The Bed Sheet

*Permission granted by the author*

Recently my roommate and I were shopping for a new bed sheet set. As I finally move in to my new apartment for my new job, I decided that I have to have at least a new bed sheet set for my queen bed. My roommate was kind enough to allocate her time to shop with me, as she doesn't need a new bed sheet.

We went to the mall, browse around from one store to another store. From Macy's, JC Penney, to Sears, to even the stores that sell bed sheet set and pillow separately. After a good hour of browsing here and there, I finally made up my choice to the JC Penney Homes Collections brand. It was a good 300 count thread.  I know 400 and higher will be much nicer, but I don't have much in my budget for that! This one is priced at $50, and with stores' discount, the final price is at $29.99. Not bad at all considering the other set was in a range between $100 to $150!

So after shopping, we went home to our apartment. I set the new bed sheet immediately! I love getting new stuff! The new bed sheet feels good. It is soft enough to my skin, and I feel very comfortable in it.

Twenty minutes later, my roommate came in and said,"Andrea, you need to see this! In this website, you'll get 3 bed sheets set for only $56!!! I think you should return the one you just bought and get this one instead!"

Normally I would jump in and do it right away. 3 for $56, that means each one only priced at $18.66! Which is way cheaper than the $29.99 I just bought. But something hold my ground. This time, I stop and think first. My gut feeling is saying that I shouldn't do this. Why?

Because:
1. Do I really want to spend another hour to do all these stuff? Pull the bed sheet away from my bed, into the box, drive back to the mall, return it to the store, and then go back from the store, get online, and buy the new bed sheet? Right now at this point I don't have to do anything more as I already reach my goal: new bed sheet. I value my time. I really don't want to spend another time doing this again.

2. Am I really saving money by doing all these? Looks like it'll be cheaper to buy the 3 set for $56 vs 1 set for $30, but technically I have to spend $56. I can't spend just $18 in that online deal. If I spend $56, that means I have to shelled out $26 more from my pocket. I value my money. That $26 can go towards something else, like... saving!

3. Plus, do I really need the other 2 bed sheets? I only have 1 bed. And I don't think I'm diligent enough to change to the new bed sheet every now and then. Besides, usually I just wash them and put it back on again every time I need to change it. I don't want to end up having too many stuff that I won't need. Especially if I need to move again in the near future. I value my space. I don't want to have cluttered space storing stuff I don't need.

Conclusion: I said thank you to my roommate and politely decline her offer. I'm sure she has the very best intention, but in the end of the day, I already found the bed sheet I need, and now I can move on to the next thing that I need to do: finish unpacking my boxes! The sooner I finish these, the sooner I can relax in my new bed sheet!

Important Reminders

I've been away from blogging for the last 6 months, and I recently published my 125th blog post this morning. But just because I was away from blogging, it doesn't mean that I did nothing. As a matter of fact, I've been learning so many invaluable lessons from work and life in general.

I was busy at work and home. I literally had no time for anything else beside work, family, rest, and sleep. It's not that I think work is more important than anything else, but in reality, I do need to go to work if I want to be able to pay bills. Living is not cheap, you have to buy food, gas, pay mortgage (or rent) and other utilities that doesn't pay by itself (well, unless if you do the auto pay, but still you will need an incoming income to support that!). Rest is also important (gaming, Netflixing, etc), to keep my battery "recharged" and feel refreshed the next day after a good night sleep.

Nonetheless, now that I have a little bit of time for myself, I want to put these important reminders in this blog. This way I can share it with you and put a friendly reminder to myself just in case I wander in life aimlessly.

1. Life is a marathon.
Life is not a sprint. It's not just a matter from point A to point B.  Once you reach point B, you'll either have to think about point C, or life will push you to point D and you have to deal with it. Life never stops. I found that I feel more alive when I know that I'm running a marathon of life, which means I have a destination to reach, I have a goal to get, I have a target to hit. I compared myself between when I have a goal, and when I don't set a goal to myself, to be just "Que Sera Sera". I came to the conclusion that when I have a goal to achieve, I work more productively and I produced better results. It doesn't have to be a crazy goal, it's just have to be smart. The fact knowing that you did everything you can to get to your goal, it'll fulfill you. Remember, there is no comfort zone. Keep your eyes on the prize, and don't just fixate your vision, but RUN for it. Run to the finish line!

2. Don't be complacent.
Reached your goal? Good! But don't stop there. Get busy to your next goal. Don't let the last winning be your last. Do continue! Keep moving! Better get hustle! Keep going to where you need to be going. Create that momentum. You know what momentum is? Momentum is a force or speed of movement. You keep going until you hit the critical mass of whatever it is you're doing, until you became unstoppable. You won't reach momentum if you slacking, by stopping here and there, and especially by being complacent. So quit your daydreaming and back to working on your goals. Stop living in fantasy and get back to real world. What happened in the past, stay in the past. Move on!

3. Kaizen.
Sometimes we like to procrastinate. We like to delay on doing things we don't want to do. Who knows it'll go away so we don't have to do it anymore. Me myself included in this. Guilty! So one day after work, I told my husband that I was so disappointed at myself because I knew I was slacking. I didn't do my best. I found excuses on not giving myself 100%. My husband, the wise man he is, he simply put a YouTube video to help me overcome this laziness. Kaizen is basically an ideas of continuous improvement. There are great videos that worth to view for this Japanese principle:
a. How to apply it to improve your life.
b. A Japanese technique to overcome laziness.
c. Human Kaizen (Ted Talk)

The next day, I applied this Kaizen principle. I pushed myself to do things that I have to do even though I don't want to do it. I continuously improving my method, be more efficient, and magically my day was 180 degrees different than it was before. I produced better results, have better conversation with everyone I met, and leave work happier! I felt so accomplished! I said to myself: no more procrastinating! Do it now so you don't have to do it later!

There will be more important reminders in days head, but for now, I'll just focus on those three points above.

Life is a marathon, so don't be complacent; kaizen your way to reach your finish goal!

Home Fact: 1981 vs 2011

Interesting factoid:

In October 1981, average sales price of new homes sold in US was at $82,500.
The 30 year FRM (fixed-year mortgage) was at 18.45%.

Fast forward 30 years later, October 2011, new homes prices was at $242,300.
The 30 year FRM was at 4.07%.

Assuming no refinance happened in both scenario (house not being sold either, in both case the borrower paid the house fully 30 years), here's what will happen:

1981.
Monthly payments: $1,273.
Total payments: $458,524.
Total interest: $376,024.

2011.
Monthly payments: $1,166 ==> $107 lower than 1981.
Total payments: $419,967 ==> $38,557 cheaper than 1981.
Total interest: $177,667 ==> $198,357 less expensive than 1981.

So technically, you'll pay less in 2011, versus 1981.

Interesting.