I asked my girlfriend to be my wife and she said…YES! Now comes the stress and agony of preparing for the wedding! I just came back from a friend’s wedding this past weekend and it was a lot of fun. They told me that they spent about $23,000 for the entire wedding and reception for about 230 people, equating to $100/head. This is I think pretty reasonable. They were able to get a massive discount for having the wedding in the middle of a holiday weekend, which I might have to consider for my wedding.

I was smart by saving early for the engagement ring but I forgot to consider saving for the wedding ceremony and reception. So, I’m in a big hole to start things off. We haven’t set the wedding date yet, but I figure we’ll give it about 8 months or so from today, giving us about spring time of 2011 time frame. My goal right now is to be able to have $10,000 available to spend on the wedding. Our wedding budget is still unknown because my folks and her folks will talk things over and come to an agreement on how to finance for the wedding. I don’t expect them to pay for everything, so having some money available will be nice and will relieve some burdens off of the parents. On top of that, I also want to have about $5,000 available for the honeymoon. Since my fiance will be in school during the spring time, we might have to postpone the honeymoon until the summer, which will give me more time to try to save up as much money as possible. So, essentially, I would need to save $15,000 in about 1 year. It’ll be hard, but I think I can do it.

How To Save For Wedding

My plan is to open up a brand new online savings account, probably Discover Bank or Everbank, due to their high-yield return, and dump all of my savings into that account. My other savings account will just sit there and collect interest in the mean time. Currently, I have been saving about $800-$1300 every month so all of that will go into my new savings account. If things are tight, I will probably need to re-evaluate my budget spreadsheet so I can save a little more every month. At this rate, by the time spring rolls around, I will have $10,000 saved up. For $5,000 needed for the honeymoon, I will probably need to rely heavily on my tax returns. I will also continue to save for couple more months at $800-$1300 so I think I will be OK in that category as well.

That’s what I’m thinking at the top of my head at the moment and plans will most likely change. But what’s for sure is that I need a good financial plan and need to stick to it no matter what. Any suggestions or ideas would be much appreciated.

I will be traveling this weekend, starting tomorrow morning for the long 4th of July holiday. Driving from Baltimore to North Jersey isn’t that long of a drive, but it still is about 4 hours.  Although I’ve done this drive on many occasions, I still make sure that my car is in good condition to be driven continuously for a few hours. The last thing I want is to be stranded, unprepared for the unfortunate situation. During long trips, I also try to remember methods to increase gas mileage while driving as well. At least in New Jersey, I don’t have to pump my own gas at the gas station.

Rain-X

I always reapply Rain-X on my windshield. It helps so much when it rains. Sometimes, wipers aren’t even needed. I hate it when I’m stuck in a torrential downpour and my windshield wipers can’t keep up.

Spare Tire

I just make sure that I still have a spare tire in the trunk and is filled with proper air pressure. You don’t want to be in a situation where you need a spare tire but is out of air.

Flashlight With Batteries

I always keep a flashlight in my car. But since I don’t use it on a regular basis, I bring an extra pack of batteries, just in case.

Jumper Cables

For obvious reasons, jumper cables will always come in handy when you accidentally left the headlights on.

GPS

I don’t worry too much about GPS since my iPhone is already integrated with one. Most smart phones have one nowadays and are good enough to get you back on track if you made the wrong turn somewhere.

Radar Detector

With highway driving, speeding is always a concern. Turn your radar detector on to help you slow down if a cop is nearby. If you are pulled over, remember you don’t have to receive a speeding ticket.

Anti-Nausea Medicine

I get motion sickness very often, especially when I’m not in the driver seat. I don’t quite know what it is, but if I’m not driving the car, something happens and I get sick. I recently learned about Dramamine and it works like a charm.

AAA

If you don’t have roadside assistance program from your auto insurance or car dealership, AAA should be a good option. They’ll basically do anything and everything for you if you are stranded on the side of the road. They’ll tow your car, change your tire, jump start the car, open locked doors, and even give you gas if you run out.

What else do you do for your road trips?

On Tuesday, Hulu announced the launch of their paid subscription service. The service runs at $9.99 per month and subscribers can watch most of recent TV shows from the current season, along with episodes of past seasons, including the popular shows such as Glee, Office, and House among others from ABC, NBC, and Fox. At $9.99, the service becomes affordable and I know for  fact that more people than not are willing to pay for the subscription to watch their favorite TV shows at any time they want. Hulu’s On-Demand subscription service will compete with streaming content of offered by Netflix. Netflix currently does not offer too many of the popular current network TV shows so Hulu will have an advantage over Netflix in this category.

Which is better?

I still believe Netflix has a huge edge of Hulu. Netflix is more affordable at $8.99/mo and you still receive unlimited DVD rental included with your service. Netflix also have blue-ray players and playstation,  Wii consoles and even Roku media players to help you stream content onto your TV. However, Hulu does have plans to launch their service to be compatible with playstation in the future. Hulu also will still have advertisement in their streaming content. This is a huge negative for viewers especially since they are actually paying for the content. Netflix has no advertisement in their streaming content.

Hulu’s service is currently available by invitation only and has plans to release to the entire public in the near future.

What will you do?

When it becomes available to everyone, will you pay for their currently free content? I probably won’t.

Refer to my other Netflix posts:

Netflix Streaming Review: Save Money With Netflix
Roku Becomes Friendlier with Netflix
Use Your Wii To Stream Netflix, Save 10%
Netflix Reaches 15 Million Subscribers

It appears that more and more people in America are quitting their jobs on their own. The news was alarming to me since I figure the recession would cause people to hold onto their jobs more tightly. According to a news article posted on Yahoo Finance, more people left their jobs compared to those who were fired or laid off. The primary reason being that employees quit to further their career, whether it be for schooling or for a better job at a new company.

For me, I’ve been working as an engineer since January 2003 and now I’m currently on my 3rd job. And the past two jobs, I left on my own for one reason or another.

What about you? Besides hitting it big in the Powerball or Mega Millions, what are some of your reasons for leaving your old previous company? Would you ever consider leaving your current job despite the current economic recession?

I know American soccer isn’t has popular as let’s say, NBA or NFL, but there are still some loyal followers. First, congrats to the Lakers for winning their 5th championship in 11 years. Can you say dynasty? Well, today, following a tie against England last week, United States was down 2-0 in the first half before they made a furious comeback to tie the game at 2-2. They’re currently in 2nd place in their group with still hopes in making it to the next round. Did you see the goal that was taken away in the 86th minute? That would’ve given us the lead and probably the win. What a call that was! Who do you root for? Who do you think will win?

If you’re a soccer (or futbol) fan, you know what I’m talking about. Do you think we’ll advance to the next round of 16? Go get your World Cup gear at Fifa.com. They have all sorts of soccer apparels for all the teams, even North Korea! For this weekend only, enjoy FREE SHIPPING with at least $100 in purchases. Simply use FREESHIP at checkout. Alternatively, you can save $10 on your $100+ purchases by using FIFA100 at checkout.

GO USA!

How often do you receive a traffic ticket? One a year? Once every two years? For me, I’ve had a perfect record for the past 7 years. I’ve been pulled over a few times but I’ve never received any points or fines. Not only did I save money by not having to pay any fines, I saved money in my auto insurance for not carrying any points. So it really does pay to be safe and careful driver.

The last 4 times I was pulled over, over the course of perhaps 7 years, I was given a warning. No tickets, no fines, and no points. It was great! How did I do it? I’m not quite sure, probably mostly good luck. The best way to avoid a speeding ticket is, well, not speeding. But when you do and find yourself in the unfortunate situation, it’s good to know ways to maximize your chances of not receiving the fine. Here’s my attempt to summarize what happened in each of those times.

Situation 1

I was with a group of friends after a night of a few drinks. It was 1 am and I was making a left turn on an intersection with flashing red light and cut-off the cop from the oncoming lane.

cop: What the HELL are you doing???
me: I’m sorry sir, I didn’t…
cop: You realize you not only did not stop at the flashing light but also succeeded to cut me off!
me: I’m sorry sir, I didn’t…
cop: It smells like a BREWERY in here! Have you been drinking?!?!!
me: Uh, only a couple drinks.
friend: Officer, it’s me! I’ve been drinking!!
cop: Where are you going?
me: We’re headed home sir.
cop: If I wasn’t so busy tonight, I’d make you do a sobriety test! You got lucky!
me: Ok.
cop: Drive careful!
me: Thank you sir.

Situation 2

I had bought my house and the builders were in process of breaking ground. I was driving by scoping out the neighborhood.

cop: You were going 47 on 35. The reason we’re being so strict is because of the new school that was built. They want us to be extra protective of aggressive drivers.
me: Oh ok. Yeah, I know about the school. I just bought my house here and I was just scoping out the neighborhood.
cop: Really? Where is it?
me: It’s over there (me pointing my finger).
cop: Oh you’re good then. This neighborhood is really nice. That neighborhood (him pointing his finger) is more dangerous. It’s section 8. You want to stay away from there. But you’re good here. It’s a good location.
me: Really? hmm…
cop: Can I see your license and registration?
me: Ok.
cop: (After coming back) I’m gonna give you a warning. I don’t want to mess your perfect driving record up because of this.
me: Thank you sir. Have a good day!

Situation 3

I was driving 52 on 40. I saw the cop in the corner but it was too late.

cop: You were going 52. the speed limit is 40 here. License and registration.
me: (I give him my license and registration)
me (talking to my friend): Man, he doesn’t seem like a friendly cop. He’s gonna give me a ticket.
friend: You’re SO getting a ticket!
me (talking to my friend): Yeah..sigh…
friend: Yeah, you have NO chance.
cop: It’s a warning. Have a nice day.
me: Thank you sir!!
me (talking to my friend): WHOA!
friend: WHOA!

Situation 4

I was driving home from work as usual.

cop: Are you TRYING to receive a citation tonight???
me: Uh..uh, umm..
cop: I think you are ‘cuz you’re doing everything right to get one!!
me: Uh..umm…umm..
cop: First you drive right past me. I was doing 62 and you zipped right by me. I was on lane 1, you were on 3. Yeah, you zipped right by me. Then you drive way too close to the car in front of you.
me: Oh..umm…I really don’t have an excuse.
cop: Are you in a hurry? Where are you going?
me: No sir, I’m just going home from work.
cop: You know this is the worst time of day to be speeding. You’ve been stuck at work all day and you’re a bit tired and drained, making you not 100% to be driving. Am I right?
me: Yes sir. You’re absolutely correct.
cop: Let me see your license.
cop: Odenton, you still got a bit of a drive to go. How do you say your last name?
me: Jung, J-U-N-G.
cop: I’m gonna give you a warning. Drive slower and more carefully!
me: Thank you sir, I really appreciate it.
me: I REALLY appreciate it.

So as you can see, I’ve gotten very lucky in each of these occasions. It’s not by skill or talent, it was just pure luck. But I did notice a few similarities in each of these situations. So, here are my advice of how not to get a ticket when pulled over:

How do you get out of your ticket?

So by  now, everyone’s heard the news, watched the news, and heard it and watched it over and over again. A veteran umpire for major league baseball unarguably made the worst call ever in his entire umpiring career. When Joyce called the 27th batter safe with two outs in the 9th inning, in the verge of throwing a perfect game, pitcher Armando Galaragga was denied the 21st perfect game of the entire major league history. Everyone’s heart sank when the batter was called safe. They all felt bad for the pitcher. But we all have to feel pretty bad for the umpire as well. Will he ever be forgiven for making such a bad call at such a critical moment in baseball history? Will this call go down as the worst call ever in any sporting event history?

After seeing the replay after the game, Jim Joyce personally apologized to the pitcher for making a mistake and his apology was accepted. The next day, even the fans appreciated Jim’s professionalism of apologizing by applauding him instead of booing him. Jim Joyce was forgiven for his mistake.

So, what does this topic has anything to do with this personal finance? How does this help you with increasing your net worth? Well, when I heard this story, it reminded me of one big financial mistake I made a few years back. You see, after working at my very first job after graduating with an engineering degree, I didn’t know what to do with all the money I was saving. In fact, I saved over $20,000 during my first year of work while making $43,000 gross that year. I’ve never seen my bank account rise so high before. So, I became a little more careless with my money and started investing in high-risk high-reward penny stocks. Penny stocks are stocks that are not regulated by anyone and the price can be manipulated by market movers very easily. One morning I saw my $5,000 portfolio skyrocket to $27,000! It was a 5-bagger indeed and I probably peed in my pants about 3-4 times that day.

What does a young man do when he sees that kind of wealth in such a short amount of time? What would any reasonably smart person do in that situation? For me, all the signs were pointing at sell and take the profits. No one sees a 5-bagger in one day! It was truly a once in a lifetime moment. While all of the signs were pointing to sell, I could not. I went home during lunch that day to think about my options, but after staring at my portfolio for 15 minutes, I decided to hold on to it, hoping it would go up more.

That was my first mistake.

That day, the peak price occurred during lunch time when I was contemplating to sell. From that moment on, I saw the stock price go down steadily. I 5-bagger had become only a 2-bagger. I could’ve still sold that moment and make a decent profit. But instead, I decided to buy more shares. Yeah, I bought more shares and as the price continued to fall, I bought even more. I didn’t know what I was thinking and I definitely had no idea what I was doing. I was a victim of stupidity.

That year, I ended up losing over $25,000 investing in stocks, penny stocks that is. I vowed never to go back to penny stocks after that year. That was over 7 years ago and I’ve learned to forgive myself from those mistakes. As long as I don’t make the same mistake again, I think I’ll be OK. Just as Jim Joyce needs to move on from his mistake, I learned to move on from my mistake as well. I know the analogy here is a little far-fetched, but I was reminded of my mistakes.  Hopefully, you’ll be able to learn from the mistakes I’ve made.

If you like, you can open up a TradeKing account at . It’s free to open and costs only $4.95 per trade. It’s the lowest I’ve seen. TDAmeritrade charges $9.99 per trade and eTrade charges anywhere from $7.99 to $9.99 depending on how many trades you make. Scottrade charges $7 per trade. Sign up, but stay away from penny stocks!

This past week’s Powerball jackpot was at an astounding $220 million dollars. And I WON! Only $4 but I still won! Actually, I really lost since I invested $5 in those tickets and only got $4 in return. But fortunately, no one won the jackpot so this week’s jackpot is at around $260 million dollars! What would you do with that kind of money?

First off, if you won the jackpot, would you take the lump sum cash value at $134 million or take the annualized 30 payments over 29 years. There are advantages and disadvantages for both options. It’s always thrilling to have a big lump of over $100 million right way. You’ll be an instant 9-figure-aire. Who wouldn’t want that? But then again, I hear so many stories where big jackpot winners often go broke and become worse off then before winning because of poor money management. If you take the annuity option, it pretty much guarantees you of not being broke for the next 30 years. And you still become an instant multi-millionaire!  You can’t replace the sense of financial security that comes along with choosing this option.

What would you do? How would you spend your winnings? Would you live your life and budget your money the same way?

Don’t Play The Odds

I try to play the big lottery games when the jackpot reaches over $100 million. So, that means I’ll be playing the Powerball again for this coming Wednesday’s drawing. I don’t go overboard and buy hundred of tickets. I only spend $5 each time and that’s enough for me. The odds of winning the jackpot is 1 in 195 million. If I buy two tickets, I’ll double my odds. When I buy 5 tickets, I increase my odds five fold. But really, whether your odds are 1 in 195 million or 5 in 195 million, the odds are stacked heavily against you…EXTREMELY heavily. So I really don’t understand those who spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars playing these games. Consider this. A lottery vendor probably sells thousands of tickets for each drawing, if not more. And yet, over the course of 10 years, more than likely, that vendor probably has not sold the winning ticket ever. So if you want to play, play for fun. Don’t go broke playing it.

How To Play Powerball

In Maryland, there are two major jackpot lottery games: Powerball and Mega Millions. They’re essentially the same game, run by different companies. The rules are the same and but the odds are slightly different. Basically, 5 numbers are drawn from one single drum and the Powerball (or Mega Ball) is drawn from a separate drum. If you match all 6 numbers, then you win the jackpot.

For Powerball, 5 balls are drawn from a single drum of 59 balls numbered from 1-59. The Powerball is drawn from a separate drum filled with 35 balls numbered from 1-35. For Mega Millions, 5 balls are drawn from a single drum of 56 balls numbered from 1-56. The Megaball is drawn from a separate drum filled with 46 balls numbered from 1-46. So you can already see that the odds will be slightly different. This means that the payout will be slightly different as well.

It looks like the odds and payouts are slightly better with Mega Millions than Powerball. But when you’re playing for big bucks and the odds are sky high, the differences are neglible. Since the jackpot for Powerball is $260 million for this week and a measily $12 million for Mega Millions, I will be investing my $5 in Powerball. Remember, when you play these mega jackpot lottery games, don’t worry about the odds. Just have fun and hope for the best!

What was the most you’ve ever won in a lottery game? The most I won was $15 playing Keno.

Roku media player, specifically known for playing Netflix streaming content on your TV finally updated their app to be more user friendly when streaming netflix. You see, before this update, if you wanted to watch Netflix on your TV using Roku media player, you could only play content from your instant que. There was no way to browse any of the thousands of selections Netflix offers. But now, you can browse the entire Netflix library of video content from your TV.

Netflix is Good, Roku is Not

I’ve been a Netflix subscriber for almost a year now and I’m enjoying every bit of it. For $9.53/mo, I can rent as many DVDs as I want, one at a time and unlimited streaming content. I think it’s a bargain. I previously posted a review on netflix based on my personal experience and I still stand by it. I don’t own a roku player so I can’t give a personal review on it, but I can tell you right now that I would never purchase such player. Not only is it $80 for the player, there are so many other ways to watch netflix on your TV. There’splaystation 3, Wii, and don’t forget a few DVD players that are compatible with netflix. If you already have a Wii or playstation 3, then you’re good to go. I’ve seen my friends use it and it seems very easy to use. You can browse all their selections, select your choice and start watching instantly. But for me, I’m still able to watch netflix on my TV without any of those players. I simply connect my laptop to my TV using an HDMI cable. Can’t get simpler than that. That way you don’t need to purchase any additional equipment.

Do you subscribe to Netflix? Do you own a Roku? Share your thoughts.

Refer to my other Netflix posts:

Netflix Streaming Review: Save Money With Netflix
Use Your Wii To Stream Netflix, Save 10%
Hulu Competes With Netflix
Netflix Reaches 15 Million Subscribers

If someone told me I can save 15% at my favorite restaurant, I would ask him where I can get the coupon. But what I’m about to share with you doesn’t require any coupons or VIP membership signup, or anything like that. All you have to do is go to your favorite restaurant and get the discount. Too simple and too easy to be true? What’s the catch? Well, there is no catch! No catch at all!

Ok, ok, I lied…there is a small catch. Let me explain how this works. It will blow your mind so make sure you’re sitting down when you read what I’m about to say next.

No Coupons Necessary

When you dine at a restaurant, whether it be at McDonald’s or at a fine restaurant, you probably place your drink orders first. Sometimes you order wine to start things off. Other times, you might want beer. But most of the times, you’ll order some sort of soda, like Coke or Sprite. Perhaps, you always order a non-carbonated drink such as iced-tea or lemonade. Besides alcoholic drinks, most beverages cost about the same, somewhere between $2-$3, with unlimited refills, of course. Do you now see where I’m going with this? For me, whenever I go out, my typical bill for myself is usually around $15, sometimes it goes up to $20 or even more. If I order a glass of water instead of soda, that’s $2-3 I save, which equates to anywhere from 10-20% savings from the total bill.

Say No To Soda

The small catch I was referring to earlier is basically the fact that you must resort do drinking water as your beverage. Not really a huge sacrifice, and water is healthier for you anyway. After I realized how much I was paying for a little thirst quencher (not really), I stopped ordering drinks altogether. I always get water instead. It probably saved me hundreds of dollars over the course of several years of realizing this phenomenon. So, next time when you’re dining out, choose water instead and you could save 15% on your dinner bill.

Do you have other ways you save when you dine out? Please share so we can all enjoy the extra savings.