Not on FB

People keep asking me if I am on Facebook. No, I am not. As of now, I don't have a plan to go Facebook. There is no "noble" reason. It's just that I know I can't handle it responsibly. I know I will neglect my priorities Facebook-ing...lack of discipline.

TAPO

Debt Tolerance

Ha, Obama government did it. They raised national debt ceiling. And I loathe it.They found an easy way out - easy for them....which is heavy on the back of honest, hard-working people and the future generation. Now Mr. Obama will be remembered as "the president who got us into deeper debt".

Obviously, S&P is not as debt-tolerant as Mr. Obama, since they lowered U.S. credit rating right after the debt ceiling was raised.

If I can't afford to buy a new car, I would buy a used car. If I can't afford to buy a used car, I would take a bus until I save enough money to buy a car. All because my debt tolerance is very, extremely low. I might have allergy to debt.

Both in America and here in Korea, I see many young people taking out loans with no second thoughts, just to get a new car or to live in a bigger house. By the way, here in Korea, right now the interest rate for a loan is around 7-8%.

I have a friend who once had $30,000 debt in college. It was not a school loan. It was a credit card debt. She loved shopping, eating out, traveling - all done with a few credit cards in hands. When she accepted Jesus into her life, one of the first things she wanted was to become financially clean and responsible.

After talking to our pastor, she moved out of her apartment and moved in with an old lady, who hired my friend as her caregiver. Salary and free housing - she was already able to cut huge part of her monthly expenses. Then she stopped eating out. Between classes and her new job as a caregiver, she didn't have time to go out any longer.

She paid off the $30,000 debt in two years.

What is your debt tolerance? Does the word 'debt' make you cringe? Would you take out a loan or would you downgrade your life style?

Any government, like any family, can for a year spend a little more than it earns. But you and I know that a continuance of that habit means the poorhouse. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932

TAPO

Your Money Counts

Reading this book was the very first assignment for our Crown Financial Ministries class back in Summer 2008. C.J. and I still refer to this book to make decisions on our finance.

As I see the current economic turmoils going on in the States, I am so thankful that C.J. and I are living by the sound, biblical guidance we had gleaned from this book.

Do you want to do something about your finance, but don't know where to start? Are you worried about the pandamic economic fails? Do you want to clean up your financial mess? Or do you simply want to know what God says about money? I can't think of a better book for you than this one.

I hope you will be convicted, challenged and changed forever by reading this book.

TAPO

Don't Mess With TAPO-man!

Don't we too often minimize what a simple 'asking' can do?

Last week, we made a flub with our finance! Of course, we fail once in a while, just like everyone else. However, one thing that we do which most people don't do is we try hard, very very hard to minimize the damage.

Two weeks ago, we opened a new savings account and transferred most of our money from our checking account to this new savings account. Last Thursday was C.J.'s payday and our credit card payment was withdrawn on Wednesday. Even though the credit card payment was scheduled on the same date as payday, due to the time zone difference between US and Korea, it didn't work as we had planned.

So the bank charged us for the overdraft and the credit card company charged us a hefty finance charge. Now, we had two options: too tired and therefore succumb to the giants,or ask for forgiveness and see what happens.

Well, C.J. decided to be the man and fight for it. We thought if we could get at least some of the charges waived, we would be grateful. C.J. politely explained the situation to both the bank and the credit card company, and asked for a favor.........And, to our surprise, both of them waived ALL charges!

I am so proud of C.J. that he has the gut and willingness to "try", instead of giving up without trying...That's the true TAPO-man.

TAPO

Conduit of Blessing

A few months ago, C.J. got a bonus from his work. As it was an unexpected, surprise income, I thought we were going to tithe, spend little bit to treat ourselves to a nice dinner, and save the rest of the money. However, God obviously had a different plan for that money.

C.J. suggested we support a friend who was leaving for an one-year missions trip, and he also wanted to donate to a few missions organizations including Japan Tsunami relief fund. After giving to those people/organizations, we still had some leftover from the bonus, and I was looking forward to spending and saving the money for US now. Oh well, that was not God's plan, though.

A few days later, we found out that CJ's old friend passed away from an illness, with his wife and newborn twins left behind. C.J. wanted to help out the widow raising the twins, and we decided to donate to their scholarship fund.

By that time, we gave away more than what we got from the bonus! I was about to complain to God: "God, I didn't get to touch even $1 of that bonus money!" That's when God whispered to me, "Hyuna, I gave you the money so that I could bless those people in need." God used us as the conduit of blessing, and we are more than excited to be used for His work.

TAPO

Economy of Hand-me-downs

Can someone guess how much C.J. & I have spent for Elisha's clothes? By the way, Elisha is almost 14 months old now .............................. Well, we spent $15 for her clothes so far!

We were able to do it thanks to people who cheerfully gave away their children's old clothes. They gave us not only clothes, but also socks, shoes, hats, swim suits, bath tub, potty trainer, toys...all kinds of baby stuff. We wash and clean them and they are good to go!

I understand that some people do not like using used stuff for their children, but we don't mind it at all. It not only saves us a lot of money, but also helps us keeping ourselves from spoiling our only child with materialism.

Whenever I see a cute baby dress in a store, I do get tempted to buy it. However, knowing that Elisha has enough, actually, more than enough clothes to wear for the next two years or so, I can easily snuff that desire. So in a way, it puts a restraint on me as well.

Well, if you want to get rid of your kids' stuff, we are more than happy to take them!

TAPO

Snapfish 35% off

When it comes to gifts, I like either very practical (such as socks!) or meaningful gifts. This year, I decided to give custom-designed calendars for my sister's family and my mom. It was quite a bit of work to collect a few pictures from each month of the past year, but it turned out to be the most meaningful & practical gift. Getting 35% discount for the order made it even sweeter!

Go to Snapfish and use coupon code MERRY1201 to get 35% off of your total order.

TAPO

Time is Money

In my pre-baby years, I used to work two jobs: full-time audiologist during the day and part-time ESL instructor during the evening. I thought I was crazy busy then. However, now that I've become a full-time mom, I find mothering an infant is much more work than working two jobs!

When Elisha takes a nap, literally every second counts for me, because I never know how long is her nap going to be. She can wake up in five minutes or in a few hours. As soon as she falls asleep, my mind starts spinning, going through the mental list of a dozen things-to-do.

Most of the things are related to housework. However, some of the things on the list are directly or indirectly related to saving/earning money: disputing over service charge on a bank account, searching for used baby items on craigslist, listing items on craigslist to sell, filing healthcare claims, searching for a more affordable health insurance plan, logging in daily spendings, updating bankbooks, etc. As I struggle not to be negligent of these responsibilities, I often have to remind myself that 'TIME IS MONEY'.

TAPO

Free Samples from Walmart

Don't forget this week's free stuff from Walmart. I just ordered amples of a new Crest toothpaste, and Garnier moisture cream & shampoo. Click HERE to snag yours.

TAPO

Food Storage Chef Online, a company which sells high quality gourmet food storage products, is currently offering up a FREE sample. Well, they don't specify what kind of sample it is, but I requested mine anyways. Click HERE to request yours.

(Thanks, it's hip to save!)

TAPO