This is where the water is coming in from - this is the door frame between my bathroom and bedroom.
These are the buckets that are down. Look at the clear bucket at the top and you can see that the water isn't clear - so gross:
Monday, February 28, 2011
House Blues
I was enjoying my relaxing working from home day, when I walked into my bathroom and noticed the ground was wet. At first I thought it was just still wet from when I had showered, but then I realized that it was the roof that was leaking. This is not the first time this has happened, but last time it leaked it was during a torrential downpour. Although it has been raining today, it has been more of a light drizzle type of rain. It's supposed to keep raining for the next 6 hours, which worries me. Hopefully my landlord will bring in a roofer very very soon to come out and look at this.
This is where the water is coming in from - this is the door frame between my bathroom and bedroom.
These are the buckets that are down. Look at the clear bucket at the top and you can see that the water isn't clear - so gross:
This is where the water is coming in from - this is the door frame between my bathroom and bedroom.
These are the buckets that are down. Look at the clear bucket at the top and you can see that the water isn't clear - so gross:
I Got Cankered
The end of last week my throat started hurting a bit. As it turned into the weekend, the lymph node on the left side of my throat started getting bigger and bigger. I began worrying that I was coming down with something, but thought it was strange that it was only one part of my throat that was hurting. I also thought I had bitten the very back corner of my tongue.
Saturday morning, when I was getting ready to brush my teeth, I realized that the whole back of my throat was really red and irritated. I immediately freaked out, thought I was dying, and ran to grab a flashlight so the boyfriend could inspect. He saw that in the middle of all the redness was actually a white sore spot that he said was just a canker sore. I felt so relieved finally knowing what was wrong with me, and that it wasn't anything serious (and that I wasn't dying). I've been salt water swishing twice a day now, and it's already feeling much better. Hopefully it will be gone in a few days.
Saturday morning, when I was getting ready to brush my teeth, I realized that the whole back of my throat was really red and irritated. I immediately freaked out, thought I was dying, and ran to grab a flashlight so the boyfriend could inspect. He saw that in the middle of all the redness was actually a white sore spot that he said was just a canker sore. I felt so relieved finally knowing what was wrong with me, and that it wasn't anything serious (and that I wasn't dying). I've been salt water swishing twice a day now, and it's already feeling much better. Hopefully it will be gone in a few days.
Weekend Recap
This weekend flew by, I can't believe its already Monday. Friday was very relaxing - after leaving work, I went home and relaxed after a long week. The boyfriend came over a bit later and we stayed in, relaxed, and watched movies on TV. Such a fun time.
Saturday I ran some errands with the car my sister let me borrow. I went grocery shopping and took the car to the dealer to look up this code that you need to type in
to make the radio work (don't ask). I came home and made this amazing Lemon Bundt Cake for dinner. My roommate had made this last week, and after tasting how delicious it was, I thought it would be perfect to make for the dinner party. The cake itself has a lemon flavor, but then there is the lemon glaze that you pour over it, which just gives it an extra touch of deliciousness.
After baking, the boyfriend and I had to go and get ready for the dinner party. My old co-worker Emily, her husband Marc, and her mother invited us over for dinner. My other old co-worker Tiffany and her boyfriend Ryan joined as well. Dinner was absolutely delicious and it was so nice to catch up with both of them. Unfortunately we had to leave early because the boyfriend was not feeling very well, but other than that it was an amazing time.
Sunday was busy, busy, busy. We went to go watch the Arsenal game - they were playing in the finals of the Carling Cup versus Birmingham. Unfortunately they lost right in the last few minutes and it was heartbreaking. But we didn't have long to linger on the loss because the boyfriend had a soccer game. The weather was great so I went to spectate and cheer them on. They won 2-1 and the boyfriend had a goal and an assist, so he basically kicked butt. Way to go! We came home, stopped by the neighbors to buy some girl scout cookies, and then decided to go shopping. After that, we dropped the car off, got some Chipotle, and then had a romantic walk home. Once we got home, we relaxed and watched the Oscars with the roommates.
Saturday I ran some errands with the car my sister let me borrow. I went grocery shopping and took the car to the dealer to look up this code that you need to type in
to make the radio work (don't ask). I came home and made this amazing Lemon Bundt Cake for dinner. My roommate had made this last week, and after tasting how delicious it was, I thought it would be perfect to make for the dinner party. The cake itself has a lemon flavor, but then there is the lemon glaze that you pour over it, which just gives it an extra touch of deliciousness. After baking, the boyfriend and I had to go and get ready for the dinner party. My old co-worker Emily, her husband Marc, and her mother invited us over for dinner. My other old co-worker Tiffany and her boyfriend Ryan joined as well. Dinner was absolutely delicious and it was so nice to catch up with both of them. Unfortunately we had to leave early because the boyfriend was not feeling very well, but other than that it was an amazing time.
Sunday was busy, busy, busy. We went to go watch the Arsenal game - they were playing in the finals of the Carling Cup versus Birmingham. Unfortunately they lost right in the last few minutes and it was heartbreaking. But we didn't have long to linger on the loss because the boyfriend had a soccer game. The weather was great so I went to spectate and cheer them on. They won 2-1 and the boyfriend had a goal and an assist, so he basically kicked butt. Way to go! We came home, stopped by the neighbors to buy some girl scout cookies, and then decided to go shopping. After that, we dropped the car off, got some Chipotle, and then had a romantic walk home. Once we got home, we relaxed and watched the Oscars with the roommates.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Finance Tip
I have been reading some finance blogs (my favorite of which is Get Rich Slowly), and have decided that I shouldn't let my vast knowledge of Finance go to waste, so here comes a Finance Tip:
401ks: A 401k is a special type of saving account where you can save money for retirement. Most companies should offer at least a 401k plan, and some companies offer matching (more on this below). The reason that 401ks are so valuable are that you can put your money into an account tax free. The taxes are deducted when you withdraw from the account, which assuming you don't withdraw the money until you retire, and if you are retired you probably are making very minimal income, your taxes on the money will be very minimal, as opposed to now when you are in a much higher tax bracket because of the money you are earning.
The key to a successful 401k plan is that you do not withdraw the funds until you need them, preferably when you retire. If you decide to withdraw the money, you will incur a penalty fee for doing so, AND you will have to pay the taxes on the money was well. This is not a wise choice. The IRS have made a few concessions to let people withdraw the funds penalty-free (but you will still have to pay the taxes) for things such as buying a home, if you or a family member get sick with something like cancer, etc.
I mentioned above that some companies offering matching to a 401k plan. Each company's matching program works differently, but let's say your company offers matching up to 3%, this means that if you put 3% of your revenues into your 401k plan, your company will MATCH that 3% that you put away. Did you get that - that's free money! When the recession hit, I know a lot of companies (mine included) took away the matching feature, but that's doesn't mean that you shouldn't utilize the 401k plan if there is no matching. Also, at the very bare minimum, you NEED TO at the very least be invested whatever you company is matching. If you don't then you are simply throwing away free money.
Another thing to note about retirement saving in general is that many people think that being in your 20s means that you don't have to think about saving for your
retirement, that this is something you think about when you in your 40s or 50s. But this is exactly the time to be saving for your future. There is something called compound interest, called "the greatest force in the universe" by Albert Einstein, means that you are earning interest on the interest from the money you have in there now. I won't bore you with boring calculations, but basically it boils down to the fact that if you invest just a little in your 20s for your retirement, you will have a lot more money at retirement time than someone who invests substantially more but waits until their 40s to start For more information on this, read this.
For those of you who aren't already investing if a 401k plan, DO IT NOW. For those of you who already are, see if you could invest more. If you are not taking of advantage for your company's matching, DO IT NOW. Lastly, if your company does not offer a 401k plan, there are other alternatives such a Roth IRA or a 403b.
Hope you all learned something, and look forward to more Finance Tips!
401ks: A 401k is a special type of saving account where you can save money for retirement. Most companies should offer at least a 401k plan, and some companies offer matching (more on this below). The reason that 401ks are so valuable are that you can put your money into an account tax free. The taxes are deducted when you withdraw from the account, which assuming you don't withdraw the money until you retire, and if you are retired you probably are making very minimal income, your taxes on the money will be very minimal, as opposed to now when you are in a much higher tax bracket because of the money you are earning.
The key to a successful 401k plan is that you do not withdraw the funds until you need them, preferably when you retire. If you decide to withdraw the money, you will incur a penalty fee for doing so, AND you will have to pay the taxes on the money was well. This is not a wise choice. The IRS have made a few concessions to let people withdraw the funds penalty-free (but you will still have to pay the taxes) for things such as buying a home, if you or a family member get sick with something like cancer, etc. I mentioned above that some companies offering matching to a 401k plan. Each company's matching program works differently, but let's say your company offers matching up to 3%, this means that if you put 3% of your revenues into your 401k plan, your company will MATCH that 3% that you put away. Did you get that - that's free money! When the recession hit, I know a lot of companies (mine included) took away the matching feature, but that's doesn't mean that you shouldn't utilize the 401k plan if there is no matching. Also, at the very bare minimum, you NEED TO at the very least be invested whatever you company is matching. If you don't then you are simply throwing away free money.
Another thing to note about retirement saving in general is that many people think that being in your 20s means that you don't have to think about saving for your
retirement, that this is something you think about when you in your 40s or 50s. But this is exactly the time to be saving for your future. There is something called compound interest, called "the greatest force in the universe" by Albert Einstein, means that you are earning interest on the interest from the money you have in there now. I won't bore you with boring calculations, but basically it boils down to the fact that if you invest just a little in your 20s for your retirement, you will have a lot more money at retirement time than someone who invests substantially more but waits until their 40s to start For more information on this, read this. For those of you who aren't already investing if a 401k plan, DO IT NOW. For those of you who already are, see if you could invest more. If you are not taking of advantage for your company's matching, DO IT NOW. Lastly, if your company does not offer a 401k plan, there are other alternatives such a Roth IRA or a 403b.
Hope you all learned something, and look forward to more Finance Tips!
Productive Day at Work
So it's Friday afternoon and I'm sitting here counting down the hours and minutes until I can leave work and have the glorious weekend begin. My sister is out of town and she let me borrow her car, so now I have all this freedom at my fingertips!
First, let me start with some celebratory news - I got a raise at work! They love me so much over here! Hooray! It was effective Jan 1, so this paycheck included all my retro-active pay so my paycheck was extra happy this time!
Speaking of paychecks, I was thinking about how much money I pay in rent, and I calculated it out that I pay about 32% of my take-home pay to rent. Now, this number is skewed a lot because I am basing it off of my paycheck amount, which includes my deductions for things like flexible spending and my 401k - which I try to put a lot into, but more on that later.
Anyways, I got to thinking - what is a normal percentage of my take-home pay to spend on rent for a 20something? I think 50% is way too much, especially if you are one of those people who are never home. I also think it's always a good thing to live well below your means, but what is the norm?
First, let me start with some celebratory news - I got a raise at work! They love me so much over here! Hooray! It was effective Jan 1, so this paycheck included all my retro-active pay so my paycheck was extra happy this time!
Speaking of paychecks, I was thinking about how much money I pay in rent, and I calculated it out that I pay about 32% of my take-home pay to rent. Now, this number is skewed a lot because I am basing it off of my paycheck amount, which includes my deductions for things like flexible spending and my 401k - which I try to put a lot into, but more on that later.
Anyways, I got to thinking - what is a normal percentage of my take-home pay to spend on rent for a 20something? I think 50% is way too much, especially if you are one of those people who are never home. I also think it's always a good thing to live well below your means, but what is the norm?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Is it Friday Yet?
Even though this week was a short week (I had Monday off for President's Day), I feel like it's been dragging on and on and on. I had soccer last night, all the way out in the middle of nowhere (I got a ride and it took us an hour and 15 minutes to get there, and I ran onto the field seconds before the game started). Even though it's a Wednesday night league, we have a game tonight to make up for a missed game due to snow. Tonight is our last game (unless we make the playoffs, which seems unlikely), and these back-to-back games (we had the same thing last week) are killer. I'm excited to have 2 weeks off before the Spring season starts (when I signed up for both a Wednesday night league and a Sunday league).
Monday, February 21, 2011
Racing
Last Sunday, I ran a Valentine's Day race called "Love the Run You're With". My sister ran it with me and pushed me the entire way. The boyfriend, who ran and finished before me, jumped in with us for the last 100 feet or so and we finished together. The pictures were finally posted, and here they are (I have on the red shorts, sister has on the gray shirt, and the boyfriend has on the white shorts):
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