End in Sight

Stopped by the rental house almost everyday this week to check on progress. Several things have had to be redone such as painting and straightening up cabinets. It's usually not a good thing to mix paint parts of the wall in semi-gloss and others in flat...but the end is in sight and the tenants are scheduled to take possession on November 1st.
Friday 10/21:
$11 lunch at Fire Dance
$13 takeout for 2 at KFC

Saturday 10/22:
$12 dinner at In-N-Out for 2
$15 shower curtain
$28 groceries at Vietnamese market

Sunday 10/23:
$60 kitchen cabinet
$82 supermarket
$0 prepared dinner

Monday 10/24:
$7 lunch at Chipotle
$170 over range hood
$220 TJ Maxx Homestore
$30 dinner for 2 at Lonestar Steakhouse (the best ribs! saved $14 with Entertainment card)

Tuesday 10/26:
$12 lunch at Thai Specialty
$0 leftovers for dinner
$28 stuff on Amazon.com

Wed 10/26
$7 lunch
$560 2 bookcases and cashmere throw at Mikim
$0 friend treated me to a bad Korean dinner

Thurs 10/27
$0 emergency drawer lunch
$1470 carpeting for rental property
$0 prepared dinner
$125 dumpster

Friday 10/28:
$14 treated colleague to lunch (saved $6 with coupon)
$11 dinner, takeout Mexican food for 2

Saturday 10/29:
$4 tollroads to Corona
$8 lunch for 2 at Weinerschnitzel
$3500 sprinkler system and sod for Corona rental #1
$3300 sprinkler system and sod for Corona rental #2
$3800 concrete path, dog run and patio at Corona rental #1
$3300 concrete path, dog run and patio at Corona rental #2
$220 misc stuff at Lowe's for rental
$250 rustic display cabint at Mikim
$71 dinner for 2 at PJ's Abbey (saved $18 with Entertainment card)

Sunday 10/30:
$90 kitchen cabinet knobs and misc at Home Depot
$0 prepared lunch
$80 supermarket (saved $9 in coupons)
$0 prepared dinner

It Never Ends!

It starts with remodeling one bathroom...

Then you add tiling the family room and kitchen. So you have to tile the other bathroom too because it's off the kitchen. Diagonally laid tile is much more classy than straight. It continues with tearing down the 70's paneling. Geez, there isn't any drywall underneath the paneling so that means all new drywall. Then it's sanding the kitchen cabinets. That fails miserably and so you get estimates to reface the cabinets. Decide instead to demolish the kitchen completely and so now it's new cabinets, granite countertops and new appliances. The plumbing is old so of course replace all of the corroded galvanized pipes and some of the sewer lines. Oh, it never ends....

Monday 10/10 - Wednesday 10/12:
Lost track and forgot

Thursday 10/13:
$12 lunch at Ferdussi (Persian)
$0 prepared dinner

Friday 10/14:
$9 lunch at Carnivore Grill (boy, that’s chewy beef)
$68 food and beer for poker night
$66 2 cushions from Mikim
$1500 do-it-yourself kitchen cabinets from Home Depot

Sat 10/15:
$45 Chinese takeout lunch for 7 (construction crew)
$18 drycleaning
$16 dinner for 2 at Boston Market
$1100 dishwasher and stove at Sears appliance outlet
$250 two more dumpsters
$77 flooring thresholds at Lowe’s

Sunday 10/16:
$42 gas
$0 expensed dinner ($20)
$430 casino

Monday 10/17:
$0 expensed breakfast ($8)
$0 customer treated me to birthday dinner ($240 for 3 at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse)
$100 massage
$3000 slab granite countertop for rental house

Tuesday 10/18:
$0 took customer to lunch ($30 for 3)
$5 coffee and a cookie in Little Italy district in San Diego
$31 dinner for 2 at Citrus Cafe (saved $14 with Entertainment card)
$800 whole house snake of plumbing

Wed 10/19:
$0 colleagues treated to birthday lunch
$15 Red Bull and ice cream
$0 prepared dinner
$1500 sewer plumbing at rental house

In Memory of Lillian Le

2005 - 2005. Almost made it into the world but now in a better place.

Where would you like the 12 ft artificial palm tree?

How is it possible that "designer" high end stuff can cost so much more than their mainstream counterparts? A pair of Levi's runs $50 but designer jeans can cost $400. A Hershey's bar costs 50 cent yet a bite-sized square of Godiva costs $2. A fast food burger $3. A Kobe beef burger $20. I have to admit that as I start to indulge in the finer things, the regular stuff isn't as good anymore.

Recently, it seems like furniture stores, especially higher end ones, are going out of business left and right. Mikim Home Collection is one of the designer showrooms where you are first accosted by a fabulous design consultant (salesperson) and then by the outrageous prices. Do people really pay $1500 for 12 ft high artificial palm trees? $1000 for an outdoor chaise lounge? The answer seems to be yes but less so because they are going out of business after many years. For 3 months now, they been steadily increasing the discounts until yesterday's auction. The great thing was that only about 30 or so people were present at any given time so competition wasn't great. And following the auctioneer around the vast showroom wasn't easy so an auction was often over very quickly (if multiple people even bid). Once I got into the swing of things, I was bidding left and right and got items for literally pennies on the dollar. Granted that these the "retail" price were so ridiculous that I wouldn't have been able to afford them at 1/2 off, at 80 and even 90% off, they were outright bargains. Yes, I did buy two of those 12 ft high palm trees but for only $260 each. We ended up spending over $3k with the "retail" list prices of well over $20k. I was giddy with excitement with some of the buys. $500 table lamp for $48. $1500 pecan cocktail table for $300. $600 dining chairs for $100. Yipppeee!

Monday 10/3:
$10 lunch buffet at Acapulco
$0 prepared dinner

Tuesday 10/4:
$3 lunch McDonald’s
$15 tablerunner at TJ Maxx
$0 leftovers for dinner
$25 koi food at Petsmart
$95 briefcase at Officemax

Wednesday 10/5:
$35 memorial flowers
$7 Jack in the Box lunch for 2 (saved $3 with coupon)
$0 leftovers for dinner
$25 TJ Maxx Homestore
$2800 demolish bathroom, install all new vanity, tile, tub and fixtures (older rental property)
$2500 tile family room, kitchen and 2nd bathroom
$300 acid wash stone fireplace
$2700 remove 2 layers of wood paneling, new drywall, paint
$20 Lowe’s
$125 weeklong dumpster rental

Thursday 10/6:
$0 brought lunch
$105 monthly ortho visit
$0 expensed dinner for 5 at Maggiano's ($156)

Friday 10/7:
$0 customer picked up lunch
$16 dinner for 2 at Daphne's Greek
$1100 Lowe's (60" bathroom vanity, double sink vanity top, sink and bath fixtures)

Saturday 10/8:
$0 skipped lunch
$3500 accessories and furnishing at Mikim Home Collection going out of business auction (retail value over $20k)
$110 bathtub at Home Depot
$250 2 more dumpster bins
$35 dinner for 2 at Dosa Palace (saved $9 with Entertainment card)

Sunday 10/9:
$1300 tile for family room and kitchen
$41 Vons supermarket
$0 prepared dinner
$320 tile for bathtub surround

Rise of Phoenix

Spent several days on a business trip in Phoenix last week so we decided to fly out a couple of days early to check out the local real estate scene. Phoenix has been in the news a lot recently about the stratospheric growth and appreciation. Drove by a dozen houses the suburb cities of Mesa and Gilbert where newer 1500 sq ft homes were between $260-300k. Just a year ago, these were around $170k. With so many investors from California, it's a very competitive market especially for local Arizonians who have to compete with equity rich investors. It actually seemed that some of the houses were being marketed to investors as they had tenants with over 8 months remaining on leases which is attractive to out of state investors as it makes the purchase completely turnkey. It's amazing that a metropolitan area of over 3 million people has grown out of desert. It's even more astonishing that the growth has been managed so well and that the city actually works!

Total spent Saturday 9/24:
$5 breakfast at McDonald’s at John Wayne Airport
$28 two days parking at John Wayne Airport
$36 lunch for 2 at Casey Moore’s in Tempe
$2 parking in Tempe
$30 Phoenix area Thomas Guide and drinks at liquor store
$4 drinks at 7-11
$15 drinks at Circle K
$8 ice cream at The Arizona Biltmore
$11 dinner for 2 at Jack in the Box
$10 snacks at Rite Aid

Sunday 9/25:
$23 breakfast for 2 at The Phoenix Cafe
$7 coffee for two at Seattle’s Best
$320 lost at blackjack at Indian casino
$25 3 ties at Ross
$7 misc stuff at Target
$7 takeout dinner at Safeway

Monday 9/26:
$0 expensed sushi lunch for 2 ($55)
$0 expensed dinner ($23)

Tuesday 9/27:
$0 expensed breakfast ($7)
$0 expensed lunch for 4 ($51)
$0 expensed dinner at Chili’s ($13)

Wednesday 9/28:
$0 expensed lunch for 5 ($72)
$29 get well flowers for sister
$25 dinner for 2 at Fire Dance
$18 drycleaning

Thursday 9/27:
$16 treated colleague to lunch
$0 leftovers for dinner

Friday 9/30:
$135 rental house ad
$3 takeout lunch from Circle K
$23 2 medium pizza from Domino's
$165 broker license
$120 mail order prescription drugs

Saturday 10/1:
$0 leftovers for lunch
$15 haircut
$19 dinner for 2 at Macaroni Grill
$0 2 movie tickets (free from credit card rewards points)
$8 hotdog and drink at theater
$460 big room rug and table runner at Pier 1 Imports (almost bought this exact rug a month ago when it was $700 but now on sale for $420!)

Sunday 10/2:
$0 leftovers for lunch
$80 stuff at Lowe’s home improvement
$125 groceries and misc at Costco
$26 more groceries at Ralphs (saved $9 with coupons)$2700 cement patio and walkway for rental house
$0 prepared dinner party for 5