This Christmas break when I went home for the holidays my family has persuaded me to pay off the two credit cards I don’t use. Those two are just sitting in a drawer collecting dust and I’m making regular payments on them but I couldn’t really think of a convincing argument as to why I don’t pay those off other than it makes me feel better to have X amount of assets. Well, to pay those off I’m going to have to use up my “emergency” savings. What argument is there really?

The total debt is less than $2,600 but that’s more than half of my savings. The amount I have saved up is just pocket change compared to what most people have saved up but it’s my hard earned money. Although my net worth is going to stay the same, my assets will be dropped heavily!

I’ll have to do this next year when my interest for the savings account goes through, then I’ll pay everything off on my Citi Diamond Preferred and BofA World Points. Those two credit cards I’ll just be able to crumble up and toss away. However, Citi has been treating me extremely well and they sent me a letter asking what they can do for me regarding reward points, lower APR, and other services.

Also, I just got money for Christmas. Money is the best gift of all.

I’m giving AdSense a 3 month trial run to see how it works out. If I like what I’m seeing, I’ll leave it there. If I don’t, then I’ll remove it after 3 months.

At first it was showing relevant ads, now it’s showing me something about music. What the hell?

After Thanksgiving weekend, everyone starts to prepare for Christmas. This year, Ro-chan, our two roommates, and I are going to give each other Christmas lists. Ro-chan and I are giving each other three things we must buy as gifts, each item worth a max of $50, and can combine two items for a max of a $100 worth gift. Two roommates are getting just $50 gifts. This is potentially going to be a total of $250 spent on three people.

Here’s mine to Ro-chan:

1. PBF Comic Signed Prints - $25 and $15
Toad Race
Mrs. Hammer

They come as 11″ x 17″ color prints on glossy card stock and signed by the artist. I’m going to frame them as well. These are going to sweet decorations for my wall when I move in to my new place sometime early next year.

2. Survival Kit - $70 (including tax)
LED Maglite Flashlight - 3 D Cell - $33
Flint - $6
Jumper Cables - $10
First Aid Kit - $15

I watch way too much Discovery and National Geographic channels. I should be able to get all of this at Sports Authority!

3. I don’t think I want anything else… She can save the money.

To roommate #1:
Running Shoes - Less than $50
My fat ass is going to need running shoes because I’m going to get back in shape!

To roommate #2:
Frames for PBF prints - $45?

I’m going to spending $250 for three people, probably more if my close friends decide to give me stuff as well… Or maybe I should get them something first! I’m not sure. I want to limit my budget to no more than $350. I kind of don’t want to give my other roommate anything because I want to save money. I’ll get him some home-made Christmas cards! I can make them at work for free. When I get everyone’s lists, I’ll post an article on how I’m going to save money on the purchases and stuff.

About a week ago, my car’s left headlight went out. I decided to get them replaced with white halogen lights by Silverstar. The ones I bought at Kragen’s Auto Center cost me around $50 for a pair, while the regular yellow halogen lites would’ve cost me about $15. During the switch, I found out that my old headlight wasn’t dead, but just somehow popped out of place and just needed to be pushed back in. Goodbye, $50. But they look really good though! White light makes driving at night better.

My car also needs windshield wiper blades. This will cost me about $22 each if I order from tirerack.com. Dammit, that means it’ll cost me another $50 after taxes. Maybe I’ll shop around at local auto supply stores to compare prices.

Oil change. It’s been long overdue and I can’t be lazy with changing it on a car that’s getting old. The closest place to get an oil change is at Jiffy Lube, but their “Signature Service Oil Change” (the most basic oil change service offered) is $36.99. Even with their $7 off coupon, it’s still over $30 bucks. I wish they had a EZ Lube around here. I might have to go to Econo Lube N’ Tune? I heard their oil change only costs $25 only.

I’m going to apply for a Costco membership finally. $50 again, but it’s per year. I hear they have filet mignon (6) for $12.99. I believe this alone is well worth the deal! Additionally, buying in bulk will save me more money in the long run.

I’m pretty bored at work today. I got to go have lunch at this Chinese buffet with Ro-chan soon, so I’m going to write this post before I head out.

So according to my My Portfolio services (free) at Bank of America’s website, I am currently worth -910.90 after adding up my total assets and subtracting all my liabilities, which is only just credit card debt. And add -175.25, rolleyes hosting bill, to that so I’m really worth a -1086.15. That’s not good, but it’s not terrible considering I will be getting paid on Monday to bring the total worth to a small negative sum very close to an even zero. Still, it’s nothing to be brag or feel wealthy for. I’d rather not say how much I have and how much I owe right now because it’s a tiny number, so maybe when I’m super awesome financially I’ll post something.

Out of my four credit cards I have, American Express Blue Sky, Bank of America World Points, Capital One Platinum, and Citi Diamond Preferred Card, the AmEx has the highest balance and the highest APR of 13%. I guess I have a weird goal of getting enough reward points to earn some free travels later on in life, but I know I’m too lazy to keep up with the points. Fortunately for me, the points never expire.

After doing some decent sized spendings ($175 for rolleyes hosting; $240 for Laker tickets; $95 for hotel in SD) for someone who makes less than $25k/year, I decided to retire my AmEx, and only use it for trip related purchases. Which means it’ll go in to Ro-chan’s and my credit card grave.

Starting January, I’ll hopefully be able to start a new job as a police officer in my city. It certainly pays well and it’ll easily destroy the debt I have. My debt is pretty small compared to most people’s, but as a recent college graduate without a “real” full-time job, any debt is a semi-serious issue. But even if everything goes well, to become an actual police officer, the process will take a long time. I’m going to go with the worst case scenario and say 6 months. Hopefully by beginning of 2008, I will be situated in my new career. Wish me luck.