ING Direct beefs up their security!

Wow, I think I like ING’s new security feature. It took some time setting it up, but I feel more confident that my financial info is secure.

The process:

1. You select an image (animal or flower) and have a phrase going with it

2. You answer about 9 personal questions.

3. You can register specific computers to skip the login security process

4. When you log in, you’ll be given two random personal questions, then you’ll see your image/phrase, and you’ll have to enter your pin.

And, you’re in.

Pretty hardcore.

Korean banks have extreme security features.

When you sign up for an account, you’re given your account book and a card with rows and columns of numbers.

When you try to initiate a fund transfer by phone or Internet, you have to register your computer.  You can have the certification data stored on your computer or bring a disk with you. They will ask you for this certification….verify…and then will ask for random numbers on the card you were given. Like what’s the number in row b column 7 and row d column 4.

Then, you can do the fund transfer.

Kinda annoying…but, helps protect!

A little thought about competitive savings rates…

Mymoneyblog.com has a handy calculator that computes how long it would take to cover lost interest if you switched from a lower interest savings to a higher savings … depending on the money-transfer time.

Although I feel it’s important to keep up with the best rates, it just doesn’t make sense if you’re transferring your money all the time.

I’ve transferred a lot of cash only once and that was from my ING to HSBC because HSBC’s rates were over 1% more…And, I also liked how HSBC offered an ATM card, have branches internationally.

When I see the new rates, I first check to see if it’s a bank that’s accessible to me, pretty large…and that it’s one I can trust. And, I’ll just start putting my new savings into the account. No transferring…just adding.

I’m happy that I have stuck with HSBC because they’ve been responsive to the frequent rate changes.

Aside from credit unions or smaller local banks, I think they have the best online savings program…

Cash distribution with banks:

Wells Fargo – primary checking

HSBC – secondary checking – $10/mo to keep it alive and safe

HSBC – main savings – short-term emergency savings (medical needs, car needs) & down payment savings
GMAC – CD ladder – long-term emergency savings (say I lose my job)

ING – $20/mo to keep it alive and investment play money

But, then again…ING does offer a $25 bonus is you open a new account and deposit $250 w/ an invitation referral.

That may not sound like much…but for some of us out there, it’s like a year’s worth of interest.

Lunching out at work is expensive.

I went to a blog post with a calculator that computes how much you'd save if you brownbag your lunch every once in a while.

This is one thing that I am adamant about – not buying lunch as much as possible. Dining out is expensive…even at McDonald's.

My work situation is good for brownbagging…we're all so busy at the office, we hardly have a chance to take a "real" lunch. I started brownbagging week two of my current job…and I only eat out maybe once a week.

Say eating out costs about $8/meal. Buying and preparing food from home $3/meal.  In a week, I save $20. That's $80 for the month…

The other great thing about this is that I feel comfortable treating my co-workers out to lunch occassionally…It's not burning my pocket and they appreciate the generosity. 

What I learned from scratchers…

Investing in the stock market feels a lot like when I played scratchers when I was 19.
The first time I got a $5 scratcher I won $50…so I got about 10 more scratchers…and sometimes I would get $2 back and other times I'd lose.

When I opened my Roth IRA, I purchased an auto-pilot fund that went up about 15%.
Well, since then I opened a separate brokerage account, and my investments have gone down a lot…like everyone else's.

So, I've been rethinking some things…
My natural reaction is to cease investing, but that's driven by emotion. I think if I look at things with the bigger picture in mind, this is what happens…this is part of the pattern to overall growth. I have some things that I know I should do. I should probably stick to a discount broker and purchase at least $1000 worth of stock each time. If I make a market order, it will typically cost about $20 to buy or to sell. So, if I buy some stock at $20 and then sell it…it will really cost me $40…which is what most people earn in savings interest for the year.

I've been building up a CD ladder for the past quarter…and this month I sent in my check. I forgot to transfer money from my savings to checking before the check went through. I think I had thought that the CD would be drawn from my savings directly. So, I got an insufficient funds fee of $30. That totally blows…stupid things like this piss me off. Why didn't I transfer that cash right away?!

Also, one last thing…no matter how much time and effort you spend ito analyze and understand the market, cds, savings, retirement programs, in the end, the best return you get is from your career. I've talked about this with boy a lot…and he feels strongly about investing in one's career. I can see his point; I've paid attention to the market closely over the past half year…haven't made much return…I sure have learned a lot and saved a lot of cash, but what makes more money is my two hours of Photoshop lessons that I give to the sculptor. Also, I've picked up work from our freelance creative director and one of our flash designers…so spending a few hours on that gives me much more than I can from buying and selling stocks. Maybe if I had more dough the return would be greater, but right now…I think I can allocate only up to 15% of excess income to investments. The rest would be split between my long-term savings/cds & retirement.

How we changed from savers to spender (Yahoo! article)

Insightful article from Yahoo! http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/060518/17503.html 

Irregular expenses.

I'm taking close watch of my expenses this month.  There are a lot of things pinching my wallet:

Mom's day – I'll be taking out my mom, sis-n-law, and her children to a brunch at a restaurant with a fixed menu that day. My brother's on a business trip…how could I leave my sis-n-law behind? This will roughly cost me $150-180. I made the reservation through opentable.com. The service is cool because you can easily make a reservation, and they give you point every time you complete that reservation. After a few times (maybe about 10 reservations through opentable), you get a voucher for $10 on a meal.

Furniture for my room – I went cheap. I bought a desk, some sheets & duvet cover, a lamp, a couple of hanging closet shelves. Came up to be $370.

Mexico gone wrong – Last weekend, my bf and I drove down to the border with my roommate and her friends. We were going to party in Rosarito. Until we go to the Mexican insurance station where I realized I didn't have my registration and insurance in my car. (I forgot to return it when I got into that car accident) We drove two hours for nothing…so we stopped by San Diego, spent the money we were going to in Mexico at The Fish Market…drove another two hours home.

Random work expenses – I participated in a celebrity golf fundraiser on Monday. In order to sharpen up on our golf skills, my company went to the driving range and a 9-hole course. I paid for half of it…I think I spent about $50.

I signed up the HSBC billpay service to pay portions of my Amex cards and my mobile phone bill. I had to transfer some money from my savings to my checking in order to do this. Feeling bad about my savings going down, I deposited the bills amount and an extra $10 from my main checking to my HSBC savings so that everything would normalize.

So, I'm left with about $150 in my checking. =(

Lastly, my stocks have been performing pretty bad these past two days. I'm under about $40. =(

I believe in these stocks…I just hope they go up soon… 

ING Direct referral link: Bonus $25

Hi guys,

ING has a bonus for new accounts. They're giving away $25. I don't think there's a minimum if you open an account through a referral. If there is a minimum, then it would be about $250 as an initial deposit.

What's great about ING are their competitve rates, no minimum balance, and no hidden fees.

Anyway, let me know if you'd like a referral link. It's free $25 for you and free $10 for me. Make a comment and leave your e-mail address.

No more savings savings.

Since I've managed to save about 3 months living cost, I feel more comfortable putting my money in other things. I plan to continue to save, by CD-laddering. I plan to invest more into my retirement account and getting more into investments.

I figure that since I don't need cash for another 3-4 years when I purchase my first home, I have more flexibility with it.

Break-down a month:

Roth IRA – 400

6 mo. CD – 500

12 mo. CD – 1000

Investments – 200

 

Wonder if this will work… 

Feelin’ lucky…again.

Free money.

My boss gave out $60 in cash to each of us since his client paid in cash. Sweet~ I used the cash to finally replace my obsolete foundation–Prescriptives foundation stick for $38 (PRICEY!). I got a t-shirt from Pac Sun at 70% off the original price (came up to be $7.79 after tax) and got an elegant beaded bracelet for $10.

I felt a bit of guilt from my sudden indulgence since I told myself that whenever I get unexpected money, I would automatically save it. But, I had to buy everything. I’ve been going through an extravagance drought. To counteract my frivolous spending, I had dinner and breakfast at home. That’s got to count for something!

Unexpected income.

So a couple of days ago, I got a call for my ex-coworker on my business mobile. After she left the company, my boss gave me her line to use for work-related calls. I usually give them the low-down, how she’s moved out of the country and that I’m using the phone now.

This time around, it was a fine artist looking for her to get some Photoshop lessons. He asked me to give him lessons instead. So I met him today. He lived right by one of my friends near the beach…a real funky house. Beautifully spacious and airy inside. Eclectic with a modernist twist.

Anyway, end of story, I earned an extra $53 for an 1 1/2 hr tutorial session. THIS will go into my savings.

Yay. I feel good!

Net worth.

Net worth
I just updated my net worth. It’s roughly at 14K. I am coming close to those under my income bracket. From 145 users, the median net worth is 18K.

I feel really good about this. Like I’m nearing a milestone-Feel REALLY good that HSBC raised their rates to 4.8%. This is one banks that values their customers.

Been rethinking and doing some things
1. I finally set up my health insurance. It took me long enough to get off of my lazy and indecisive ass to choose Blue Shield PPO 4000 & Dental PPO. These plans cost a total of 80 dollars? The Blue Shield PPO has an HSA option, too.

I don’t have any medical conditions and am only concerned about the following: vision, dental, annual exams, random major injuries.

2. I think I want index funds. After seeing my Marketplace fantasy portfolio go up and down, it made me realize that I have no skill predicting good stocks. Besides, it’s too stressful keeping track of the numbers everyday.

3. I set up new budgets that include the following: short-term emergency, long-term emergency, property, portfolio, apple computer, travel, gifts, retirement, tax.

It seems time-consuming and complicated to set up different savings accts for each, but I hope that by creating more specific pockets of savings, I’ll be better at tracking my expenses, progress, and won’t feel guilty over dropping a couple thousand for a computer if I know that I had saved up for it.

Get me off my slacker butt
I’m not going to the gym. Why did I join if I’m not using it? I always have lame excuses like…

• My bf’s not going to the gym, and I want to spend time with him. So, I won’t go to the gym either and we’ll both veg out.
• It’s too late…I have a lot of things I need to do before I sleep.
• If I go to the gym in the morning, it will take too long to get ready for work. Showering and grooming takes longer for women!
• I’m tired. I’m hungry.
• I’ll just go swimming over the weekend.