This will be a “guest post” from a friend that is going through some tough times. Like many americans, she lost her home, her husband is working 2 jobs to get ends to meet and she’s having a hard time finding jobs.
Beautiful house, new cars, unlimited funds available to be borrowed… She thought the good [...]

Posted in Finances, Lifestyle 6 Comments »

When friends ask me for advices, I generally tell them to buy index funds.
However, when my sister in law asked me about investing, I gave her a different suggestion.
I had started by telling her to buy index funds, while asking her risk tolerance/aversion, expectations etc.
After she told me what she wanted:
1. Low Risk
2. Short term [...]

Posted in Finances, Lifestyle 1 Comment »

A while ago, I wrote about the invincibility complex and that you should be really careful with it.
I’m a skeptical by nature, so it’s easier for me to expect that good things won’t last forever.
But for those of you that are too optimistic, you should step back and take a deep breath.
Some economists are not [...]

Posted in Finances, Lifestyle 1 Comment »

So Christmas is over and the expenses are finally sinking in. You probably went over budget on food, decorations and specially gifts. It’s hard to keep things under budget. I blame it on the Xmas spirit.
We always hear that it’s not really the value of the gift that’s important, but the thought behind it, [...]

Posted in Family, Finances, Lifestyle No Comments »

A few months ago I met a couple from my distant home country (and town). They had good jobs back home (both in the IT industry) and had a good life, but their company was acquired and they lost their jobs, making them decide (after a few frustrating years trying to get back on their feet) to come to [...]

Posted in Finances, Lifestyle 5 Comments »

Found a great blog today. It’s very local, so it might not interest you that much, but it has great info about mortgages, the housing bubble and foreclosures.
I liked this article on how a couple making $130k/yr was still able to lose their home.
If you live in SoCal, or if you’re interested in buying a [...]

Posted in Lifestyle, Real State No Comments »

Things have been quite chaotic these past few weeks.
My son was born on the 16th. He was born with a tie tongue, so it was really hurting his mom when breastfeeding. We finally figured the problem and clipped his tongue, but her breasts were already really damaged.
A week later she started having fevers and we [...]

Posted in Family, Lifestyle 1 Comment »

My wife gave birth this past Monday night. Unfortunately the kid looks too much like me for me to deny anything, so another mouth to feed
Kids are expensive to raise, so I know I’m going to have to update my budget. I want to get a couple of months before updating it, but [...]

Posted in Family, Finances, Lifestyle 4 Comments »

We’re jumping in the green wagon. We finally checked out a Whole Foods Market close to our home and we loved it.
As expected, things are a bit more expensive (10-30% more), but we decided to go for it and start buying organic vegetables and fruits. I’m expecting our grocery expenses to go up $50 per [...]

Posted in Finances, Lifestyle No Comments »

I was never one to fear death. I’m not a religious person, so I don’t have a specific belief on what happens after life. For me it’s just something natural that all of us will have to go through and when that happens, I’ll learn if anyone was ever right or if they were all [...]

Posted in Family, Lifestyle 2 Comments »