New year and new challenges

Happy new year everyone!  I have been away from my blogs for a while since I spent the last couple weeks in our new home down in Southern California.  My inlaws are moving to the Philippines in about 10 days and this may be the last Christmas we will spend with them in California.  This year we do  plan to go to the Philippines to visit them for Christmas.   The last two weeks was filled with a flurry activity.  We saw my sister in law get married in Temecula to her Navy seaman and then my parents made a drive down for a couple days.  We took them to the San Diego Zoo and also Hollywood Blvd.  My husband also had the chance to see quite a few friends and have dinner with them.

Christmas was lean last year because everyone is trying to save money.  The only shopping trip we went on was after Christmas at the local mall.   I lounged a bit in the Bath & Body Works since they were having a sale, but ultimately did not buy anything.  In the end, we went to  TJ Maxx with my parents since my mom is a big fan of that store, but I have never been in one.    TJ Maxx is kind of like Ross where brand name goods  are heavily discounted for consumers. I was surprised that they had a huge selection of beauty products including AHAVA brand moisturizers that my hubby got me from Israel one year.  My mother often buys the cosmetics there as gifts for friends in China because they are really into brands in China.   Anyway, this was the place I did the bulk of Christmas shopping.  I bought two large bottles of shampoo, a camera case for my dad, a shirt for my mom, and a pair of  PJs for myself.  Everything came under $45 since the store is so discounted.  You do have to dig a bit through the many multicolored shelves, but there are plenty of heavily discounted goods to be found.

For my inlaws we waived their rent payment on the house for these last few days and didn’t really buy anything new for them because they are  trying to get rid of everything in the house right now.  They actually gave us one of the presents we got them last year for Christmas because they can’t bring it to the Philippines.  Every single day we were doing some packing and sorting because a lot of things had to go.

On New Year’s day we drove a caravan back up here to Northern California with quite a bit of furniture and kitchen goods.  My inlaws also sold one of their cars to an aunt so they’re going home with less stuff.  It took us another half day to sort everything into our closets and storage spaces.   So basically we have been quite busy.

We also found a family that agreed to be caretakers for our house after my inlaws leave.  We reserved the right to use the downstairs guest room at anytime and they will be taking care of the gardening, pool, and utilities.  It is really an awesome deal for them, but we’re hoping it will not be long term.  The hubby is really contemplating moving down south, but we would need to secure employment there and that seems to be a lot tougher than getting jobs in the Silicon Valley.  Also, the hubby is waiting for his company’s games to be published this year so that he could say on his resume that he has shipped a couple games.  So basically we won’t be moving for at least one year.   Honestly speaking, if we both had jobs with comparable pay the quality of life is a lot higher there because the cost of living is quite a bit lower.   We could actually just live on one income if we moved into our house because it’s cheaper than renting a two bedroom apartment here.  The public elementary and middle schools there also have pretty high ratings so my hubby says that it’s more likely we’d move after we have kids.   As my friend Michael jokingly (or maybe seriously)  said once, “the Bay Area is where you work really hard for a crappier life”.

Even though this year  has just begun, I already have a list of things I’m planning to do.  First, I am seriously looking into a refinance even though we just bought the home a few months ago.  The reason is that interest rates have come down significantly in the last month because of the Fed’s plan to buy mortgage backed securities.  If you have significant equity in your home, good credit, and good income then it may be a good time to refinance, also.  I’m specifically looking into a no-cost refinance and right now I’m watching the rates at IndyMac and Technology Credit Union.  IndyMac quoted me a no-cost refinance rate of 4.75% a couple weeks ago but it was impossible for me to get all the paperwork through and their phonelines are always busy. They’ve also been sold to a bunch of private investors so I’m not sure the rates will ever get that low again.   Technology Credit Union is a local Silicon Valley credit union and they have a pretty straightforward online application so I’m watching the rates there.  They also answered phone calls pretty quickly when I called so I may do the no-cost refinance with them when the rate drops a little lower.  Their rate is currently at 5.25% for the no cost and lower than 5% with costs.  This credit union is for people who work or live in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Contra Costa, and Alameda, so pretty much most Bay Area folks can qualify for membership.

The next beast on my list is taxes for the year of 2008.  I may hire a professional this year to do it because I exercised some stock options last year and  bought the house with the hubby.  Seriously, I really hate taxes.

I think the rest of 2009 should be quite interesting since Barack Obama will be the new president.  Will the United States be revitalized or go down the tubes?  No one knows yet, but we will be okay as long as we trust God and be responsible with our own actions.  This is a year that will be filled with challenges for everyone around the world, and hopefully these events make us stronger and more prudent in the years to come.

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