15% Discount on Verizon Wireless Monthly Plan

After many months of "encouraging" my employer to allow me to be the 25% discount agreement that the employer has with Verizon Wireless, I've finally given up on that idea. Instead, I obtained a general employee discount form and faxed in the 15% employee discount application to Verizon. Two days after I had faxed the two pager, consisting of a front fax cover page that Verizon provides, another page with my employer contact information, and a copy of my employee identification card, I received an email notification that I've been approved and thus, will bee seeing the 15% discount applied to next month's bill.

Of course, the easier route would be to verify your eligibility through Verizon Wireless website and apply on the website your work email address, however, my employer's got an annoying firewall protection, and I wasn't able to get any emails from Verizon to my work email. Faxing wasn't much of a hassle, and the response turn around time was great!

That'll be a total savings of ....get ready.......six bucks a month!!!!
I wish that there's some sarcasm involved in that last statement but I'll be honest, I'm appreciating those six bucks.

So if you have Verizon as your wireless carrier, check out if you're qualified for an employee discount at Verizon and register your cell line.

Cooking on a Budget

I've read alot of other blogs, such as Boston Gal's Openwallet, My Open Wallet, and Dawn's Frugal For Life, where recipes on a budget are often posted.

I have a chicken recipe that I often make to stay within my budget. It's probably already quite commonly known and made around the cooking circle. I find that it is quite stretchable in terms of the number of days it could last while still tasting yummy as well as it being cheap and easy to make.

Ingredients

A Whole Chicken
- I am quite lazy so I buy the whole rotisserie chicken from a major supermarket chain store, like Ralph's or Albertson's. If you buy after 10:30 pm, they sell it at a reduced price.
Cost = $4.99

Mayonnaise
1 small jar
- Always buy the store brand since they tend to be the cheapest.
Cost = $1.99

Yellow Mustard
1 small jar
Cost = $1.99

Capers
1 jar
Cost = $3.99

Black Olives
1 can
Cost = ~$1.00 (I got a can for $0.98)

Green Olives
1 can
Cost = ~$1.00/$0.98
- Add green olives if you wish to add variety.

Total Cost = $14.96

Method

- Slightly warm up the cooked rotisserie chicken, if it is not warm already. Break rotisserie chicken into thin strands or chunks. This is very easy if you use the rotisserie chicken since it falls apart very easily in your hands. If not, boil a whole chicken and add two spoonfuls of chicken stock in the boiling water.

- Add approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise and 1 to 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard. Most people might find 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise and 2 tablespoons of mustard to be abit much.

- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of capers. Again, 2 tablespoons should be fine.

- Chop up approximately 1/4 cup of Black and Green Olives each.

- Mix everything together.

You can eat this mixture by itself, over some greens/spinach/corn/beans as a salad, as a spread for sandwiches, or with rice. The remaining unused portions of olies, mayonnaise, mustard and capers should last and make two or three more dishes, so I make sure that they are handled and stored as cleanly as possible.

I find that this lasts me about 4 days, eating it by itself or with a slice of bread or rice for both lunch and dinner.

Not bad for approximately $15.00 for 4 days, with some ingredients left over to make additional batches.

A Play on the Impossible

Last night, at 7 p.m., I bought my first ever lotto ticket, er, actually, ticketS. With five lotto tickets in my hand, a dream in my mind, and a hungry look in my eyes, I sat down in front of sister's computer (I can't afford to replace my stolen computer yet) to check the winning number. Who can say no to a $110 Million possibility?

Someone in South Pasedena didn't and won, while I'm remain here with five pieces of scap paper in a corner.

HSBC Savings Account @ 5.05% Interest Rate

Now that HSBC has raised its interest rate to 5.05% , I need to allocate any future liquid savings to HSBC instead of concentrating in Emigrant Direct. 5.05% is just too good to ignore. I would only be able to save $200/month, if that, for the next three months, due to the recent burglary and a purchase of a pair of new glasses (I'm legally blind), so I won't bee seeing a huge jump in terms of the accrued interest.

However, has anyone noticed how much of a pain accessing HSBC can be at times? Their passwords can be a pain to type in!! I still haven't been able to memorize the passwords. However, especially after the burglary, I appreciate the fact that HSBC creates long numerical passwords as well as an additional password for accessing the external link for transferrable funds (i.e. your checking account, etc.). I guess I can't have both easy accessibility AND safe security for an online savings account.

Burglarized!!

Burglarized!!! I had my laptop and personal information stolen a couple of weeks ago from my home. So, during the past week or so, it has been a flurry of closing accounts and creating new accounts. All three credit agencies have been alerted as well as Social Security Administration (the burglars took my social security statements as well as bank statements, paycheck stubs, escrow papers, etc??!!).

Yesterday, I finally received my new credit cards and checks, so I can live freely without worrying how much cash I need to have on my body. Usually, I would have no more than $20 in my wallet, in order to control this inner spending beast of mine. But for the past couple weeks, I've had to carry at least $200.00 in my wallet at any one time to be prepared for anything!

I never knew that life without a credit card can be unsettling. I'm probably the opposite of everyone....I can control and budget what I spend by using a credit card everywhere (which I pay off every month in full), than to have cash on hand to pay for everything. I tend to buy useless and unnecessary things when I have cash in my hands....bills just "slip" away from my hands easier than with a credit card. Whenever I flash out a credit card, I pay more attention to the "needs" and "wants" table in my mind.

Also, I enrolled in a credit monitoring program through Citibank for the next few months. It is $6.95 a month, although the website says $9.95/month. The locks have been changed but the door still remains ugly with signs of a break-in. A new door with a metal frame has been bought. I no longer think that a security door is an ugly addition. A new laptop needs to be bought as well, so that I can work at home. Things are going to be very tight for the next several months. Just when things are getting back to normal, life throws me something rotten. There's no such thing as a good neighborhood that's 100% safe from petty burglaries!!!