Have You Heard About This?

I am not sure how big this news really is, but in California, it's huge.

There's this little, low-income city, Bell, where more than 25% of its resident are under the poverty line, that is undergoing a huge controversy. City officials in Bell are making more than the president. Apparently the chief administrative officer, Rizzo, is paid a salary of $787,637. And apparently every year, he gets a 12% increase. Uhmm, stealing much?

The police chief makes $457,000 and the assistant city manager makes $376,288.

Barack Obama makes $400,000. And California's governor would have made $173,987 (if he didn't decline his salary).

Isn't this just crazy? What makes me crazy is how come it's been going on so long without any state official noticing anything fishy. Last week, all the talk was about their pension and now they are looking into fraud investigation to see if anyone can be charged and put in jail.

I don't know. I'm kind of over researching and reading the story because it makes me angry. How come it took a newspaper agency to bring this issue up? How come California controller (or whoever is in charge of auditing cities) couldn't stop this before it happened? How come California is so stupid with pension agreements. I've just been reading so much issues with California & its pension laws and it's getting to the point where I really want to move away.

/end rant

Judging Others

Everyone judges other people. It's human nature. But even as I do it, I feel really guilty. Guilty for not sharing my judgment and helping those who might take a pinch of my advice and making changes. I hate it when people tell me what to do or come right out and judge me, but if someone gives me constructive criticism, I take a little bit of what they say and think about it and see if perhaps a change to whatever will make me a better person or make my life better. So with that, let me tell you a story.

Several days ago I went out for dinner with a friend. I ended up paying for the both of us because it was me who asked and I feel a strange feeling of guilt when the total is like $13 and we pay separately. Afterward we ended up shopping. Not shopping for me, but shopping for her. I normally don't like going shopping but I was ok with this excursion bc it was stores that I normally don't shop at so I knew I wouldn't tempted.

So my friend ended up spending close to $100 that day on stuff she REALLY didn't need nor planned to buy. It's not my area to judge. And maybe if I did judge it was my insecurities BUT (a huge BUT) this girl is horrible with her personal finance. She recently (within the past year) filed for bankruptcy. She had about $45,000 in consumer debt. On top of that she has about $23,000 in student loans. Doesn't have income bc she is a student and took out the maximum amount of loan bc she wanted to. I know when you're on a fixed income you really need to budget. On top of all this, she kept on talking about getting a new credit card, buying huge purchases, perhaps making a credit card purchase in the future, and seeing everything in such a positive light. Like "I can afford that," and that was like a $700 item. I don't know. I feel like if you expunge all your consumer debt from mistakes YOU made, you should make an effort to learn how to control your money and spendings. And this really annoyed me. I didn't say anything except I did try to discourage some purchases (which worked 50% of the time). I don't want to be that annoying person who says you can't afford that bc ...... bc this friend would return with YES I CAN or WHO ARE YOU.. I mean I'm not in the best finance fitness but I am learning & reading a lot and I did make huge chances from before (that can be another story, another time).

Yeah so I feel guilty bc she probably will end up in the same trouble she was a couple years ago. I know everyone learns on their own speed, but I realize that so many adults never learn. It angered me. I don't know about what. Was it bc I was so quiet about it? Was it bc she was making such dumb mistakes? I don't know, but ranting feels good.

Here are some recommended readings:
Casting Stones: When Is It Okay To Judge
Food, Finance, and Judging Others

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I have some projects that I must complete before immersing myself (fully) into the internet. Meanwhile, here is a happy boy who just completed the Rubik's Cube.

It is DEFINITELY Summer Around Here...

Yesterday was the turning point. Surprisingly it has been a very mild June & July. Temperatures were at a low 70's which is COLLLD for me. And just yesterday, BAMM, 100 degrees. It's A/C weather now. Oh can't wait to see that bill.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich

I am finally reading this book. It has been on my to-read list for awhile but it was unavailable at my library. That tells me it's hot commodity!

Normally if I didn't know the background of the author, I would shy away from reading this book because the title is so bold. It seems like one of those too good to be true type of books and I would have settled for another finance book. But being a reader of Ramit's blog and reading some good reviews, I knew I had to read this book.

I am only few pages in, but I love the way it's written. I feel like I'm going to learn about topics I don't know a lot about (like insurance and stocks). And with topics I know a lot about (that almost every PF-books mention in their first 5 chapters) I don't mind reading over again. Yes I find reading PF-related stories, tips, blogs fun. Call me crazy!

Free Money? I'm There!

I have been a longgg member of ING. It was my very first savings account aside from the one that WAMU gave me in high school when I first got my own debit card. So when I read about ING giving away $50 for opening up a checking account, I didn't feel bad that I was going to take them up on the offer with no intentions to use the debit card for my many other daily purchases.

So I signed up a couple months ago and just last week I saw the $50 bonus in my ING checking account. This was my first time partaking in a free money offer like this and boy does it feel good.

All I did was open a checking account and make 3 signature-based purchases and as simple as that, $50 handed right over to you.

Now I have transferred that money out. And I am feeling guilty. I don't want to close the account because that I'd feel really guilty. Like I used them and threw them out when I was done. My plan is to just keep $2.50 in it (no reason) and let it sit until I get the guts to move forward.

Am I feeling guilty for nothing? Anyways, if you want to partake in it, click here (and no, I don't get anything out of it).

why are there so many sales as of late?

With summer upon us, stores are purging their spring styles to make room for summer (and even some fall pieces!). Good news for shopping, bad news for the wallet.

I have been making a conscience effort to not go shopping (a lot). I don't want to give myself a dead-set goal, DO NOT BUY CLOTHES FOR THE NEXT ___ MONTH!, because giving myself such a request will end up with me constantly thinking about clothes and finally going on some unnecessary spree. So I just quietly remind myself I don't need it therefore I will not buy it.

And if I say so myself, it's been going quite well. Past 2 months I think I bought one shorts ($7 sale) and a tee ($12). I don't need new clothes. I do love following trends, but I'm not going to put myself in debt (even more) just to buy that one $90 blouse that I've been coveting.

So I've been doing my best at ignoring all the sale emails. And when I hang out with my friends, we usually just hang out at their house or get a coffee and chit chat. Well this weekend, I ended up getting yogurt with a friend. And as we contently walked eating our yogurt, a sign read SALEEEE and just for fun we walked in. I told myself as we were walking in to keep in mind not to splurge or even buy anything. But heck when you see a shirt you've wanted in the sale rack, it's only human to hold on to it.

I ended up buying two tops for $10 each. Which is great. I really wanted to buy this purse for $20 but I decided last minute that I don't need it which isn't a good argument because I didn't NEED those two shirts. But at $10, I don't feel guilty.

So head to your Urban Outfitters and take a look at their sales. Here is the shirt I bought for $10 which is $48 online.