The Rule of 70

Posted on June 12, 2007 by jeannie

The money talks are already working.

Today, I got to work and my friend and I immediately started talking about more money stuff. Namely she taught me The Rule of 70, which means, if you make 7% interest, it takes you ten years to double your money; and if you make 10% interest, it takes you 7 years.

She also shared info about a money market savings (available for teachers) that makes 5.1% interest. This account (min balance $500) allows up to 3 free checks a month, which makes it perfect to use as an emergency savings account. No fees.

It is a Bank of America NEA – National Education Association Money Market Savings account. The customer service phone number is 800-348-4632.

[update: I just called and it’s all true. I didn’t open the account over the phone because the agent’s computer was operating very slowly and it takes 2-3 weeks for the account to process. I’ll just go into the local Bank of America this week.]

And another potential tip: World Savings is currently offering a CD at 5.40 % APY for 7 months with a $10,000 balance. Sounds like a good place to tuck away the wedding money we got from my folks. Although, seven months (instead of a year) is supposed to be tricky to remember.

Money, money, money. I know I’m moving to Laguna in few short weeks, but I hope to make it back to the hi-des once a month for the money talks. In the meantime, I want to use Quicken to at least calculate how much I am spending in each category – with my ultimate objective being to set up a budget that allows me to save for Bella’s college and for Chad’s and my (eventual) retirement. Right now, if I have the money, I spend it.

Posted in money | 1 Comment

Money Talk I

Posted on June 12, 2007 by jeannie

In attendance: six smart women age 39 and up

Served: Pesto with chicken, couscous, green salad with homemade dressing, chickpea salad, zucchini casserole, lentils with sausage, and straight-forward potato salad

Intended Topics:

  1. Personal financial goals
  2. Group goals
  3. Credit Cards

Group parameters:

  • Confidentiality
  • Regular monthly attendance
  • The topic is chosen by the woman hosting the meal

Our Personal Financial Goals:

  • To retire without worrying.
  • To retire reasonably comfortably.
  • To be comfortable and understand financial jargon.
  • To work 32 hours/week instead of 40 hours/week.
  • To keep $10,000 in disposable savings for emergencies.
  • To know what’s going on with my finances.
  • To not piddle away money – get a grip on the big picture
  • To be happy – find another job that can support me financially.
  • To get out of credit card debt.
  • To overcome emotional financial baggage.

My (Ultimate) Personal Financial Goals:

  • To save $1,000/month for Bella’s college education
  • To max out mine and Chad’s IRA ($1,000 each per month)
  • To develop a budget and use it.
  • To be connected to and aware of my financial situation.

In reality, I think I will take my monthly paycheck and split it four ways each month: Bella’s college, my IRA, Chad’s IRA, and other expenses. I’d like to try and live on Chad’s income as much as possible every month. My personal goal for next month is to input one month’s worth of receipts into Quicken. Also, I am going to put the wedding money my parents gave us into a 7-month CD at World Savings at 5.4 %.

Two things I do financially that are good: I pay my credit card bill in full every month and have $1,000 automatically deducted from my paycheck for retirement savings

Two things I do financially that are worrisome: I spend all the rest of the money in my checking account every month and I only have $2,000 set aside for Bella’s college so far (and it’s not invested).

Group Tasks for Next Meeting:

  • Research at least two credit cards.
  • Read Steps 1-3 of Suze Orman’s The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom.

Group Goals:

  • To share financial information.
  • To learn about financial stuff.
  • To be motivated and supported in improving our personal financial situations.

Interesting financial things to check out:

  • Maxed Out (a movie about national and personal debt)
  • The Motley Fool at fool.com
  • Pacific Marine Credit Union (new, in Yucca Valley)

Next Meeting: 26 July 2007

If you’re interested in joining us cybernetically, post your financial goal as a comment and get yourself a copy of the book!

Posted in money | 6 Comments

The Ball I've Dropped

Posted on June 11, 2007 by jeannie

is apparently the blogging ball.

I had the best shower/bachelorette party ever. Although, I think it might be hard to go wrong with carrot cake and tequila shots… and games with me as the focal point. More on all that later.

Right now I’m turning into a cleaning whirling dervish for the money talk happening at my house tonight.

Three days of work left!

Nabi Grace arrives in three days!

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Camp-out at Indian Cove

Posted on June 9, 2007 by jeannie

One of my favorite things about our wedding is that all the big events are happening in Joshua Tree National Park. Tonight is my shower/bachorette party and there’s going to be carrot cake and jaegermeister bombs! Bagels and lox in the morning! And the best part? I didn’t plan a single part of it. I have some very dear sweet friends.

The weather is gorgeous and sunny. I’m looking forward to sleeping under the stars tonight, surrounded by great women.

Posted in wedding for $2000 | 1 Comment

Squeaky McClean

Posted on June 8, 2007 by jeannie

I’m sitting in Water Canyon eating a spinach and walnut salad, sipping a jasmine tea, and sitting to some pretty good music being belted out by a songwriter passing through town (Corby Lanker?). Bella and Dawkins are hanging out with their friends at Denny’s for a post-promotion dance debrief over dessert and so, I get a brief moment of respite at a local cafe.

I love this: chilling in a cafe by myself – although in a town as small as this, there is no such thing as “by myself.” I’ve already run into two long-time friends: finagled a trade for my weight machine with one, and said my good-bye’s to the other. It’s only now hitting home that I am going to be leaving the hi-desert in a few short weeks. I started to panic about having make to new friends – and then I realized that I already know some great people down by the beach: Chad’s sisters! Talk about ready-made friends.

Last weekend I went a Korean bathhouse with my three future sisters-in-law: Lisa, Corrina, and Asia.

It is important to make a distinction between a Korean bathhouse and an American-style spa; a Korean bathhouse is not about being pampered and indulged, but the utilitarian concept of getting clean, very clean – perhaps cleaner than you ever imagined you could be. Now, I have only been to a Korean bathhouse a half dozen times, but no matter the city, Sydney, Seoul, or LA, the experience is virtually the same – and deeply infused with Korean culture.

The Olympic Spa in Koreatown is no different. Despite the (free) valet parking and all the beauty products lining the reception, it is a no-nonsense place. To use the spa facilities (all day if you like) only costs $15. The classic Korean scrub is an additional $30 and lasts for 20 minutes. A reservation is recommended, especially on the weekends. We had reservations for noon, so we arrived early to soak.

Once we paid, we were given a key chain with two keys and a number. To enter the spa, you must pass through a series of spaces, gradually shedding clothes and the grime of the outside world. Just past the reception desk we pushed passed thick, wooden double doors and entered a small vestibule with woven matting on the floor. There are small wooden numbered lockers lining two walls from floor to ceiling. These little locked cubby holes were for our shoes.

In bare feet, we padded into the main “dry” area. In front of us, robed women were lounging on a big leather sofa drinking barley tea or resting on a large heated marble-lined stage. We headed to the lockers to our far right. There was a clean towel and robe inside each locker. We stripped down to our birthday suits and donned our light cotton robes.

to be continued…

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Must-Do-This-Weekend List or How Many Balls Can Jeannie Juggle Without Falling Down?

Posted on June 8, 2007 by jeannie

1. Apply for this job as associate editor at Water Garden News.

2. Apply for this job as editorial assistant at Entrepreneur Magazine (both in Irvine).

3. Create a rental flyer for my house to post at the district office and at my school site (not a single inquiry so far).

4. Cook a main course something-or-other for the Money Talk at my house Monday night.

5. Clean up house for same meeting.

6. Make a few moves forward on wedding reception food.

7. Submit a special event form to the National Park.

8. Go to yoga Saturday morning.

9. Go to the farmer’s market and get stuff for my Sunday cooking date with Maya (making gazpacho, more muffins, pesto, oatmeal cookies, and Maui Burgers).

10. Send a thank-you card to my folks (for the super-humongous gift they gave me for finishing my master’s degree). And to my brother-in-law’s folks (for hauling 20 pounds of wedding candy from Melbourne to Bangkok).

11. Party hardy at my wedding shower/bachelorette camp-out in the Park.

Note: sleep is not on this list…. My first wedding guests arrive in ONE WEEK!

One major thing has been crossed off the list. Chad and Ian found us a place to live in Laguna Niguel: 4 bed/3 bath 1,900 square foot duplex for $2600/month. Sounds fine. We’re moving in at the end of the month. Beach lifestyle, here we come.

Posted in to-do lists | 1 Comment

Mr. Lee's Cat-cam

Posted on June 7, 2007 by jeannie

Corrina sent me a great link today: it is a website of photos taken from the perspective of a cat. Check out Mr. Lee’s cat-cam here.

and Songbae, I specifically recommend that you read Corrina’s latest blog post on Bikram yoga here. It’s short.

Posted in for a laugh | 1 Comment

A Certain Antipathy

Posted on June 7, 2007 by jeannie

These days it’s been hard to conjure up the time and energy to post daily. I don’t know if just because I am so busy, or because of my conversation with my brother’s friend, Jimmy. Jimmy used to be a managing editor at KoreAm, and he graciously agreed to meet me for dinner just to talk about magazine stuff.

Over tapas at the Block (some huge mall in Orange), he basically told me that getting a magazine job is hard, very hard, and that I will not make very much money. He also told me flat-out that blog-writing counts for zip in the publishing world because it is not edited at all.

Now, I’m not saying that Jimmy is a bad guy or even a pessimistic guy – far from it – he is clearly a very sweet, solicitous guy who was trying to give me as much helpful information as he could. I appreciated his advice and his time; it was just perhaps too large a dose of reality for me to handle at the moment. I should expect to get an entry-level position. I need to work on building a portfolio of clips (which are published pieces). Both my thesis and essay in the art catalog are too long to be useful for this. If I want to get clips, I need to start pitching ideas to editors all over the place, and expect to be rejected a lot. He did say that the kind of experience I would get working for a private educational firm would not help me get a better job in the magazine world – so there is less temptation to go in that direction now. Basically, he said bluntly that leaving teaching and trying to work in the magazine world was a bold move – and he said that with a low whistle and a shake of the head.

So, it looks like I need to start busting out applications to these editorial positions in Irvine that start at $25,000-$30,000/year. That’s not much cash for south OC.

I have been checking out a few different websites for jobs. Jimmy recommended ed2010.com, but those are mostly NYC jobs. The second site he mentioned,  journalismjobs.com, has been much more helpful and I have been checking it daily. I’ve also been checking monster.com, the OC Weekly, and artandeducation.net. I’ve only sent out one inquiry letter (to a friend of the family) and one application (part-time associate editor for an LA art magazine).

I did get an interesting tip today. A woman who used to write for the Hi-Desert Star (Susan Chaney) is now an editor at Fancy Magazines in Laguna. Curiously, I have seen several positions open for Cat Fancy, Bird Talk, and Horse Illustrated; the positions are for a managing editor,which is out of my league, but I think I’ll send a letter anyway. She may smile upon a fellow desert denizen.

Posted in blogs, job hunting | 2 Comments

Cuspidors and Bright Teeth

Posted on June 5, 2007 by jeannie

Nothing like sitting back in a dentist’s chair with a tube in my mouth sucking out all the spit to make me long for an old-fashioned cuspidor; that white porcelain spittoon with swirling water and a small metal stand for your paper cup.

My teeth were particularly dirty and stained today: the combined result of putting off my dental appointment, drinking too much tea and coffee, and neglecting to floss (or brush) before bedtime for months on end. Ironically, I put off my appointment by a few months, so that I could schedule an teeth-whitening just before the wedding – apparently a whitening works best on clean teeth, so it has to be scheduled within two weeks of a cleaning.

I had read that it was recommended to get your teeth whitened before a wedding – and after all, when else in my life will I be inspired to look into teeth whitening, if not for my own wedding?

I did not know, however, know how expensive it was going to be. There are two options: in-office and out-of-office. The first option is a scheduled cleaning with an acid-based etcher and some kind of infrared light scan. This completely whitens your teeth within an hour and costs $500, which is not covered by insurance as it is a cosmetic procedure. (No wonder there’s such a big market for $10 Colgate whitening strips…)

Option B is more cost-effective, and hence more popular. The hygienist makes a mold of your teeth to make customized “teeth trays.” This involves stuffing your mouth full of a strange globular putty until it sets up against your teeth – then the seal is broken and mold is pulled off your teeth. Once the “teeth tray” are made, you fill them with  teeth bleach (which comes in syringe-style containers, 4 for $40), and bleach your teeth for 45 minutes for five consecutive nights. Once the “teeth trays” are made you can use them virtually forever, and buy refill bleach kits once every six months. That whole deal cost $300 and included the first set of teeth bleach, which is supposedly safe enough to swallow. The things we do for beauty.

My hair is getting cut and dyed this week as well; between the teeth whitening and hair  darkening, I hope to look dramatically younger by next week…

Posted in beauty, health | 3 Comments

A Very Cool List

Posted on June 4, 2007 by jeannie

I have a friend who is recently trained in Search and Rescue, and this is the list of supplies he needs for 24 hours out. It is a comprehensive hiking equipment list developed by NASAR. So, for those of you who love lists as much as I do, here is the most recent Search and Rescue (SAR) list (with comments – not mine):
Personal First Aid and Survival Kit
4 Acetaminophen or aspirin tablets
4 Antacid tablets
2 Antiseptic cleansing pads
1 Antiseptic ointment
6 Band aids, various sizes
1 Candle, long burning

2 Cotton swabs, non sterile
1 Duct tape, 5 – 10 ft.
1 Leaf bag, large
8 Matches in a waterproof container …………………………………………Use plastic screw lid – not the metal flip lid!
1 Moleskin
1 Plastic bag, zip lock, qt. size, for kit
1 Quarter, for phone call………………………………………………………….Yeah, right. Phones are now 35cents.
1 Razor blade, singe edge safety type
1 Roller gauze Bandage
2 Safety pins, large
1 Splinter forceps, tweezers……………………………………………………..Can be in a pocketknife
1 Space type blanket or space type sleeping bag
1 Towelette, clean
1 Whistle


Personal SAR Equipment
4 Bags, various sizes, zip locked
1 Bandanna, handkerchief
1 Cap or other headgear…………………………………………………………..Hat type depends on season
2 Carabiners (locking)
1 Clothes bag, waterproof………………………………………………………..trash bags double for this
1 Clothing, adequate for climate
1 Clothing, extra set, adequate for climate
1 Compass, orienteering
1 Flagging tape, roll
1 Flashlight or lantern
1 Flashlight, extra, extra batteries and bulb
1 Footwear, sturdy, adequate for climate
1 Gloves, durable, even in summer
1 Goggles, or eye protection, clear
1 Insect repellent
1 Knife, multi-purpose
1 Lip balm, with sunscreen
1 Measuring device, 18 in. minimum………………………………………..measuring tape (think small/light)
1 Metal cup or pot…………………………………………………………………..sierra cup?
1 Mirror, small
1 Nylon twine or small rope, 50 feet …………………………………………parachute cord
1 Pack, 1800 cubic inch (minimum)………………………………………….Go 2500 so you’ve got room for team gear on a mission
1 Pad and pencil
2 Prusik slings (suitable for 9mm to 11mm rope)* ……………………..Purcell Prusiks work here.
1 Rainwear, durable………………………………………………………………..Gortex fine
1 SAR personal identification…………………………………………………..I’ll have this for you
1 Shelter material, 8 x10 plastic or coated nylon…………………………tube tent OK
1 Scissors, multi-purpose
1 Socks, extra pair
1 Sunscreen lotion
2 Tea bags
1 Tissue paper or baby wipes (recommended)
1 Tracking stick, 42” long ……………………………………………………….can be trekking poles or old ski pole
1 Watch
1 Water container, at least liter size…………………………………………..canteens, water bladders, whatever
1 Webbing, 1” tubular – length suitable for harness
1 Wire, 5 – 10 ft., woven steel ………………………………………………….picture wire
8 Wire ties, plastic, self-locking ……………………………………………….SMALL ones!
Optional Personal Support Equipment – not required, but recommended
2 Antihistamine, 25mg Benadryl
2 Extra leaf bags
1 Extra water container
1 Foam pad
2 Food, nonperishable
1 Gaiters
1 Rain cover for pack
1 Sterno or stove
1 Sun glasses, 97% UV protection
1 Trail snacks
1 Water purification tabs

Posted in hiking | 3 Comments