Funny thing I read & random musings...

I don't know why I think it's so funny but reading this old blog entry from The Digerati Life made me laugh so hard (I know I should be studying but it's weekend and I feel entitled to my half day of idleness).

Curb Appeal: One Of My Best Investments Yet Or How I Turned $80 Into $5,000 With Minimal Risk

Hehe... I like people with a weird sense of humor who think outside of the box. Seriously, it's true that sometimes money does grow on trees. You just have to know where to look. Sometimes, it's not much further than your own backyard.

On to another topic. So I am suppose to get a haircut today. I know some of my classmates get $70-80 haircuts (ahem, you know who you are). Sure a nice haircut does make a big difference, especially in a professional setting. Some really great haircuts are definitely worth what you pay for but that's not always true. Some expensive haircuts can make you wish you were bald (nothing wrong with that either if that's what you prefer). I've heard some horror stories from people. It's like OMG, what happened.... oh $#@#?? BTW, I give everyone in my family free haircuts and I am pretty good at it too I might add (although I am the meticulous type who takes forever). It's something I really enjoy. Same goes for writing, painting, reading, cooking, photography.... Sometimes our schedule get so hectic we end up missing out on the little things that make life more enjoyable.

I was just reading Trent's blog over at the Simple Dollar. I really admire this guy who has it all figured out in terms of knowing what he wants to accomplish in a day and making the time for things that truly matter in life, not just money. His blog is like a treasure chest of practical advice for the everyday man/woman struggling to find the right financial strategy and life perspective. For me, this one's a must read.

Twelve Invaluable Life Money Hacks : Little Daily Steps for Finding the Money and Time to Get Things Done

Now, I know it won't be easy to put it all into practice, and it won't be the same system for everyone. However, just being conscientious in sticking to a more structured format will allow me to do more of the little things that I love to do in life. Not a bad trade off really. This is definitely something for me to think about and more importantly, implement in my life.

Exhausting Day....

Today I spent a good part of the late afternoon and evening doing grocery shopping. I find it pretty exhausting to shop with a budget. Although it would be much easier to just shop on the go, I am trying to curb my monthly grocery bill by developing more conscientious spending habits. One problem I have with budgeting is that sometimes you end up spending a lot of time and energy keeping track of what you spend and how much you have left.

This is why I thought to myself whether gift cards or prepaid visa/master cards could come in handy in tracking spending. I don't really purchase GCs that often, so I read up on the risks associated with gift card purchase (see gift card fraud on scambusters.org).

"If you buy Gift Cards from a display rack that has various store cards you may become a victim of theft. Crooks are now jotting down the card numbers in the store and then wait a few days and call to see how much of a balance they have on the card. Once they find the card is "activated," they go online and start shopping. You may want to purchase your card from a customer service person, where they do not have the Gift Cards viewable to the public."

Although prepaid cards like Visa/Mastercards are safer to use. There are drawbacks as well, mainly a monthly maintenance fee associated with the prepaid cards ( prepaidcardguide.com). You get charged for using the card to make ATM withdrawals as well. Good news is if you lose the card they will replace it for you for free, which is good if your card gets stolen. But protection level may vary with different cards.

So I guess the GC/prepaid card idea is out. For the time being, I'll stick with my BOA MyAccess debit card. It's free and since I am enrolled in Keep the Change program, every transaction get rounded up to whole dollar values and the extra funds automatically transfer to my Savings Account. BOA then matches the amount transfered to savings dollar for dollar (100%) at the end of the year for transfers made in the first 3 months. After 3 months, the match amount drops to 5% . I guess it's not too bad although I am sure they're still making money off of me. Considering their savings interest rate is so low, this is probably the only way for them to get me to put my money in their savings account as oppose to putting it in FNBO savings (their interest rate just went from 5% to 4.5%). Oh well, you can't win in everything and even if you do, nothing good lasts forever.

As to time management, my goal is to strive to make as few trips to the grocery store as possible next month. Grocery shopping here in El Paso is such a hassle. No matter where you go (supermarket, drug store, post office...) and what time of the day you go, there is always a line. You can bet on it. When DH comes, we will make one trip to SuperTarget on the East side and do all the shopping in one day. Fewer trips means less headache and less time wasted staring at tabloid magazines and overpriced chewing gums. And as an added bonus, this also means fewer transactions to track and easier budgeting.

Insane Week in the Hospital

Ok, before I start my rant and rave. Here's the fabulous pizza my DH made last week!!! As for me, I'll be making lemon bar and madeleines this weekend. Yum yum...

So here's an overview of my totally crazy week. I was suppose to be in Ob/Gyn OR this week but for some reason things have sort of ground to a halt in the hospital lately. Monday was MLK holiday so we had the day off. Tuesday and Wednesday I was hoping to scrub in on at least one surgery (I am not the biggest OR fan but sometimes you do get really cool cases). As luck would have it, there simply weren't enough patients to go around so I didn't get to scrub in on any OR case. But nothing compares to what happened yesterday. So as I was leaving the house at 5:00am, I realized I had forgot my hospital ID. I was going to go back and get it but since I was in a rush I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. By the time I got to the hospital, it was already 5:30 am. As I was walking up to the back entrance, I saw 2 armed police officers. One looked like he was carrying a rifle. I was like huh?!? what's going on?? Since I didn't have my ID and the back door was locked, I sort of waved at the guys signaling that I didn't have my card. To make a long story short, I had to drive all the way back home to get my ID :( So this is what happened ... Bizarre, yes. But hey this is El Paso. I heard that they shut down the border a couple years back when President Bush visited and there were no patients in triage all day. The residents really enjoyed their day off! To wrap off a totally insane week, the residents will be taking their CREOG exam today (7 hrs!) so no morning rounds and no grand rounds for us third years. That means I have all of Friday off and that's why I am sitting here sipping juice and catching up on blogging :) Can't believe it! Two 3 day weekends in a row. I had better make darn good use of my free weekend to catch up on cooking, eating, sleeping, and reading...

To follow up on the previous blog on pesticides, you can download and print a little card that lists pesticide levels on different produce at Foodnews.org. This way you have a handy reference next time you go grocery shopping.

Last but not least, here's a really cool video I saw today on how to save $$ and the environment with every flush!! Interesting idea. I might give it a try ;)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend~~