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Macbook Pro almost within reach July 27, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : design business, job, spending , 14comments

I am very close to buying a new MacBook Pro. I’ve been doing months of research on what exactly I’ll need, and who to buy from for the best possible deal. I’m getting a great deal by buying from a reputable online seller (trust me, I researched up on this big time). Basically I’m getting student discount pricing, and saving an additional $400  for a fully loaded 15″ MBP. Was going to go with the 17″, but it’s just a little too big for easy portability.

The total cost is $2,600. Go ahead, freak out a little. I’m freaking out too! It’s a lot to pay for a computer (less than I paid for my current one though). When I was researching laptops, I knew 2 things: it was going to be an Apple product, and it had to run multiple CS5 programs at once with minimal lag. I work my computers hard when I’m designing, and I need this to last me at least 5 years.

I was originally set to wait a year or so to upgrade to a new computer, because my current one – despite its inability to run CS5 without major lag (it can barely run CS4 when I downloaded the full trial version) – is in great condition. But with the release of CS5, my design business still getting work, and this new PT job opportunity, portability is so key. Especially in our house, where space is at a premium and I might have to relocate to a coffee shop or outside if BF is studying. Plus, the upgrades to the Adobe products are so crazy that I need to get out of CS3 and into CS5.

Right now I have about $1,200 in cash saved up from extra income that I’ve made over the past few months – which includes the $300 sitting in my Savings. I would have had more, but the weddings took a fair chunk of change out of my accounts. I put my iMac up for sale and have generated good interest at $1,100 … hoping to sell it for no less than $900 (anyone want to buy an awesome used computer?). That leaves me with about $300-500 left to make. I’ve got about $300 of guaranteed side income coming up, so once I get that, depending on how my iMac sells, I could have all the cash in hand! :) All that without having to dip into my regular FT job income.

Timeline for purchase is by the end of August. Hopefully mid-August.


Bring on the extra income! July 21, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : job, making money , 3comments

So far this month, I’ve made $980 in extra income through my PT job, and through this blog. :) I’m really happy for the extra income because it will help with the extra bills that I am paying, and for the 2 weddings that we will be attending this summer.

I still have to claim for a few expenses from the Las Vegas trip (probably around $50-60), as well as get a refund for my prescriptions that I claimed on my extended health plan ($100+).

Going forward, I don’t think I’ll be making any money from the PT job until early September. Which is fine, because in August I’m set to get another Google Adsense cheque, and hopefully I can do a few odd jobs with my side business or sell some unwanted items on Craigslist or eBay.

I’m grateful that I have multiple channels to generate income above and beyond my FT job: this blog, design side business, and my new PT job (at the end of the year, all extra non-taxed income I make gets grouped together under the umbrella of my design side business, for income tax purposes – gotta stay legit!).

So this means that starting in the fall, I should be able to bring in an extra $1200/month, which will boost my income by 29% and put me in the $65,000 salary range. Of course, that means I’ll have to pay more taxes at the end of the year, but it won’t put me in a new tax bracket at least.


3 months at the job July 20, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : job , 3comments

Today marks my 3-month anniversary at my job, and that means my probation period is over. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve been around for much longer than that, but most days I feel like time is flying by. I really like it here, and I’m lucky and grateful to have found a job that I enjoy – with co-workers who actually care about me. There is a lot of turmoil going down at the place I used to work at, and I’m glad that I am no longer there. They haven’t even hired for my replacement yet!

My job is also evolving. Right now, I’m doing 2.5 jobs – my job (marketing), the graphic designer’s job (going to hire someone by the end of the summer), and the sales coordinator (I took on 50% of her duties while she is on maternity leave). Going forward, I will be the lead person for our social media campaign – which I am very excited about.

As for my PT job, that will start shortly and will boost my annual gross income by about 25%. I’m not sure how many hours I’ll need to put into it each week, but I’m thinking it will be around 5-10 hours. No set hours – all at my own pace. I really want to get that Macbook Pro I’ve been talking about, so that I can make my job more portable. But I just don’t have the cash flow to do it at the moment. Hopefully by the end of the summer.


Recap: Las Vegas trip July 19, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : job, travel , 8comments

Well this was my third time in Las Vegas. The first time, I stayed at Harrah’s. The second time I was supposed to stay at Harrah’s, but we got moved over to the Flamingo. This time, we stayed off the strip in a Marriott Hotel. The room was gorgeous, although about a $15 cab ride (including tip) to the strip.

And the heat??? It was crazy. 40-45C every day, and at night it was around 30C. I was uncomfortably hot most of the week, but near the end I started getting used to it a bit. And by the time we landed back in Bellingham, I was shivering and wishing I were back in the desert. :)

All in all, it was a great experience. I learned a lot, met a lot of great people at the conference and sales meeting, and I really hope to be able to go to more conferences in the future.

Monday
Picked up my boss, and headed down to Bellingham. We met up with 2 other co-workers and flew Allegiant to Vegas. We made it to our hotel around 4pm.  My room had a king size bed, down pillows & duvet, and beautiful French doors that separated the bedroom to the sitting area. We ended up having dinner at Rosemary’s Restaurant. It’s a little out of the way (okay, a lot out of the way), but the food was FANTASTIC, and the service was excellent too. It’s pricey though. I had the wilted spinach to start, followed by the rack of lamb, and finished it off with creme brulee. My drink of choice for the night was mojitos. :)

Tuesday
We had our annual sales meeting during the day (with catered breakfast & lunch). Then in the evening, we went to Timpano in the Venetian for dinner (had lobster ravioli), and went to see the Blue Man Group.  We were supposed to go indoor sky diving, but some people were over the weight restriction. I personally have always avoided the Blue Man Group because it looks kind of lame, and it was. So not impressed.

Wednesday
Conference all day. Egg-white omelet & juice for breakfast in the hotel, and burger & fries for lunch. My boss and I hit the outlet mall, but didn’t buy anything. Then we went to In-N-Out Burger for the very first time. DELICIOUS! I got a cheeseburger and fries, animal-style. I didn’t really care for the fries, but the burger was awesome, especially with the caramelized onions. Felt kind of bad that I ate burgers & fries twice in one day, but I wasn’t going to say no to my first trip to In-N-Out.

After dinner, I met up with a couple of friends who were down for the week as well. I only spent about an hour with them – enough time to drink a yardstick margarita! I was exhausted by 11pm, so I went back to my hotel.

Thursday
Conference all day. Egg-white omelet and juice for breakfast at the hotel, and a piece of pizza and salad for lunch. For dinner, we went to El Segundo Sol.  It was so good, and I highly recommend this place. Fresh guacamole & chips, plus margaritas! I ordered the mahi mahi tacos for dinner. Afterwards, we walked the strip and had a lot of fun.

Friday
Conference all day. Egg-white omelet and juice for breakfast at the hotel, and a piece of pizza and salad for lunch. For dinner, we just picked up a wrap at a fast food place at the airport. Our flight was delayed by about 90 minutes because the previous 2 Allegiant flights to Bellingham were delayed due to overheating. I was home by 2am.


Busy bee! July 8, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : blog, job, travel , 4comments

Sorry for not being around to blog much lately. I’ve been SWAMPED at work with so many projects, and will be out of town next week while in Vegas. I’ve got some great ideas to blog about, so stay tuned.

Oh, and did I mention that this weekend I’m going to Seattle with a girlfriend to watch 2 baseball games, drink wine, and shop? I’m so excited! Well, not for the shopping part. I’ve got nothing that I need (or much money to spend), but I do want to try to find a nice dress to wear for the wedding in Hawaii (and versatile enough to wear to another wedding that I’m attending this summer). Budget will be around $50-75.


Vegas team building activity chosen! June 29, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : job, travel , 2comments

I want to thank everybody for their awesome suggestions in my Vegas team-building post. Last week I presented all of the ideas at a meeting, and we ended up choosing indoor sky diving, followed by the NYNY roller coaster. :)

So stoked to try indoor sky diving! And I’m super excited for the trip. A couple of my friends will be down in Vegas the same time that I’ll be there, so I’m sure I’ll get to meet up with them too. Plus my boss wants to go to the outlet malls, and clearly I have no objections to that. But I won’t be buying much, if anything at all. Because the weekend prior, I’ll be down in Seattle with a friend for a girls weekend away! We’ll be catching two Mariners games, and shopping. I don’t need anything, but I do want to continue my quest for black skinny pants and a dress for my friend’s Hawaii wedding.


Friday Miscellaneous June 25, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : fitness, job, travel , 5comments

So the new PT job (starts in late August) will bring me in $500/bi-weekly as a flat rate. I’m very excited for the extra income. It’s more than I expected out of a PT job, and will help me meet my 2010 Goals which I previously thought might not be met.

Speaking of money, I bought travel medical insurance yesterday. Since I already have Blue Cross, it only cost me $52 for 12 months of travel coverage (for all out-of-country trips that are 2 weeks or less).

Yesterday evening was my last night of field hockey tryouts. It went much better than the first night, and I feel confident that I will be placed in the top couple of teams in the club. Although I rolled my ankle a few times while playing, got a huge calf muscle cramp before I went to bed, and am super sore this morning. I have a long way to go to get myself into top shape. Apparently just running and going to the gym isn’t going to cut it. I’m going to have to start doing hockey-specific workouts again. Which unfortunately will include savagely hard fartlek drills on a track.

Also, for the first time in a long time, I am feeling sick. Sore throat, runny nose. I haven’t been sleeping much, nervous for tryouts, and have been super stressed out at work. So I’m sure those things aren’t helping. Oh well! I’m sure a little Caribbean sun will fix it. :) I’m picking up my parents and sister from the ferry terminal today, and we’re going out for dinner. Then I need to get home and start packing!

I can’t believe that TOMORROW we’ll be leaving for Mexico! I will have a few posts scheduled to go while I’m gone. Then when I come back, it’s the hell that is July. I’m traveling every weekend, including one week in Las Vegas.


Landed a PT job! June 23, 2010

Posted by gmbmfb in : blog, job , 10comments

I have secured a PT job. It vaguely has to do with this blog. And it’s an area of my professional life that I’ve always been interested in, but has remained undeveloped.

I originally wanted a customer-oriented PT job so that I could meet other people, but I couldn’t pass this amazing opportunity up. Plus, I’d be making way more doing this than I ever could working in retail or wherever … and hopefully I’ll be meeting new people when I start playing field hockey in the fall anyway. I won’t start this new PT job until closer to the end of the summer (probably late August), so until then my lips are sealed. Although, those who follow me on Twitter already know. :)

I’m a bit nervous about this new opportunity, but mostly excited. So stay tuned!