I purchased the Fidelity Freedom 2040.

I finally go the chance to take some time off of work and speak w/ a Fidelity rep about their funds. I took my entire balance (only $2500) and got the Fidelity Freedom Fund for my retirement schedule.

I like the idea of “auto-pilot” or “automatic.”

Though I can learn and have more control over my retirement portfolio if I picked and chose my own investments, I just don’t have time! I have more important things to do in life. Like…develop my career.

I decided that I need a lot of things on auto-pilot. For the next few years, I’ll be working hard to set this up so that when time comes, I can work on other things and not freak out about finances.

Auto-pilot & double duty things include the following:

• Retirement plan – Fidelity Freedom 2040 re-shuffles itself every few years.
• Savings/CD interest – to have about $100-200 from interest a month.
• Investment portfolio – same as above.
• All immediate family lives w/in 5-7 miles of me or vice versa
  • If this happens, mom and I can spend more productive time together going to the gym, taking walks, shopping, having dinner.
• Keep tutoring photoshop & try to find more freelance work
• I can get extra income regularly if I keep doing this and developing relationships. This will help me out a lot when I’m pregnant or child-rearing and am unable to handle a full-time office job.
• Set up more rewards based cards & use them like HHonors, Blue, Upromise.
• Meet friends in groups & express an interest for more work – could possibly lead to more opportunities.
• Have a small online business that can take care of itself.

Year end.

Accident begone!I contacted N., the claimant, and she agreed to settle the car accident out of my insurance. Begrudgingly, I agreed to pay her the full $670.32 (yes, she even wanted the 32 cents) and got her off my ass. Thanks to my bf, I used a release form to end this deal. I now keep three copies of the document in my glove compartment.Savings progress

The accident set me back for my year-end savings. I was hoping to easily make the 10K mark before 2006. There are a few silver linings though:

• My apartment is not ready yet. With my rent prorated, I will only have to pay about $200 next month.
• My boss decided to give us cash holiday gifts which will be added onto our next paycheck. I think it will be around $100-200.
• Since mom suddenly left for Seattle, I am housesitting. Meaning my bf and I can lounge freely. We cook more. We save more.
• The HSBC online savings opening bonus kicked in. I am $25 richer.
• Oh! I got to see the final performance of The Drowsy Chaperone at the Ahmanson. My boss and his wife hooked us up with tix. They’re the best!

Nonetheless, if I keep to my tight budget, I will just barely hit 10K before January.

Year-end task list

• Set 2006 financial, career and personal goals
• Prepare my cameras to get fixed (three broken cameras collecting dust in my closet)
• Throw away more of my crap in my mom’s house to reduce bickering, lectures, etc.
• Tidy up my apartment as soon as all the pipes, walls get fixed
• Organize my 2005 receipts
• Somehow link my ING acct to HSBC
• Join a freaking gym!!!

More to add later…

Other things

I returned my ex’s DVD of his live performance. He’s been asking for it for a few months..and I hadn’t had the chance to return it to him. Hmm..and partly, I didn’t feel the desire to return it to him because he’s just a dick about it. For instance, he e-mails me with “WHERE’S MY DVD” That’s it. No question mark..all caps..no hello.. I think it was just in the subject, too.

I finally found it amidst the ruins of my apt and sent it to him on Monday. I’m FREEEEEEEEE.

Finally…

It’s a bit disheartening having no family during the holidays. As mentioned above, mom suddenly left for Seattle to tend to my brother’s family. I only have one brother. My dad works overseas..and the rest of my family is spread throughout the US, Canada and Asia. My boss even offered his airline miles to take me to Seattle. I thanked him and .. I didn’t take them. It was quite generous of him though.

Bf invited me to have X-mas dinner with his mom’s side of the family. But, I feel weird in these situations..Holidays make me feel weird. Like uber-displaced.

Ahh well, let’s see what happens…

Get off my case!

Pet Peeve

I was sharing my finance concerns with bf this morning on the way to work. I told him how I felt it was really difficult to buy and maintain mortgage payments in Los Angeles, and that I didn’t know how I could do it unless I save more & earn more.Either

• Move in with my parents
• Increase my salary by 20-30K

At first he says not to stress out so much and people find away.
And, I tell him that I want to be able to buy condo, rent it out, pay for the leftover monthly mortgage, and save money. This is impossible with my current situation since I’ve squeezed out unnecessary expenditures out of my monthly budget.

Ok, so this is what gets me annoyed:
“To tell you the truth, I think you can reduce your costs more.”
As if he knows my finances better than me…

Rather than justifying my result and getting into a lame argument, I thought I’d vent out here. And, here’s my proof.

These are my expenses

• Rent – 675
• Utilities – 40
• T-mobile – 60
• Netflix – 17
• Gas – 180
• Lunch – 80
• Groceries/Dining Out – 220
• American Express – 50

= 1322

I save the rest. Varies between 15-1800/mo

So, this is how I can adjust it:

• Rent – 675
• Utilities – 40
• T-mobile – 50 (shorter plan and use work cell phone to make calls)
• Netflix – 0 (cancel it)
• Gas – 180
• Lunch – 60 (bring lunch from home more)
• Groceries/Dining Out – 180 (Eat at cheaper restaurants still once a week)
• American Express – 50 (This is bound to remain the same)

= 1235

What do you think? I think this is as lean as a girl who lives in LA and has an everyday 2-2 1/2 hour commute at a small business that offers teeny bonuses, limited medical coverage, and no retirement options.

My curiosity and resentment overtook me, and I tried calculating how my roommate spends her income:

A couple months ago, she said that she would have $25,000 to spend on shared down for a 1-bedroom condo with me by the end of next year. She has a monthly salary of 4300 after tax.

• Rent – 675
• Utilities – 40
• Verizon – 65
• Car Insurance – 200
• Gas – 180
• Student Loans – 200
• Credit cards – 500
• Savings – 1800
• Food/Entertainment/Other – 640 (!!)

I believe that she really does spend about $500/mo on food alone. And the rest, shopping, videos, miscellaneous things.

Now, bf’s expenses totals to $1200/mo and he lives at home. He grossses 4000/mo.
He saves 2500-2800/mo.

What do you think.. really?
Maybe I should become an exec asst or a stripper. My friends seems to gross $5-10K/mo in their occupations.

Ahh, the headaches begin again!

How to get my dream home.

I had written this long entry on my action plan for obtaining my dream home. Since then, I’ve reconsidered and on this post, I will just list the types of properties I would like.My property wishlist:

• 3-4 bedroom house in a safe & central neighborhood w/ excellent public schools & that is guaranteed to appreciate a lot each year. I also want to live near the beach. By the time I get married, this home will cost me at least $1 million. Possible neighborhoods include Marina Del Rey, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica & Brentwood.

So, I’m a traitor. I grew up on the east side.. and now fallen over to the yuppie beach community. What can I say? The weather’s better on the westside, choice merchandise and less lines in stores, sometimes less traffic, close to the beach, and better school districts~

• 2 bedroom westside income property (currently priced at $575K)
• studio income property in Asia (currently priced at $175K)