacific ocean.

Sausalito
If going to a scenic place and doing nothing for the rest of the day relaxes you, you will feel at home in Sausalito. Located to the north of San Francisco, this sleepy town on the shore gives you fantastic views of Golden Gate Bridge. You could spend your day sipping coffee at the deck of a restaurant here, or sit near the fountain at the downtown and watch the hustle and bustle of the tourists.

Cherry picking, Brentwood
Brentwood is about 2 hours drive from San Francisco. The best time to visit Brentwood is May-June, when the cherry trees are laden with fresh, ripe, delicious cherries. Although Brentwood boasts a healthy produce of Peaches, Nectarines, Corn, Strawberries and many other fruits and vegetables, Cherries seem to be the most popular among the visitors. Bring along your straw hats and sunscreens and spend the day sampling fresh ripe Bing and Rainier cherries. You can eat all you want, although you'll make the farmers happy if you buy some too. At 2$ a pound, its difficult to leave Brentwood without your hand-picked cherries. This will also be a fun way of showing your little ones that fruits don't grow on grocery store shelves after all.

Open air movies
At courthouse square in redwood city every Thursday around 8:45 pm, Redwood City organizes "movie under the stars" movie showing. You have to just be there to experience the atmosphere, sharing your movie watching experience with hundreds of other viewers under the skies.
If you live near San Jose, you don't have to go all the way up to Redwood city, because Santana Row hosts Picnic, Popcorn & Picture Show every Wednesday during summers ( through sept 24). You'll have to bring your own popcorn though.

Santana Row
This high end mall may be selling stuff that's way beyond your frugal lifestyle, but if you can ignore those pricey items, there's a lot of activity going on at Santana Row that doesn't really cost you anything. Besides the snazzy ambiance and the glamor, Santana Row is bursting at it seams with frugal fun activities like Free Music, stand up comedy shows, culinary demonstrations.

Intel Museum
For the geeks this could be a really interesting journey through the history of Intel as well as Silicon Valley Admission is free here.

Maker Faire, San Mateo
Held annually in bay area, this fair offers an eclectic potpourri of various things made by human beings, and gives visitors a chance to witness the makers in action. The fair is free for children under 3 and youths can obtain a day pass for $5 by ordering their tickets early.

Santa Cruz beach and Half Moon bay
Take a leisurely walk along the sunny beaches of Santa Cruz or half moon bay. You could even witness para-sailing and para-gliding activities. Santa Cruz beach has a boardwalk which offers a number of fun-rides starting from 2.25$ each. Jump into the oncoming waves or take a joy-ride or two or both.

Pier 39, San Francisco
If the hustle-bustle of a city is more your kind and you enjoy the glitz and glamor of city, hang out at Pier 39 on San Francisco. Take a peek at the ever noisy Sea Lions or window shop or just sit and get soaked in the verve and energy around you.

17 mile drive
17 mile drive near Monterey Bay is famous for its beautiful views and scenic route. You need to pay $9 per car so its still way less than $5 per person. This buys you great views of the coast and nature's splendor with seals, deers and pelicans along the route.

Santa Clara county fair
Santa Clara county fair has recently waived its admission and parking fees and now its completely free! The fair boasts of live performers, pony rides, livestock auctions and animal judging among other activities. There's also interactive booths and petting zoo to get your little ones familiar with the animals.

Free activity with strings attached:
Bank Of America offers this freebie almost every year, its called Museums on Us. If you're a bank of America customer (i.e. have a credit or check card), you can go to the featured museums on certain days and get a free admission. San Jose Tech Museum and San Jose Museum of Art and many museums in San Francisco offer free admissions on certain weekends. With the big client base of Bank of America, I figure that a lot of people would qualify for this promotion.

Make It From Scratch Carnival #78: Let's Party Tonight

2008-08-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ok! its party time here! With ideas pouring in from all over I have never had it this easy. Organizing this party is going to be a breeze. Lets see....

Theme:
We can make it a costume party and keep a Greek theme. Costumes shows how to dress up like a Greek God or Godess. If you want to color your hair for the party we show here how to do it using natural hair dye - Henna. You may also want to condition your hair using Olive oil : The ultimate hair conditioner, as Funny about Money shows here.

Menu:
Whats a party without yummy, mouth watering food? This party is doing really well in that area.

Our party fare features Fried Green Tomatoes from the Copy editor's desk...oops..kitchen, and homemade pancakes made by The Fat Bottomed Girl. Tomatoes seem to be the theme on the table as My Daily Dollars comes up with the $3.00 Dinner for Four, with homegrown tomatoes. These tomato recipes will go well with the pita bread made by Happy to be at home.
We have Stop the ride to thank when it comes to bringing the exotic on the table, she brought Staghorn Sumac for the party.
For desert you can have handmade chocolate chip cookies, brought to you by Our red house. Or you can satisfy your sweet tooth with Ice-cream pie that Sunflowers in my kitchen has brought or this Zucchini- Squash cake made by Praiseworthy Things. You will also have the choice of having Apple Cinnamon pancakes made by Lisa.

Chit-chat:

These get together are for people to sit down and talk their hearts out with friends. Since we have quite a few entrepreneurs here it is a good time to discuss Bootstrapping or Fund raising kicked off by Gyaan Sutra.
Mom Cooks Recipes that Rock tells us about how to eat healthy in restaurants.

Decorations:
The butterfly pattern brought by Nini Makes sets the cheerful mood for the party.

Return Gifts:

For return gifts we have used the ideas from Frugality in the Making, she's suggested some cute gifts for the
holidays but I have appropriated the ideas to use them for return gifts. And to those who need a bag to carry the gifts home, we are offering these t-shirt bags as shown by Not the Jet Set.

Clean-up:

Don't you hate it when it comes to cleaning after all the celebration ends? Well not anymore, Hearth and Home shows how to make a carpet cleaner that would clean the toughest of stains and is environment friendly. Cleanup is also aided with this Star Dishcloth made by My Recycled Bags. RN Central comes up with 99 Ways to make your home healthy, the list is loaded with great ideas for clean-up as well as great tips for keeping good health. Okay, I still have to DO the cleaning but I hope it will be faster than ever now.

Goodbye

I had a nice time at today's party, hope you enjoyed yourself too. Feels Like Home is going to host Make it from scratch carnival #79 next week. Don't forget to check out the wonderful posts and ideas.

Friday afternoon link love

2008-08-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Nora at Wisebread does it again. I never thought powdered milk could be used in so many ways in cooking, let alone as a beauty aid and stain remover etc. If you do laundry, cooking, cleaning at your home, you have to check it.

This one totally cracked me up. I had to send it to BEB because it echoed his feelings about the whole couponing process so precisely.

Make it from scratch carnivals

2008-08-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

Maria at Life on both sides of the pond has been hosting this week's Make it from scratch carnival #77. Do check out the interesting posts over at her blog. Besides having those yummy recipes for summer days, this edition also has interesting posts on handmade paper and making quickie compost.
I'm happy to tell you that I'll be hosting the Make it from scratch carnival #78 next week. So bring on all the things you make and would like to share with fellow bloggers and submit them here.

Henna : A natural hair-dye and conditioner

2008-08-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

Recently, there was a discussion about herbal hair dyes on one of my email aliases. Somebody suggested using Henna as a herbal hair dye for people who are allergic to chemical hair colors and dyes. I was like...."but of course, I don't have a lot of gray hair yet but I have been using Henna for hair-conditioning for years now". After applying Henna my hair feel really silky, shiny and healthy, but its a lot of work too. Just thought of sharing my recipe for hair-conditioning and some thoughts on what to expect while using Henna for the first time.

Henna has been used in India for centuries as a natural dye. Its most prolific use has been for henna tattoo mostly on palms and feet. No wedding is complete in India until the bride has a beautiful tattoo on her palms. Over the years as people got tired of applying chemicals to their skin and hair, Henna has also caught up as a natural hair-dye. It has a orange-brownish hue which lasts about 3-4 months. Since people in India normally have dark- brown to black hair, henna works well for dyeing gray hair there. The color of Henna mixes well with the non-gray hair and if the right additives ( more herbs) are added to Henna you can get dark-brown or black color as well. Although my experience has been that those herbs do not impart long lasting colors, and after a month the Henna color ( brownish-orange) becomes prominent. In India that's not a big deal because that hue is in vogue and people like it. However here in US, a lot of people have light brown and golden hair and dyeing them with Henna would change the color of all the hair and unless you wanted Henna color you may not like the color that it gives. If you have dark brown or black hair then you can also try Henna and enjoy its natural hair-conditioning and coloring. It may also work for brunettes, but I would suggest trying it on a discreet lock of hair before coloring all of them.

Here are a few ways I have used Henna:

For coloring hair (black color):

1 tbsp Henna
1 tbsp Gooseberry powder ( available as Amla powder in most Indian stores)
1 tsp Coffee

Mix all these ingredients in an iron skillet ( available in Indian stores, ask for the small one used for soaking Henna ). Add some water to get a toothpaste like consistency. After the paste is ready add some more water but don't mix it, this water will prevent the paste from getting dry. The gooseberry powder reacts with the iron of the skillet and produces a black color. Coffee powder also boosts the color of the mixture. Let the mixture sit for 2 days. After that mix the extra water in the Henna paste to make it slightly watery ( thinner then the toothpaste). Wear disposable gloves and a garment that you can afford to discard ( or use for Henna only). Use your fingers to take a small lock from the top of your head and cover it with this paste, once it is covered, try to fold it into a ring and let it sit at the top. Take another lock nearby and repeat the process with it. Slowly work your way through entire head. At the end, you should have a bun on top. Cover it with a shower cap. Keep your head away from any pricey furniture or curtains as Henna stains are very difficult to get rid of. Also wipe of any droplets that run down on your face or you will have a blemish on face that would last a couple of days. Keep it for one and a half hour and wash it with plain water (don't shampoo). Once your hair dries apply some olive oil to it. Oil boosts the colorant in Henna. Leave overnight and shampoo in the morning.
I know, it sounds like a lot of work ( and mess) but I do this every single month because I love the way my hair feel after I wash them. Henna is a proven hair-conditioner and gooseberry is also said to be good for hair.
If you have dry hair like me, you can make the paste with yogurt instead of water. For dull, lifeless hair add 1tbsp of Fenugreek powder ( Available as Methi powder in Indian stores).

If you want to condition your hair without changing their color you can try this:

1tbsp fenugreek powder ( methi powder in Hindi)
1tbsp gooseberry powder ( amla powder)

Mix with yogurt in a regular bowl ( don't use iron skillet because that enables amla to impart black color). Let sit for a day and apply like Henna and also follow up with oiling. This should work wonders for dull looking hair.

Below, is a picture of the Henna tattoo that I made on one of my friend's hands. It has nothing to do with this post but I just love it.

Deal Alert: Longs drugs August 17 - August 22

2008-08-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Longs drugs has the following Lo'real skin care products free after Mail-in Rebate. With coupon you can make some money on these.

1. L'Oreal Advanced Revitalift Anti Wrinkle Concentrate 1 oz. (12.99$ -12.99$(MIR)). If you have $3 coupon from you could make some money on this one.

2. L'Oreal skin Genesis Eye Serum. (15.99$ - 15.99$(MIR)). You should have coupons for this product also and you can make some money on this one too.

For some good deals at Walgreens this week check out Crysal's this post at Money Saving Mom.

August half month pulse check: The Independence Day Edition

2008-08-15T23:01:00.001-07:00

Today's 15th August, In 1947, on this day a country was born after being a colony under Britain for nearly two centuries. It still has a long way to go, but the journey has begun and it seems to be taking steps in the right direction. Happy Independence day India. Happy Independence day fellow countrymen.

Back to the business at hand, finally some relief from the ever burgeoning expenses. Thanks to "No expense days" we seem to be all set to meet our targeted budget for the month. Although we have already spent two-third of our monthly budget already, I'm not too worried because majority of it went towards monthly bills which we don't have to pay next fortnight.

However, there are still a few things that I'll be working on in the rest of August and September:

-Reduce the amount of food that gets wasted.
-Declutter home. We did this when we moved in to this place in March, but it looks like we again gathered some unwanted stuff.
-Lose weight. Its been a work in progress since the beginning of this year. My India trip did much damage and I'm still recovering from it 3 months later. Can you imagine what 3 weeks of no exercise can do to your weight. I've been exercising throughout the year, but its only now that I have found a right balance of exercise that works for my body and my schedule. Lets see if it shows up in my waistline.

Friday afternoon link love

2008-08-15T14:24:00.001-07:00

Erica at Erica.biz argues that extreme frugality is not really worth it, and I finally find myself agreeing with her side of the argument. check it out here.

Lynnae at Being Frugal writes an intriguing post about bartering. Something that's been overlooked by most but can provide a really good mileage for our ever shrinking dollars.

Nora Dunn is my favorite author on wisebread. She's back with her stash of 'tasty' posts after a long gap. Here's one more gem from her treasure trove : Fun with Soybeans. Can you guess what my weekend project is going to be?

Frugal Dad shares his thoughts on How to live More Simply. Beautiful.

Weekends and "cool hangout" fundamentalists

2008-08-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the nicest weekend in a longtime. What did we do? Nothing. Thats the whole point.

I can't begin to tell how very relaxing it was, not having to get up early, not having any social-do, travel plans or any other activity lined up for the weekend. I just got up late, tended to the plants in my tiny garden, had a leisurely tea with BEB, then we went to the farmer's market and library for a while ( I dozed off while BEB browsed the books :o). At home I just lay down on the sofa and watched the day turning into afternoon, just chatting with BEB about nothing, watched movies on my laptop without really paying them much attention. Whenever we felt hungry I just got up and made us some snack that we both love. Thats all that we did this weekend and boy! was I glad. I was so content and happy and ready for the weekdays.

If I have my way I'll just spend every weekend like that. The problem however is that world is full of radical "travelers" or "cool hangout" fundamentalists..well...at least our friend circle is. Our friends think that its weird that we don't feel like "doing anything" on weekend. In their opinion, on weekends (on all holidays for that matter) one is supposed to go out, hit the road, go to some 'destination', do some 'activity', its not 'cool' to just stay home and chill...even if you have to chill-out you better do it at some bar or club. I know, I can just ignore their advice and have it my own way, but after a while it really gets you. This is a kind of peer pressure that is not much different from what you experience in high-school.
After a while I have really started introspection of myself, is it really abnormal that I don't want to go to all those tourist places ( who cares if I'm not outdoor kind of person, thats un-cool anyway), are we missing out on something really big by being within the confines of our good old neighborhood (Yosemite here I come!), are we really living ( and smelling the roses, soaking in the sunshine...the works) or merely getting by ( never mind the rushed two day trips 500 miles away, thats living). These kind of questions keep me awake at night and I grudgingly agree to trudge along with the friends wherever they are going next for 'living'.

I am not saying that traveling is not good, that hitting the bars is bad, but maybe...just maybe..its not for everyone. Maybe I'm one of those who are still 'alive' and happy when they are home, or maybe I really am weird.

Yoghurt cups: Recycle and reuse

2008-08-12T21:18:00.001-07:00

Yoghurt cups are just perfect for reuse and recycling. Nice tumbler like shape, they usually come with a cap and are sturdy enough for most household storage. I use them atleast 4-5 times before I say goodbye to any of those. Here're a few things I use them for:

For storing leftover dough, cut vegetables or leftovers in the fridge.

For keeping lentils and beans for germination. (Go here for my post on sprouted beans)

For storing knick-knacks like buttons, coins etc.

For mixing my various homemade hair and face masks. They are handy because lot of these recipe call for yoghurt and I just use a yoghurt cup with last bit of yoghurt in it and then just toss it after I'm done. That way I don't even need to wash the cup before reusing it.

A lot of my yoghurt cups end up in my container garden, I use them for growing seeds or just plant a couple of small plants with smaller life span. The picture I have shows fenugreek plants in the cups. Fenugreek is a popular Indian herb which is used a lot in Indian cuisine.

Carnival of Money Stories #72

2008-08-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Broke Grad student has been hosting the carnival of money stories #72, my post on my husband's encounter with couponing has been included.

I couldn't suppress a laughter from this post by Budgets are sexy.

Carnival of Personal Finance

2008-08-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

Carnival of Personal Finance #165 is up here at No Debt Plan. My post on savings has been included in this edition of carnival. Check it out for great articles on Personal Finance as well as a $50 giveaway from Kevin.

Hello, I have a convert here

2008-08-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

So I made my debut to the fantastic world of couponing in February. While I was a little skeptical and afraid of the whole process, BEB was downright petrified. He couldn't believe I was willing to spend so much of my time and energy to save those itsy-bitsy 50 cents. I continued anyway, not because I believed in the savings from the coupons, but because I enjoyed the challenge of working the system to my advantage. Sometimes, it worked and sometimes I failed miserably. However, it earned me the moniker of "Coupon Warrior", nevertheless. Hubby, who initially absolutely hated the idea, made his peace with the fact that he was married to an absolutely "coupon-crazy" women. Slowly and surely, I learnt better ways of organizing my coupons, finding great deals and learned which deals were not really worth it and which ones I absolutely had to have.
So, now after many a Saturdays, when I asked BEB that we HAD to go to Walgreens today to make most of a couple of amazing deal they were having today, I didn't have to deal with his usual resistance. Not only did he get ready to go with me, he also helped me with find the right brands to work with the coupons I had. Once we were done with the Walgreens business, I meekly pointed out that I wanted to go to Rite-aid too, because they too had some amazing deals. To my surprise he agreed.
At rite-aid I told him that they are having this deal on Gillete shavers. He didn't need a shaver then but he just checked it out, and sure enough, it was a really good one. He asked me how much is it going to cost us. When he learned that with coupon and Single check rebate he can have it for free, he was amazed. He took the razor, but pointed out that what he really needed was a shaving gel. Okay, I said, I have a coupon for 1$ off on Gillete shaving gel which we can match with 1.79$ travel pack and have it for 79 Cents. He was awe-struck, he mentioned that he couldn't have it for such a bargain price even in India. The best was yet to come though, I showed him the Revlon nail-polish money maker deal. The nail-polish was free after single check rebate, but since I had a coupon of 1$ off, I could make a dollar on the price of nail-polish.
Ever since we have come-back from that trip BEB has been asking for more Gillette coupons so that we can get more shavers for him. My pointing out that we don't have anymore Gillette coupons and that we can only get one shaver on rebate isn't working. What can I say, its a nice problem to have.
And Oh! If you have someone in the household who doesn't think coupons work, but could use a Gillette shaver, make sure you take him to Rite-Aid before Sunday. :-)

Savings: How I stay motivated in face of financial mishaps

2008-08-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Last month while we were driving on a freeway a stray pebble hit our windshield and left a big gaping hole. It cost us 225$ in repairs.

Last month was also the month when we saved roughly 10$ by increasing the gaps between our laundry cycles and line-drying the clothes in our yard. We also saved about 10$ in movie subscriptions by borrowing dvd(s) from city library instead of paying for a streaming service.

It was easy to laugh at these savings in the face of this mishap which cost us almost equal to the yearly savings we'll get from these two changes, provided we continue to keep doing them through the year. I used to despair at these happenings and think that "There goes all my effort and time...in one single awful event..." I used to consider abandoning all these snow-flaking ideas and also abandoned many of them until I begun to put things into perspective. It finally dawned on me that snow-flaking or not, that pebble could still hit our windshield and it would still cost 225 bucks. The only difference would be that right now I have 20 bucks of snow-flakes stashed somewhere, which will soften the blow a bit for me.

Life happens, and so do things. It doesn't matter whether you've been saving or blowing money like the currency will be discontinued tomorrow. Even if your savings wont be always enough to bail you out of the situation, it will help soften the blow, at the very least you can take comfort in the fact that you did all you could to avert the situation. I think the effort and time invested in saving money is well worth it.

New week, new carnival!

2008-08-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

I submitted an entry to Carnival of Personal Finance this week. You can go here to check my entry as well as several others.

July Budget: "No expense day" edition

2008-08-01T22:53:00.001-07:00

So we are onto August now and I'm desperately hoping that the marching forces of expenditure take a break for a couple of months and let us touch our targeted budget for the month. But before that happens I have to go through the painful process of slicing and dicing our expenditure for July and from whatever I know of it, it ain't gonna be pleasant.

We finished 157$ below our realistic budget and 527$ above (???) our targeted budget. We had about 1400$ worth of unexpected expenses this month. So I can blame them for this spike in our expenses. What I want to see in the coming months is, "whether there's really some such thing as 'unexpected expenses' or whether I should allocate a big chunk to unforeseen expenses. We'll see.

Anyway, right now I feel that I have got the magical key to bring our spending down. As I have mentioned earlier we have decided to observe at least 3 "no expense days" where we try to spend no money at all on that day. It was BEB's idea which I adopted in no time. It was surprising to see how many "needs" just disappear, when we just wait them out for a couple of days. Specially doing it on weekdays was so easy and it saved time too. Earlier we used to stop at the grocery shop on the way almost every other day, now I try to get all the groceries on the weekend and avoid going to store during the week. I found that it saves a lot of time, and that one ingredient wasn't all that necessary after all. Biggest advantage was that BEB didn't get a chance to fall for that unhealthy snack every other day. Earlier when we used to go to grocery store every other day, then more often than not we ended up getting those fried Indian snacks, just because BEB got the opportunity to buy it. Later on, he felt guilty about eating those unhealthy snacks. Now, by avoiding going to the store we have reduced the chance of getting it.

If you really want to cut down your spending, just try it once, try not to spend any money, and I mean ANY money that day. You will really see how much difference it makes to your bottom-line.

Big 1 day sale at Money Saving Mom

2008-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Crystal at Money Saving Mom is holding the biggest ever sale of her e-books and other digital content today. Her blog is one of the most visited for the fabulous deal ideas and coupons that she shares with her readers. These e-books are about how to make the most of your Walgreens, CVS and other Supermarket trips. She is offering a fabulous package deal on these e-books just for today and you certainly don't want to miss it.

I made it

2008-07-29T12:22:00.001-07:00

Yay!!! My post on sprouting mung beans made it to the "Make it from scratch cranival #74" Novel Experiences has hosted this carnival and was nice to select my entry. Check out the other fabulous entries, while I celebrate my very first entry to a blog carnival.

The best events and activities to do in your city for under $5

2008-07-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

Take a big city, combine with a lot of small cities bubbling with activity, add some year round good weather, throw in a couple of nice beaches for good measure, toss it all up with multi-cultural potpourri, stir-fry with a sizzling culinary scenario, the heady mix you get is what we know as San Francisco bay area. Listing just 10 activities in this region is going to be difficult (although the $5 limit does help). Here's what my list got down to:

Farmer's markets
Since bay area has a great climate, it is rich in produce and every town has its own brand of Farmer's Market. Santa Clara, Sunnyvale farmer's markets are small and very family friendly, especially in Santa Clara, on a Saturday you'll see a lot of kids playing around the fountain on Franklin Square, while their parents sample the delicacies and shop for produce.
Go there with some time on your hands as you won't want to leave the scene soon. Sample the spinach crepe from the Russian stall or taste the Samosa from Indian, or buy delicious organic produce.
If you just mean business, go to a rather big Mountain View Market. Adjacent to Mountain View light rail station, it has a lot of vendors coming to sell produce as well as baked goods. It doesn't have a lot of seating area around it, but it has a lot of variety in produce.

Flea market
San Jose's flea market is where you go when you want to shop but don't want to spend money (well ok, lot of money). For two bucks you could get a big pineapple, or for 5 bucks you can take home a spaghetti top. Located in Berryesa, San Jose. The flea market has maintained its own identity against all the malls that have popped up everywhere. I could buy some nice satin cloth for just 2$ a yard. Whatever you're interested in buying, just give flea market a try. You will keep coming back to it, if only for the eclectic atmosphere.

Trails
Bay area has miles and miles of trails for joggers and bikers. With the sunny Californian weather they're nice place to workout for free and have fun at the same time. Go along with bike strollers and pets in the tow. Some easy family trails around bay area are West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, Point Reyes - Bear Valley Trai and Calaveras Big Trees South Grov . To learn more about the level of difficulty and uniqueness of these trails visit two heel drive, a comprehensive resource about the bay area trails.

Gay parade
An annual event at San Francisco, it is an spectacle in itself. You can share the glee and joy as hundreds of gay and lesbians express themselves in their very own parade.

Mystery spot and Redwood Forests
Located near Santa Cruz Redwood forests, mystery spot is a must see because this place doesn't follow the laws of gravity. 5$ would buy you a ticket to the tour where you would see amazing things happening that would happen when you take gravity out of the equation. Children below 3 get free admission here.

San Jose Tech Museum
San Jose Tech Museum offers hands on learning experience for students and some very good exhibits that would interest adults and children alike. The general admission ticket is 8$ per person but the museum offers a number of discounts to enable everyone to access its exhibits. For those who cannot afford this price on tickets they have open access policy where you can go and talk to the museum staff to get the fee waived. Besides this they also offer passes through San Jose and Santa Clara libraries, from the museum website it seems that they are hugely discounted, although the final price is not mentioned here. The best option for parents with school going kids is to have the school participate in the "Free field trips to tech museum" and volunteer as an adult chaperon.

Golden Gate bridge
A major landmark of San Francisco, this bridge is free to walk on for pedestrians and you will get yourself some really cool views of San Francisco skyline and Pacific ocean.

Sausalito
If going to a scenic place and doing nothing for the rest of the day relaxes you, you will feel at home in Sausalito. Located to the north of San Francisco, this sleepy town on the shore gives you fantastic views of Golden Gate Bridge. You could spend your day sipping coffee at the deck of a restaurant here, or sit near the fountain at the downtown and watch the hustle and bustle of the tourists.

Cherry picking, Brentwood
Brentwood is about 2 hours drive from San Francisco. The best time to visit Brentwood is May-June, when the cherry trees are laden with fresh, ripe, delicious cherries. Although Brentwood boasts a healthy produce of Peaches, Nectarines, Corn, Strawberries and many other fruits and vegetables, Cherries seem to be the most popular among the visitors. Bring along your straw hats and sunscreens and spend the day sampling fresh ripe Bing and Rainier cherries. You can eat all you want, although you'll make the farmers happy if you buy some too. At 2$ a pound, its difficult to leave Brentwood without your hand-picked cherries. This will also be a fun way of showing your little ones that fruits don't grow on grocery store shelves after all.

Open air movies
At courthouse square in redwood city every Thursday around 8:45 pm, Redwood City organizes "movie under the stars" movie showing. You have to just be there to experience the atmosphere, sharing your movie watching experience with hundreds of other viewers under the skies.
If you live near San Jose, you don't have to go all the way up to Redwood city, because Santana Row hosts Picnic, Popcorn & Picture Show every Wednesday during summers ( through sept 24). You'll have to bring your own popcorn though.

Santana Row
This high end mall may be selling stuff that's way beyond your frugal lifestyle, but if you can ignore those pricey items, there's a lot of activity going on at Santana Row that doesn't really cost you anything. Besides the snazzy ambiance and the glamor, Santana Row is bursting at it seams with frugal fun activities like Free Music, stand up comedy shows, culinary demonstrations.

Intel Museum
For the geeks this could be a really interesting journey through the history of Intel as well as Silicon Valley Admission is free here.

Maker Faire, San Mateo
Held annually in bay area, this fair offers an eclectic potpourri of various things made by human beings, and gives visitors a chance to witness the makers in action. The fair is free for children under 3 and youths can obtain a day pass for $5 by ordering their tickets early.

Santa Cruz beach and Half Moon bay
Take a leisurely walk along the sunny beaches of Santa Cruz or half moon bay. You could even witness para-sailing and para-gliding activities. Santa Cruz beach has a boardwalk which offers a number of fun-rides starting from 2.25$ each. Jump into the oncoming waves or take a joy-ride or two or both.

Pier 39, San Francisco
If the hustle-bustle of a city is more your kind and you enjoy the glitz and glamor of city, hang out at Pier 39 on San Francisco. Take a peek at the ever noisy Sea Lions or window shop or just sit and get soaked in the verve and energy around you.

17 mile drive
17 mile drive near Monterey Bay is famous for its beautiful views and scenic route. You need to pay $9 per car so its still way less than $5 per person. This buys you great views of the coast and nature's splendor with seals, deers and pelicans along the route.

Santa Clara county fair
Santa Clara county fair has recently waived its admission and parking fees and now its completely free! The fair boasts of live performers, pony rides, livestock auctions and animal judging among other activities. There's also interactive booths and petting zoo to get your little ones familiar with the animals.

Free activity with strings attached:
Bank Of America offers this freebie almost every year, its called Museums on Us. If you're a bank of America customer (i.e. have a credit or check card), you can go to the featured museums on certain days and get a free admission. San Jose Tech Museum and San Jose Museum of Art and many museums in San Francisco offer free admissions on certain weekends. With the big client base of Bank of America, I figure that a lot of people would qualify for this promotion.

Sprouts: Easy, quick ,healthy, versatile and yummy

2008-07-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Its rare to get all the qualities in a single food and mung bean sprouts easily qualify for this elite club of foods. Rich in Vitamin A, B and C, proteins and many minerals these sprouts could be your shortcut to getting wholesome nutrition.

Available in any Indian grocery store (and in health food store probably), these beans are super easy to sprout and very light on stomach.

I usually soak about a cup of beans at a time. Keep them in a bowl with 1 cup mung and 2 cups of water, the beans usually get about 1.5 times their initial size after soaking, so the bowl should be big enough to hold them.

Within 48 hours you should be able to see tiny white sprouts from the beans and at that point you can drain the surplus water. The sprouts are ready to eat now, but if you give the sprouts a couple more days to grow ( about 48 hours more) they will be tastier.

Depending on the quality of dry mung beans sometimes there are seeds that just don't sprout and remain hard even after all the soaking. if you see some such seeds you might want to pick them, or they will be hard to eat in whatever you prepare with the sprouts. An easy way to do this is to put all the sprouts in a big plate and then inclining the plate at an angle. Because the sprouted mungs are no longer round they will hang on to their place, but the unsprouted ones are still round in shape and they will slide of to the other end of you plate. From my experience I have seen that the bigger the size of dry mung beans, the better their chance of sprouting.

These sprouts can be eaten in variety of ways, and to me they're yummy in all their avtars.

You can eat them raw, or toss a handful in a salad.

You can microwave them in a bowl and add some lemon juice and salt ( and maybe pepper) and they are good to go. ( I personally love this version).

They can be roasted for a minute in a skillet.

You can stir-fry them with some pepper. Add some cilantro on top as shown in the picture. (BEB loves it)

Whatever you do, you can't go wrong with sprouts. Although mung beans are the easiest to sprout, once you get the hang of the things, you could also try chick-pea, grams and other beans.

This is a very inexpensive and easy way to pack more nutrition in your meals with less effort.

We're back in the game!!!

2008-07-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago it seemed practically impossible to meet any of our budgets and I even toyed with the idea of tweaking our budget for more allocation in various budget breaking categories. But we practiced some self-restraint for a while. We started observing no-expense day where we'll have zero cash-outflow.And now it looks that we will be able to meet our realistic budget at least. We still have 5 more days to go in this month but I think unless some emergency comes we should be able to contain our spending within our realistic budget. Although I would love to remain within our targeted budget and can't wait to be in August to start it all over again.

No Expense Days

2008-07-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

To make up for blowing our budget in first half of the month. Me and BEB decided to put some restraining order on our spending. So we observed no spending days on 16th and 17th. And know what? We did it. We didn't spend anything on the whole of Tuesday and Wednesday. If we keep at it, like this, we just might able to go in black this month. despite the expenditure we'd incurred already.

July: Half month pulse check (Not looking good edition)

2008-07-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

July: Half month pulse check (Not looking good edition)
Ok so, we are halfway through July and the first half of July is not looking good as far as budget is concerned. We have already spent all the money allocated for the month in our targeted budget, and I would be happy if we match our realistic budget. My concern is not that we exceeded our budget, because whatever we spent on, we paid in full already, we are not in debt of any kind.My concern stems from the fact that this is the second month we will not be meeting our budget and if that continues to happen we'll have to revise our budget which would mean that we wont be able to meet our savings targets. That is something I won't like to see happening.
Biggest budget breakers:
Furniture - We bought most of our furniture between last week of June and first week of July. That had put an additional 1200$ on each month's balancesheet. These were the things that we had been putting off buying for almost an year. These expenses would have happened within this year anyway. It is just that I rather budget and save for them but I happened to find a couch and tables set that was too cute and inexpensive to pass up. ( sigh!)
Automobile - Some unexpected expenses on our car, again both in June and July. Hope we won't have to allocate this money every month. Ahh! the joys of owning a car.

Personal grooming - I have just finished my budget for the month in a single spa session. This was for something that was very important for me and although I didn't feel good while forking out the money, but I know that I didn't have many options here. The good thing is that it is still within the budget.

So, we are all set to do miserably for the month of July as well.The good thing is that BEB is on board to try our best for the rest of the month and keep spending in check wherever possible. We'll see.

Transunion offering free credit report monitoring for 9 months

2008-07-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

While surfing this Technology Credit Union website I found this.
I am no lawyer, but apparently, Transunion was held responsible for selling the credit card holders info, and as a result of that they are offering to provide free credit monitoring ( you've the option of free credit monitoring or the money from lawsuit settlement. Go here). We found the 9 months credit check a better option and signed up for it. Worth checking out!

My first month with budgeting...And the budget goes out of the window :(

2008-07-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that half of 2008 is already gone. So June bids adieu and with it my first attempt at budgeting flops badly.
As I had mentioned earlier we had two sets of budgets: realistic and targeted, during the first half everything went fine, it seemed that we'll just remain pretty close to targeted budget if not meet it. And then came those big ticket purchases, the food processor, navigator the bed and a couple of other items ( not to mention the spillover expenses of India trip). And the expenditure left not only the targeted but also the realistic budget far behind, the final blow came yesterday when suddenly there was a promotion at a newly opened Indian grocery store. The prices were really good so we stocked up on many of our essential groceries.
This has been our most expensive month in the US. It almost looks ironical because this is the first month when we try to live with a concrete budget and also made positive changes in our expenditures to meet our targeted budget.
The silver lining in the cloud was that we got back some of our outstanding money, so our bank balances don't look quite as bad. I'm just hoping that this is an exceptional month and other months will be better. I'm not going to adjust our budget yet because I think it is fair and am hoping that our expenses will closely match it in the next months...we'll see...
But as expensive as June has proved, it was also the month of positive changes in personal finance. Some highlights:

Made budget(s) ( *tries to pat her own back *)
Opened a high yield savings account and started an emergency fund in it (brownie points)
Got enough money from surveys to lend it on Kiva - First borrower - A couple from Indonesia ( I'm lovin' it). Collected about half for next lending.
Opened an account to try my hand at P2P landing. We'll see whether it was a positive change.
Trimmed the fat from our telephone bills. Got the family back in India on board on Skype. Everybody is happy.
Cut back on eating out, entertainment expenses.
Pared down our gas usage
Cut down on our laundry expenses. (awesome!!!)
Started stitching again ( my current project is a skirt )

The ones below are not strictly finance but a healthy mind and body would definitely have a positive impact on finances, or so I believe:

Tried jogging instead of biking, accomplished my goal for the month.
Lost holiday fat (hmmph...boy! am I glad)
Tried to get (slightly) better at maintaining my beauty regimen
Trimmed down the intake of caffeine.

Even I am amazed at what we achieved this month. Even with all the expenses I think June was a really good month. However, a big credit goes to BEB for trying hard to save even when I was thinking that we should be writing the money off in certain cases. So I'm glad that we made all those changes and I'm also glad that I took the time to write them down so that I can see the half full part of the glass.

So I say, bring on the July, we have worked hard here in June, and hopefully we'll reap the benefits for it in the months to come. Some things that I want to be done in July:

Ask baby brother to complete the paper work in India
Ask sister-in-law to apply for her passport.(Power of persuasion...:D)
Pay attention to oral care. I'm not quite happy with the way I'm taking care of my teeth right now. I need to make sure that I take good care of them so that they last me a great many years.

I'm sure there will be many more things to do this July but I'm just happy that I'm here...

PS: By the way, we could recover some of our money from that impulsive food processor purchase. Last saturday we got back our 35$ after a price match from Sears.

Celebrating 4$/Gallon gas - One less round trip a day

2008-06-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

Crystal at Money Saving Mom, has asked readers for reasons to celebrate 4$/gallon gas price. It may sound strange, but rising fuel costs are motivating people to reconsider their choices in transportation and commute, and more and more people are modifying their lifestyle to use less of gas and more of other environment friendly options. Which IS a reason to celebrate.
So what's my change?
I work pretty close to my home (about half a mile) and my husband works within 2 miles of our home. Of late we picked up a strange habit. We started going home for tea ( or Chai as it is known in India) in the afternoons. Both of us love tea as it is prepared in India, and we usually don't like the version we can get in our offices. I don't know how we made a habit of it, but it started with me sometimes feeling sleepy during office hours and asking my husband to take me home for a tea, which he gladly obliged. It felt nice to have a 15 minutes break during the largely monotonous office hours, but the cost was much higher then we could understand initially.
A round trip home would mean a 4 mile extra trip everyday. It also stole some time from our life, because we will stay longer in the office to compensate the half hour, which we spent while going out for tea. Soon, it started showing up as the difference it made to our monthly gas expense.
So from last week I have decided to be firm and say no to this urge of going home for tea. I'm happy to report that I haven't gone home(in the afternoon) all of last week and this monday. It also helped me cut down my overall intake of tea by half. Since I was firm on saying no, my husband has also stopped going.
Yay! for myself and hubby.

Nice safeway deals

2008-06-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Safeway is offering its best deals on some items that we routinely use:

FreshExpress spinach and other salads (18 oz pack) - 1/$1. I use spinach to prepare tens of recipes so I always stock up whenever these are on deal.
Eating Right baby carrots - 1lbs/$1. These make a great office snack in our household. We definitely load up on these, specially because the carrots last long in the fridge.
Cantaloupe - These absolutely delicious summer treats are also 1/$1.

All these deals are good through Tuesday June 24, 2008. These are going on in Northern California, not sure about whether its the same all over.

I have kept checking price for these things for an year now, this is as good as it gets ( unless you've some coupons, which, I have hardly seen anywhere). So what are you waiting for, pack some vitamin and iron, get those goodies!

Perseverence Giveth, Impulse taketh away

2008-06-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

BEB was having laptop blues lately. His laptop charger was not working ever since we came back from India. He tried to fix the problem himself, some careful investigation told that the jack of the charger which connects it to the laptop was dead. I asked him to get a new charger for his laptop so that he can surf happily again. He replied that he wasn't willing to spend 30$ on something that was fully functional but for a 2-3 $ part. So he searched and searched for a right sized jack, on my laptop of course :( He could find some in the online stores but then he sould have to pay shipping, which he didn't want to pay. He searched in his office if he could find a jack lying around somewhere, which was not useful for the owner, no luck!! Finally he found it in the nearby Fry's store, where he had to practically convince the salespersons that they do have it in their stock...:D

So he came back with the jack and tried to connect it himself, oops...didn't work. As always he had a backup plan, he took the jack, charger and laptop to his office and requested his lab technician to solder it, which she happily did.

In the middle of the day I get a call from hubby, the laptop is back to life and the charger is good to go. His resourcefulness and perseverence paid off, even when all his friends told him that it won't work. He saved us a pretty penny ( 30$ vs. 95c ) and got the satisfaction of proving himself.

On the other hand one impulsive purchase and we were out of 30 $ of our hard earned money. Last weekend we went to Sears to snag that nice Dockers deal that everyone seems to be talking about ($75 gas card on purchase of $100). We wanted some tshirts for BEB and thought this would be a good chance to save money. It sure was a popular deal, 'coz they didn't have even a single Dockers tshirt that would fit him. While returning we just thought of taking a look at the food processors they had available in their appliance section. The 'look' ended up costing us 208$, but that wasn't the end of the story. After we bought it from Sears we found that pretty much every other store was selling it for at least 30$ less. Had we waited a bit and did our research properly, we would have saved at least 30$ on it. Because of Sears' weird price match policy we found it difficult to get price matched to other stores.

These two incidents within a week really put the results of impulsive shopping and buying after doing your homework in perspective. Perseverence giveth, Impulse taketh away.

Positive changes made recently

2008-06-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

I have made many positive changes to my lifestyle recently. Just thought of documenting them so that I can keep them up, and after a while look back and smile.

Started running instead of biking. I just felt that since my body is so used to of biking, I needed to do something more intensive for the extra calories that I need to burn.
Started going to the gym in the morning. I found that those pounds came off real quick when I used to go to the gym. (Note to self : Start attending the free aerobics classes as well)
Trying to get back to preparing and having breakfast daily. I tripped on this one when we moved to the new place in April.
Do at least one extra thing for any part of my body. Yesterday it was massage for my hair.
Reduce the intake of "Chai". I discovered that I have become a tea addict when we went for an outing and I had a headache just because I didn't have my evening tea. Now I'm trying to knock off tea from my evening routine. Once I am done with this, I'll tackle the morning tea. Right now preparing tea is the first thing I do every morning....without fail.

Things that I need to start doing

Drink more water everyday
Start eating salads with every meal
Remember to carry the bag while going shopping. I used to do this earlier, now I tend to forget often.

June - Half month pulse check

2008-06-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

Its past the half month mark for June and I dread doing the pulse check. June had been the month of unexpected expenses while we were still recovering from the splurge of India trip. Some of the expenses were voluntary, food processor anyone? some necessary but tripped us badly over the projected budget.
The major budget spoilers were - My shopping in India, this time I got some really nice formal shirts and trousers while I was in Bangalore. Since I have a really hard time getting my clothes in US, I thought it was ok to splurge on this one. I'm poorer by about $250 but I am all set for this year.
Grocery was another major budget breaker, though I didn't spend too much in buying real groceries but our two trips for cherry picking did show up badly on the budget, we bought and ate huge amount of cherries this year. I just want to cut myself some slack on this one. After all, we are not going to get any cherries after July, so better make most of the time we have.
Household goods - One food processor and the budget goes out of the window. As much as I love this gadget, I really regret impulse buying it.
Silver Lining in the cloud
Well, not everything went this bad after all, we tried and reduced out insurance bills, telecommunication bills. We haven't spent anything on eating out so far, and I'm hoping that we'll spend less than the allocated amount this month. We also tried t minimize our laundry expenses by rediscovering line drying. Lets hope that we will finish the month quite close to our targeted budget, if not matching it.

Win win strategy

2008-06-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

Rarely does one stumbles upon something thats good for the personal finance, earth and saves time too, I found one such thing today.

Yesterday, while hubby was ironing his shirts he complained about how wrinkled the clothes are and how difficult it was to iron them. That once again reminded me of my plan of line drying clothes instead of machine drying them. I remembered how we used to do that back in India, and the shirts were good to go with the minimum effort in ironing. I wanted to give it a spin here since we have a front yard now, but just never got around to actually doing it. I told BEB about my thoughts and he agreed that it sounded a good idea.

So today, we took all the bigger dirty clothes and washed them in the machine. Once they were done, we took them out and line dried them in our front yard. In a couple of hours all of them were dry, fresh and clean.

Since we live in an apartment where we pay per wash/ dry cycle. We saved some money( albeit small) by line drying. It was good for mother earth. Since we didn't need to wait for the dryer to finish drying, it saved us sometime too. So hubby was happy, I'm happy, our pocketbook is happy and hopefully mother earth is happy too.
Now thats what I call a win-win strategy !!!

Power of writing it down

2008-06-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

I had always thought that making a budget was not a required activity for us, rather it was one of those "nice to have" things. I'm saying this because both me and hubby are very careful with our money. We spend money after careful consideration, we keep track of almost every dollar we spend by writing it into a worksheet, and at the end of the month we get a nice graph of what our monthly expenditure is looking like. So I thought making a budget was just like doing the opposite, making that graph at the start of the month rather than at the end. Last month we realized our big financial goal. Since we were saving everything towards it till now, accomplishing it left a huge gap in our savings plan. So this month we thought it would be a great idea to think about our next financial goals and how much we'll be setting aside for them each month. This required having an estimate of how we were going to spend in the coming months and that automatically led us to making a budget. Boy! Both of us were in for a big surprise.
When we came to the final figure of our monthly spending, we were really disappointed to see that it was a bit above 1 person's monthly income. BEB reacted to this by saying that there was something wrong with the budget and that we had allocated too much in the categories that don't need that much spending. My response was "Show me how!" So we prepared another budget with tighter bounds in many categories, since both of us thought that we could live with that kind of budget, we decided to keep both versions of the budget for a while. We named the second version "target budget." But this is not where it ended, when BEB saw how much we have been spending on categories like Phone, Insurance etc, he decided that he could do something about it. First of all he canceled a subscription of calling cards to India which was charging us 10$ per month just in the subscription fees. Then he helped setup skype both at my home and his home in India so that most of our communication costs to India come down. Next he took care of the auto insurance, that one is down by 30$ a month. He's also watching all the other expenses carefully for the fat that can be trimmed down.
Now, we knew that we are paying that stupid subscription fees for the India calls. We also knew that we could haggle our way to lesser insurance fees. We just never bothered enough to actually sit down and do something about them. Thats the power of budget, it shows you those low hanging fruits which can be picked with just a phone call. Whats more, hubby is super excited about all these changes we have made. After all $80 every month is something, right?

Frugal Fun: Cherry Picking Day

2008-06-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend we carpooled with a cousin of BEB and went Cherry picking to Brentwood. It was about an hour long drive from our place. Since I am a huge fan of cherries, so much so that I wait the whole year for the red roundels to show up in the aisles. I have made it plain and clear to BEB that whatever happens we'll go cherry picking when the season comes. So despite having been jet-lagged from India trip, we still went ahead with this outing. Initial plan was to go after having breakfast and eating out on our way back. But thanks to the jet-lag I was up at 4:00 am and since BEB was in a super excited mode, he freed up a lot of time for me and I could fix decent lunch for the four of us. I guess we saved at least 20$ by getting our own lunch. Not to mention the convenience of having food at hand when we were hungry.

It was hot out there and at the end of the day it was exhausting. But with the cherries we ate there and the bucketful that we got for home it was well worth it. I have been eating cherries non-stop ever since. The best part was that we got so many cherries for such a discounted price. The cousin commented that we are buying too many to eat before they will turn bad, little did he know about the die hard cherry eater in this household. Its been about 3 days and the 15 lbs. box is already showing signs of running out very soon. So what I'm doing besides eating them lovelies? I'm trying to plan how soon can we go again to get one more of those boxes :D

Looking Good

2008-06-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

This can be attributed as a good start for the month of June. We have finally sat down and made a monthly budget for ourselves, make that budgets. When we chalked out our first budget on the basis of our last year's spendings and projected expenses, BEB wasn't very happy with it. His argument was that if we plan for some extra expenses in our budget, we'll actually end up spending it. My argument was that if we plan for just the exact amount that we spend every month there will be no room to accommodate changes, and we'll end up dipping into the money that is allocated for various savings and investment options. Since both the arguments felt right, we resorted to making 2 budgets, the realistic budget and the targeted budget. BEB also came up with several creative ideas on how to lower our spending in some areas. The big surprise for me was that BEB got really excited about this whole budget thing and was ready to adjust the spendings to get to the targeted budget. One good thing that we came to know was that the budget turned out to be quite close to what we thought we were spending. Maintaining a detailed account of every expense does have some benefits apparently. Now, I can't wait to see how well we do with our targeted budget this month.

Almost there...

2008-05-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

When I started doing surveys for money BEB absolutely hated the idea. He thinks that my time is more precious that the amount they pay me for it and I do see his point. But I didn't mind doing them because some of them were interesting and it was kind of fun doing them. So I promised BEB that I'll donate all the money I accumulated from surveys.
When I got my first check, I even went ahead and researched where I'll be sending my money once I have accumulated it a bit. And I found the right candidate for my hard earned money: kiva.org. They are doing some fantastic work by providing micro-loans to the people in third world countries who want to start their own small scale business. They are also asked to return the loan once their businesses are running. I think this is the best way to let the money serve more and more people. And I'm glad to share that I have finally accumulated enough money though surveys to match their minimum donation amount i.e. 25$. It will be slightly more than that when I get my payments from the other survey site. I'm feeling good that finally I will do something that will make a positive impact on someone else's life.

The only sad thing is that it will have to wait until I come back from my vacation from India. I'll cash out whatever is pending in my survey accounts and put it up for loan on kiva.

If you have got some money earmarked for charity and are not sure where to use it, go check out kiva.

Wanting something and not getting it

2008-05-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a ritual now. Every time we go to Fry's ( and we go there a lot), after we have got the stuff we need, BEB walks over to the GPS aisle, looks at all the different GPS(s) reads their specs carefully and then goes to the check-out counter. He likes the Garmin GPS but he doesn't buy it. Even when I say that its ok, we've waited enough for it, and prices have also come down a bit, we can buy it now. This behavior seemed bizarre to me...until yesterday.
I was telling about this to a friend yesterday and BEB was there. After I was done BEB simply said "I dont buy the things that I want because if I buy it, I 'll have to find something else to look forward to." Everyone laughed, but in retrospect, I feel there's some truth to it. If we keep getting everything we want, the moment we want, it will take the joy away from life.

Outstanding money

2008-05-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

As I exchanged emails with various people who owe me money or are responsible for the payment of my money, I realized that I have quite a few outstanding $ here and there. Just thought of documenting it all as a reference for myself. So lets see...

1) A couple thousands from my company ( No this is separate from the paycheck)
2) An outstanding bonus payment, again from my company
3) IRS Tax rebate money
4) BEB's forthcoming raise (ok, this is part of the paycheck, but this would be additional income for us)
4) Walgreens MIR card ( A small amount but still...)
5) Online survey payment (Again a very small amount)

On any other occasion, I wouldn't think much of it and just regard it as money being saved
by others on my behalf but right now we really need all the resources we have for that big purchase in India and other expenses associated with India trip. Since there's not much that I can do about it, I'll just wait and watch my checking account like a hawk for any signs of incoming funds.

April: End of Month status

2008-04-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

So April says goodbye today, and I'm glad to report that I've not done badly (as I feared mid April). Although I have fallen behind on the "Things to buy" category, I have done well on my "To do" list. I will cut myself some slack for the "Things to buy" category because we are planning to go to India in second week of May, so we have spent the budget allocated for bed and GPS on gifts for our loved ones. Although trip to India is going to be a big, big expense...I am not too worried about it because I'll be seeing my family after such a loooong time.

So over to my list -
1) documents for lawyers - it turned out to be trickier than I had guessed but finally on April 28 I could submit them the dcoument in the format they had wanted. They still need a few improvements and I'm working on it, but this is like 80% achieved. Given the complexity of task it was a big achievement.

2) Organise the bookshelf - Check

3) Henna - Done and then some - I could henna my hair twice this month, and now my hair feels..ummm...so good.

4)Plow the soil and grow some plants - couldn't do much there, a couple of times when I tried, the soil was too hard for that. Now I don't want to do it, because we'll be gone in May anyway, the plants would have died, even I had grown them.

5) Change the address on my insurance policy - negative, couldn't do it earlier and now realize that there's no need to do it anymore, I'll be closing this account once I get back to India.

Okay, so now it looks like I did slip a bit on my "To do" list as well. The biggest factor was this unplanned trip to India, I knew we were going to go soon, I just didn't know that we'll be going as early as May. And ohh..it reminded me of another change that has occurred in our plans...we are planning to buy a house in India, as opposed to our earlier plan to buy one in US. That is our biggest goal for May, lets see how it goes.

Imprisoned!

2008-04-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been caught up, in a novel. I went to my offices' book club to return an earlier read book, and this book tagged along on my way back. I thought what the heck, I don't like stories by every novelist...so I just opened it to sample it, with the good intention of returning it back to the rack very next day. And then it happened, the book caught me, ok, my attention...but you get the drift.
So, for last 3 days I have been coming home from office, changing, and reading...reading till late in night. BEB was irritated beyond words, and he showed immense patience. Finally, yesterday, I was able to finish it and then it left me for good. Needless to say, the cleaning and laundry has taken a major hit. And cooking was done just enough to not feel hungry while savoring the story, that is, until BEB thought enough is enough, and took the responsibility of fixing dinner yesterday. And to tell you the truth, the dinner yesterday was yummy! :D
Does it happen to you? Do you get so engaged in a book or some other activity that you just push other tasks away, let things slip?
Jokes apart, there was still one good thing that came out of all this, I realized that we don't need to do quite that much work to run home after all. If I take it light, and don't pay too much attention to things lying around or home being a little bit unorganized, its ok too. As long as me and BEB are happy we don't have much to complain.

Positive changes I had made this year!

2008-04-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Today is earth day so I thought I would just list the positive changes I made in my lifestyle this year, which would hopefully help mother earth.

-Started taking a grocery bag to stores, instead of coming back with plastic bags.
Nowadays, I even carry the clear plastic bags from my earlier trips to keep produce, so that I can reuse them.
-Stopped throwing food waste in my office bin, which prompted the janitor to change the plastic liner often. I guess she's also happy that she's one less waste-basket to line. My office waste-basket liner hasn't been changed in, like, 2 months.
-Started line drying some of the clothes, so we don't have to use dryer that often. Since we have a pay per wash machine, its easy on my pocket-book too. Of course this has been possible since we moved to an apartment with a yard.
-Changed most of our lighting to CFL, this has been a very recent change and I am just wondering why it took me so long :-/

Those are the things that I can think of right now. If you have some tips that you think we can implement do let me know in the comments.

Slipping...

2008-04-23T14:14:00.001-07:00

My former manager once commented:

"Such is life, you keep juggling multiple things and then sometime they fall off, you sit down for a moment pick them up and start juggling again."

I am feeling that I'm at such a point again where the things have fallen off my hand. I'm trying to remember this conversation, in order to focus that not everything is lost by this minor diversion and that we would be bouncing back soon.

Last week I had this pain in my shoulder which bothered me enough to work from home for 2 days. I am trying to be careful not to let it get worse again, so I'm keeping my household business to a minimum, which means a no breakfast preparation, no exercise and not much other extra activity.

I feel bad about this, exercising was a routine that me and Blue Eyed Boy picked up during last christmas holidays, and I have kept at it with all the enthusiasm I could muster. Top this up with a hearty homemade breakfast, and we had the healthiest routine ever.

But now I am just afraid that if I work for long hours or stretched myself too much, this pain may get worse and I don't want to get there. Plus there is a lot of work to finish before first week of May, that I cannot afford to take leave from office. I'm just hoping that I would be able to insert a wee bit of exercise from next week onwards, but this week we are just getting to the office as early as we can and get out in the evening early so that I can get proper rest in the evenings.

Let's hope that I can bounce back to the healthy routine next week.

April : Half month pulse check

2008-04-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

April is proving to be a crazy month, with the money disappearing like snow from Lake Tahoe. I am feeling like we had spent the rest of the year being too frugal, so all of our big ticket expenses have bunched together and they look ominous now. These not the things that we 'need' as in we will freeze to death or starve without them, but the things that both I and BEB think would be nice to have, and we have been thinking this for a while now. The result...
A trip to Ikea, and a decent set of patio furniture lands in our yard, setting us back by about 150 $. This wasnt necessary, but its spring in California and we have recently moved to a house with a yard. Delaying this purchase for a month and letting the beautiful spring go wouldn't have made much sense, so we just got the furniture. Now, how we loaded everything in our midsized 4 door car, is an interesting story, for some other time.

The one thing that I made progress on was buying a sewing machine, I had longed for so long. It took us about 75 $ but I felt so excited reading the manual and trying to thread it and make some demo stitches. Since I didn't get a chance to research it I just decided to go with the most basic model.

On my to do list too there's some movement. I tried sending required documents to lawyers but they dont seem to like them ( or is it me). I'm on the verge of giving up and asking them to just go ahead without these documents and pray for me :-/ We'll see how it goes.

About ploughing the small area in the yard, I tried doing that on Sunday, the land was so dry that my spade didn't work. I have decided to water it for a while to make the soil soft and then let my spade loose on the moist soil.

And Henna! Well yeah I soaked Henna last Friday, thinking I would be able to Henna my hair Saturday, it is still in the soaking mug, now I am rooting for tomorrow (Friday), hopefully I'll find
a wedge of time somewhere to do it.

So I am doing miserably on all my goals right now, but April is not over yet. Like the underdog team of a sports movie, just wait and watch out for me. Come May 1st, I'll turn the corner and achieve all my goals and then some. You just wait and watch.

April: Goals

2008-04-02T13:21:00.001-07:00

Although the title looks ominous, I thought writing down the things I want to achieve this month would give me some perspective and focus. It will also help me put all those things floating in my head undergo a feasibility test. ( Does this line make any sense at all?) So without much ado, here it goes:

Evil first - All things on the buy list:

-GPS
-Bed with Storage drawers (Ok BEB, we have discussed this earlier, The BED is going to HAVE drawers. period.)
-Sewing Machine

To Do list - Some of these I have been putting off like forever

-Send the required papers to lawyers
-Organize the Bookshelf
-Plow the small area in the yard that I have earmarked for gardening, grow some plants
-Henna - my hair is badly in need of some pampering
-Change the address on my Insurance policy - I have been putting this one off for an year - Can't believe it!
-Plan at least 1 trip - May be San Diego

Thats all I can think of right now. See just writing it down made it look so simple.
I'll follow this one up with another post in May first week. Till then I have got some work to do...and..other posts to write about.

PS: Btw, Any suggestions on the sewing machine, I'm sure there are many fantastic artsists here who love to sew. Which is your best pal when it comes to sewing. Please share.

Lost and found

2008-03-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

Its difficult to admit, and I still can't believe I did such a foolish thing, but I did. I left my wallet at Kohl's counter on Saturday... there I said it. To make the matter worse, I didn't realize that it was missing until today afternoon. Even then I couldn't believe that I might have left it while shopping, I searched it at home, in office, in other bags. It certainly helped that we just did our spring cleaning so there was no clutter where it could possibly go hiding. Once, I couldn't locate it in home, the idea of me leaving it at Kohl's counter begun to seem more and more viable. Still, to be safe I called up and blocked my charge card. When BEB came to know of the missing wallet, he offered to drive me to the Kohl's and ask about it.
And rest was easy, the store was almost deserted when we reached there, the customer service had two nice ladies, who made a couple of calls and asked someone to get my wallet there. A nice gentleman came and after asking my name, he handed me my wallet. I was so relieved. I'll try to be more careful with this thing in the future. A lost wallet could easily mean stolen identity here.

And a big THANK YOU to all the nice people at Kohl's. You guys rock!!!

Heads Up! Free ink refill at Walgreens

2008-03-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

Walgreens is having a free cartridge refill event on coming Wednesday. It is both for color and black ink. Don't miss it!!!

Oh well, Relieved!!!

2008-03-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

BEB went to Mexico to get his visa stamped. Although he had all the paperwork ready and everyone assured us that there
are no issues in getting it stamped, but I was really nervous and so was he. Today I kept calling his cellphone since 10:00 am even though I knew that he's not gonna carry it to the interview and it would be lying in the hotel somewhere. Finally he called back at 12:30, said he got it stamped without any trouble
Phew! I am so relieved. I had postponed so many things waiting for this to happen. We have practically no furniture in our home, I just thought I'll buy it once this visa thing is sorted out. Now I can just breathe easy and plan that long awaited trip to India. I miss my family soooo much.
Happy :-)

Learning the ropes...and getting a hang of it

2008-03-25T23:48:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have been away from the action for a while. This has happened because of the move, as well as a trip that we took with our friends. But now that dust has settled (not literally..fortunately) after the move, I am back in the groove. (Wow! this rhymes well)
Off late I had been collecting coupons wherever I could find them, and that is well...everywhere. The newspaper, mailbox, magazines, emails, stores and at other bloggers. I hadn't really used them except for a couple of things (savings of like 2$). But this Sunday, I found that I was going to run out of a couple of toiletries very soon. Since we were going to go to Walgreens anyway, I thought of stocking up on all my washing and cleaning supplies as well. So I took my bundle of coupons and worked my way through the aisles. When I checked out, I paid 73$...please don't gasp, I am a newbie, remember...and I'm learning the ropes. What the good part was...I saved 22$ by using coupons. And I got a 2$ RR back. Which I used today, so thats a 24$ savings. There are still a couple of things that I could have done better:

-Check out the Walgreens easy saver insert. I didn't do that and today I found that there were indeed a couple of good deals on the things I bought Sunday.

-I should have read Money Saving Mom's Walgreens 101. It was an eye opener for me. If you're going to shop at Walgreens, its a must read.

A week of freebies

2008-02-28T19:30:00.001-08:00

I so wanted to blog about this week's happenings, but its been a truly crazy week. I have been almost flooded with work in the office, and things at home that needed immediate attention. It didn't help that the BEB was equally busy, though he did his best to shoulder responsibilities. Rants apart, this has also been a week of freebies.

It all started with a coupon that I noticed in the Saturday's newspaper. Office Depot offered a $5 off $5 coupon. And I wanted to buy a file with multiple pockets for a long while. So we went and bought one on Sunday, with the coupon it cost us 2$.

In the evening we went to a nearby Indian store for grocery shopping. While BEB was checking out I thought of checking out their small DVD library. I found a dvd that I had wanted to watch for a long time. So I asked them how much it would cost me to rent it. Surprise Surprise!! It was free because our bill was more than $20.

Wednesday, I get a mail that a bank which had affiliation with my company had a promotion under which they were giving $100 gas cards for opening a new account with them. I always wanted to open an account with them, so I went ahead and signed up, and got the card. When hubby came to pick me up, we noticed that his car's tank was almost empty, so we went to the gas station and filled up the tank with the card. While we were about to drive off, I noticed that they were offering a free cleaning cloth if we filled more than 10 gallon. Since we had bought more than that, hubby asked and got the cleaning cloth. He didn't give it to me though, kept it for his car. hmmm!!!

Same day, I just thought of checking out my office mail box. I usually don't get anything in office mail because all my correspondence comes at home. But there it was! a vial of perfume sitting in my mailbox. I ordered it for free during a promotion and completely forgot about it.

Today, we again went to the same Indian grocery store and our bill was again barely over 20, but we got the free DVD. So now we have a free maid in our house "Maid in Manhattan" that is.

Also, did I mention that I got my first compensation for partcipating in a survey. So yeah! Life's good. Even with all the boatloads of work coming my way. :)

YAY!!! My first coupon savings

2008-02-19T22:35:00.000-08:00

Today I took the baby step towards the savings that other frugal shoppers live off. I used my first coupons to actually buy something. Yes!!! my very first coupons :-). I used them for to buy a bottle of canola oil (1$) and a pack of baby spinach(75 cents). So I am one happy girl today.

Update on down payment for house

2008-02-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

As promised I am putting up this post to update you on my progress towards putting together a down payment (10%) for our dream home. So we had 3% when I posted about it last time.
We got our paychecks last week and now we are at 5+%. But we have to plan for payment to the lawyers and then I need to set aside some money for our inevitable trip to India. (Gosh! its been more than an year!). So we're looking at 4% down payment as of today. Its not a big leap and we still can't think of buying a house for another couple of months. The good news, however, is that the house that I had my eyes on for quite sometime now is up for rent. So most likely we'll rent it from next month. That will also give us sometime to think and collect down payment before we go for buying a house.

Menu Plan for half a week

2008-02-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

I never fail to get impressed by how other women are making menu for the whole week and follow it to the T. I am not sure I will be able to do that, because me and BEB love food. The side effect is that we most of the times cook on a whim, and it is more like that on weekends, when we have time as well. But anyway, I will just give it a try, rather, half a try...I have planned menu for the coming three days. I have even bought the groceries accordingly. I'll update you on how well I did.
Since we are Indians, all the dishes that I list below are Indian, and may not be know to you, however, if you want the recipe of any of those, I'll be glad to share them with you.

So here's my plan for the comming three days:

Sunday:

Breakfast:
Milk-broken wheat pudding
vegetable juice

Lunch
potato cabbage and chapati

Dinner:
potato parantha

Monday:
breakfast
Cream of rice porridge (Upma)
Orange Beet juice

Lunch
Curd - chickpea flour curry (Kadhi)
lentils-rice

Dinner
okra - chapati

Tuesday

breakfast
chikpea flour (besan) - veggie - chapati (cheele)
Banana - mango smoothie

lunch
spinach - chickpea flour dumplings (gatte- palak)
chapati

Dinner
Vegetable -rice (pulao)

My Frugal Ideas

2008-02-16T14:44:00.001-08:00

Make our own organic fertilizer. This year, I have resolved to reduce my kitchen waste by 10%. To do that, I have started storing the tea leaves after we have made our tea. I keep them in a closed yoghurt can. I also store the pulp that is left after we make fruit juice. Once every week I empty the can in the fertilizer maker. That keeps my plants happy and kitchen produces lesser waste.
I use newspaper ads to line my shelves. I never buy any special paper from market.
My husband drops and picks me up at the office. My office is on his route so we dont have to think of another vehicle.
I prepare juices and smoothies at home. I dont know whether it saves me money or not, but I do know that its the purest and freshest form of juice we can have.
We either have our meals at home, or take lunch bags to our offices. This saves a bunch of money, and suits the health-conscious lifestyle we follow.
We both bike or jog on a trail around our place, instead of going to a gym.
We are vegetarian by religion. I never bothered to calculate, but I guess its a big moneysaver too.
We never use paper plates or any other disposable utensils.
We watch most of the movies at home, online. I paid about 20$ within the last year on online movie subscriptions. We have just gone to the theatre once, and it cost us 18$.
I use cloth towels in the kitchen instead of paper ones. About 7-10 of them get dirty per week. I just toss them into the laundary and they are ready to use.

I am constantly on the lookout for ideas that may save us more. And with the BIG purchase coming up next I could use every penny I can save. What are your ideas, what more do you think we can do to make that balancesheet look better. Do leave a comment for me.

To buy or not to buy

2008-02-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

So this is the ultimate question me and BEB are facing these days. Here's the deal, we want to move to a better apartment. The one we are living in is pretty...err..basic. We moved into it right after coming from India, when money was a big constraint, so was commute, 'coz we didn't have a car then. Now that we are settled here and can commute a bit, we want to move to a better 1 bedroom apartment. So I started looking for a rental apartment nearby. And I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the kind of rents they were asking for in this area. 1800+ bucks for a single bedroom...???
Then one day while discussing this with BEB, we thought of an alternative, maybe if we throw in some more money than the rent, and settle for a less fancier house, and be willing to move a tad bit farther from this area...then maybe....and its a big MAYBE...we would be able to Own it instead of renting it. "How about that?" BEB asked. "Sounds like a plan, I'm in."

So this is where it all begun. So we set a budget and I started looking for a house within that budget. And guess what, I did find a couple of them which I liked enough to live in and which were within reasonable distance from our workplaces. There was one that we went to take a look at and I found myself swooning all over it, I was sure that it was the dream house for me.

Now came the big question. Ok we find a house, we're able to secure a loan on it and suppose we buy it. And we can comfortably pay off the monthly installments as well. Then one day our visa might expire ( it has a 7 year limit) and we may find our selves packing bags for India. What do we do then. Sell it and pay up the bank dues? What if the real estate is still down and we cannot get back the amount we paid for it?
Another option: Rent it while moving back to India? Will we really be able to pay off mortgage installments just by the rent? And what about the rental agency charges.
Btw, just in case you are wondering, It is next to impossible to pay off the EMI from Indian salary, because even a well off Indian makes much less as compared to an average American, this is due to lower cost of living as well as currency conversion rates.
Yet another option: Take the mortgage now, and pay it off like crazy within the next 7 years.
This is not really impossible for us. But BEB doesn't think it is a good idea to put all our eggs in one basket. He wants us to diversify our investments a bit. If we try to pay off our mortgage in 5-6 years we may not able to have any savings and investments at all.

But with rents going up like crazy in this part of the world, buying a home sounds too good an option to rule out.
So there we are, going back and forth on this one. For now we have deferred the decision until end of march, by then we are hoping to come up with at least 10% down payment. Rights now we have about 3% in savings. With some big expenses coming up this goal is really stretched but I'll keep you posted on how well we do on this goal of ours.

Do you have any thoughts on what route we should take? Do you think its a risk worth taking? Do you think its a risk at all? Are there some factors that I am overlooking? Do share your thoughts and views on this one.

My Story

2008-02-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

Looking back 2006 had been a big year for me. My brother got married in June, 2006. On July 16, I met my husband and we got married in November. Two new additions to the family within less than 6 months, who knew!!

Marriage gave me a whole new perspective on the world of finance. When I was single I had a lot of money to spend and very few expenses so I used to spend on a whim, and mismanaged the money at many occassions. Can you believe I didn't even claim a big component of my salary because I just didn't pay attention and it kept getting accmulated in some allowance, only after I got engaged and my finance savvy fiance looked at my payslip I came to know of its existence and claimed it. After wedding, I became aware of all the expenses that go into running a home and when the finances were tight in the initial few months I realized the importance of money management.

We married got settled in India and after 3 months we moved to US. Its been exactly an year, but I still remember everything distinctly. Before moving we rented an apartment here with the help of a friend. During the change of flight in Paris, Airlines lost one of our bags, then within another hop inside US, they lost other 3 bags. So there we were, at 6:00 pm at the airport, tired and hungry after 26 hours of journey ( we couldn't eat anything in the plane because there was nothing vegetarian to eat), sans luggage, except the backpacks, which had our important documents. I was scared like anything, I didn't know what to expect at the apartment we had rented. Will the manager still be there? Will we be able to get in ? Will it be warm enough? Will we freeze in this rainy night. Luckily everything turned out to be okay. Airlines sent our bags from the next flight and we got in the apartment and it was comfortable. Since then it had been a journey to get back on our feet and get going. I am really thankful to this great country and its citizen to let us stay and work here and realize our dreams. There's so much that we've got and learnt here that I am indebted forever...but I digress.
The blue Eyed Boy ( I named my hubby so because he gets a lot of compliments on his eyes, which are greenish brown) and I worked as a team to get past the milestones we had to cross to settle here and I think we have done well.
After moving to US, 2007 saw us moving again within the state, paying back the money that we borrowed while coming to US*, buying our first car, BEB getting a job, wedding of BEB's brother and a couple of fun trips in the US.
In 2008, we are now contemplating buying a home, which is a very big decision for us. I have always tried my best to avoid getting into debt, but I think I'll just have to bite the bullet on this one. I am just mustering enough courage to be able to sleep peacefully while I still owe somebody a couple of hundred thousand dollars. We are still a couple of months away from the final decision and I am keeping my fingers crossed that whatever happens would be the best for us. But first we need to save some bucks for the down payment. I came across this nice group of bloggers called 'frugal hacker' and got inspired especially by http://nottheplan.blogspot.com/ . Writing this blog to begin and track the journey towards owning a home in this world as well as keeping a check on my spending habits.

*1 US dollar = 40 Indian Rupees, so you actually need a lot of money in Indian currency if you want to survive in US. After wedding related expenses we were left with no money to bring to US.

Learning the ropes

2008-02-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Its been an year since I moved to US from India. Lots of things have changed, and I am not talking about culture and geography here. Getting married and moving to a new country within the same quarter of an year gave me a whole new perspective on life. I have changed in response, and am still changing. Here I am looking forward to documenting the journey and the milestones. For the first time in life, I have begun to take finances seriously, and I like my life more now. I'm still learning the ropes, but I think I am getting better by the day.