real estate chronicles

I needed to have a steady income because let’s face it, the current economic climate isn’t exactly conducive for my retirement fund. Mind you, I have no financial savvy, have no clue as to what stocks or bonds I should be investing it and have maybe accrued $5 dollars in interest from my savings account. But I don’t want to just sit back and watch my money slowly evaporate, I need some steady income flow for my future. I bought this book called Profits Guaranteed By Law, written by Lane Jessen, who built his wealth on tax lien certificates. The book was only $20 and I was curious as to what the book explored because I’ve heard of it from friends as well. A tax lien certificate becomes available when a property owner cannot pay his/her property taxes. The delinquent taxes can then be paid off by the person who buys the tax lien certificate. So why would anyone want to pay for someone else’s late property taxes? Simple, they receive an interest rate of 16% to 25%, guaranteed. That’s an amazing return and buying the tax lien certificate isn’t even that expensive. The county gives 2 to 3 years of grace period for the person to pay off the tax lien with interest and if he/she can’t pay it back, the owner of the tax lien certificate can then foreclose on the property and acquire it debt-free. Now that’s easier said than done. What Jessen’s book details is all the strategies and information needed to develop a kind of hyper-awareness of what types of liens to buys, when to buy and to improve your chances of getting property because at the end of the day, that’s the real money maker. But if you can’t get the property, you still make a profit, guaranteed. Reading the book itself is an interesting and insightful glimpse into the world of investing and helped me easily understand the principles of investing. So here I go, on my slow but steady path towards financial stability. Better to try something rather than waiting for something to happen.

The Back-Up Plan

September is rolling around which means that summertime is coming to an end and the beautiful warm, atumn weather approaches us.  Its usually during the fall and winter season that I start to pick up reading again.  I stumbled upon The Hunger Games trilogy at the recommendation of a friend and I have been hooked.  Its not your typical romance novel; its filled with tons of action and suspense and yes, those moments that make you say “awwwwww” out loud.

I highly suggest reading this if you’re female or even male and I would purchase the book series at Borders, since they’re going out of business, or even download it onto a kindle, if you have one.  I purchased mine on my kindle for a little over $7 per book.

You won’t regret it! At least try to read the first book before the movie comes out on March 23, 2012!

Has anyone heard about Father’s Office and their most excellent burgers? So excellent, in fact, that they don’t even have ketchup in the entire “restaurant”? Yeah.. it boasts to be that delicious and many of my friends have recommended it saying that its amazing… but I found the experience to be quite the opposite.

…its not worth standing around like an idiot, searching for a table or any spot at the bar for 45 minutes.  You know why we had to stand around like vultures, scanning ever party to see if they were leaving soon? Because its not a restaurant, its a bar.  You can’t even get into their establishment without an ID that confirms your age to be 21 or over.  My friends left out that tidbit.. otherwise I wouldn’t even have gone in the first place.  I’m all for bars.. but I came to eat, not drink.

the burger is delicious, don’t get me wrong… but seriously?

my friend and i finally found a spot next to the bar and people were all up in my personal space trying to order food and drinks.  I think that if I decided to turn around, I might’ve even been able to accidentally hit them in the ribs or something.  super annoying and it was even more annoying when the bartenders would help them instead of directing them to their little computers…

and its even more awkward when there are hoards of people scanning the room, looking for people that are almost done with their meal… i feel like i can’t even relax!

the sweet potato fries were however the highlight of my entire experience at Father’s Office.

I probably won’t be coming here again.

Father’s Office

3229 Helms Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 736-2224

September is approaching, which means one thing: a new school year.

Many people see this as an opportunity to turn onto a new leaf and getting their priorities in order.  Its almost like another New Years Resolution, but for others that are no longer in school like yours truly, September just means that the summertime is over and the leaves will soon be changing colors.  As terrible as it sounds, its not.

I usually find that during the summertime, I’m sad to be working at my desk job because I’ll go on facebook and see all these awesome photos my friends hanging out and traveling.  I ponder about the weather outside and how nice the sun would feel instead of sitting at my desk and feeling the cold air conditioner. I also fantasize about where I would go if I didn’t have work.

Now that its September, all my friends are going back to school whether its to finish up the last units of their undergraduate career or starting fresh in grad school and its a breath of relief for me because things are going back to normal.  I finally get to work and not secretly wish that I didn’t have a job and be envious of the fun activities taking place outside of the doors to my office building.

So, if any of you are depressed about the leaves turning orange, don’t be! While everyone is back in school studying, drinking red bull and pulling all-nighters, do your thing and keep working and when you save up a significant amount of money in your bank account, everyone else who was having fun all summer will soon be jealous of YOU. trust me. Its already happened.

So, stick with it.. don’t be sad.. and just keep pushing along!

Has anyone heard of Barry’s Bootcamp?

If you’ve been living under a rock, its where Kim Kardashian goes to work out along with plenty of other celebrities. I’ve gone for the past month, and I cannot tell you how challenging it is.

I noticed that I was becoming more soft than usual.. so I did what any normal person did: I ignored it and continued on with my life.

Then summer struck and realized that I didn’t look as awesome in the clothes that I had, so that left me with 2 options: workout or buy new clothes.

Of course, as predicted, I bought new clothes because i HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE working out more than anything. but then these new clothes that I bought… I wasn’t really liking the way they fit on me either.. so I was left with one option: work out.

I ran here and there… but it really didn’t do anything for me.  And then I did what everyone else does: I bought myself the wonderful birthday gift of 2 months worth of boot camp! yay!…NOT.

I started on Sunday.. so I’ve only taken 3 classes and my entire body hurts.  It hurts to breathe, speak, and think.  I also hate how much they make you run and how its not even a constant run… its a combination of running backwards on an incline, speed walking on an incline of 10 (excuse me.. i meant CLIMBING FOR MY LIFE), and sprints D:

after wanting to die for 15 minutes, you get off the treadmills and start with weights. sure, they’re ok in the beginning.. but after another 15 minutes, your arms feel like they’re going to fall off and your abs will burn and your legs will scream.

it doesn’t even matter what class they’re teaching.. you will get a workout and an ass-kicking. you will be humbled and you will completely re-evaluate your entire work out history and think that all these days/weeks/months/ye ars/however long you’ve been working out, was a waste of time.

even with all these awful things to say, i’m embracing my aching muscles.  Obviously, since I literally can’t do cardio to save my life.. them making me run and sweat like i’ve been sitting in a sauna  for the past hour is pretty refreshing.  When I’m done and I’ve completely drenched my shirt, I know I did something great for myself.  It takes a lot of courage to come to class the next day, but I know that if I continue to do this and commit to it, great things will happen.

OH. and its kinda hard to find. its on ventura blvd. and make a right/left onto Cedros AVENUE because after cedros avenue, there’s a cedros which can be confusing. theres a parking lot behind the Baja Fresh, Cold Stone Creamery, and movie theatre and its free with the validation!  Barry’s Bootcamp is located on the 2nd floor and allll the way to the left when you reach the top of the escalator.

This is not an advertisement.  I paid $250 for a full month of unlimited classes which is much cheaper than a full month of unlimited personal training, and trust me… its better because you have people around you working just as hard as you are and motivating you to keep up.

I have gained 7 pounds of muscle, which is a little bit discouraging because i hate the number on the scale, but my clothes fit much better and my arms are looking so toned.  I’m much stronger, I can run longer and faster, and I can feel the health benefits.  I know that its the end of summer, but its never too late to start up a healthy habit.

(818) 784-6262

I just recently received my comfy lounger and its humongous.

It basically looks like a human sized dog bed which is so perfect for taking naps on.  It might just be me, but I’ve always thought that dog beds looked waaaay more comfortable than regular mattresses and their frames…

Anyway, I ordered the largest size with the chocolate suede cover. and when I received it it was so compressed that it was wrinkled and it came in the shape of a cube.

I looked at it and was stumped as to what to do next, so I waited and decided that the best way to approach it was to let it expand on its own.

now, on the website, it says that it can take up to 5-7 days to full expand, but for me it seemed like by day 4, it was already fully finished.

the biggest challenge is putting on the cover. i would highly recommend putting it up on its side and rolling it into the cover hahaha. it sounds to awkward but that what me and my friend did!!

if it doesn’t look like its been completely filled, just “fluff” it like you would a pillow so thats what you should do if you want it to be fluffier.

Have you ever seen those Target, Walmart, or Bed Bath and Beyond catalogs and actually looked at the college dorm section?

Well, if you did… your immediate response is usually, “oh my goodness! this is so cute! I want everything!” when it should’ve been, “oh my goodness.. what were they thinking? college dorms are nowhere this big!” And usually, it isn’t.. but sometimes there’s the lucky one who gets a huge room to themselves and is able to furnish it with a couch and desks and even a coffee table.

The majority of students don’t get a large spacious room to fill furniture with and even if they did, how on earth would they be able to afford it all? They ARE college students after all.. and the budget for college students isn’t very much either because they have books to purchase, bills to pay, alcohol to drink, regular food for the week, and university fees. Not to mention going out with friends on those days where everyone passes a class and it calls for a celebration and those classes the require more than just books in order to pass the class.

Futons are usually the furniture of choice when it comes down to furnishing a small apartment because it can be used as a couch or a bed, but in reality.. futons are terrible.  I  would know, I was a college students and slept on one.  I had a futon with a metal frame and it was awful.  Not only was the cushion it came with NOT thick enough, but it kept sliding down so it was completely useless as a couch.  It hurt my back at night and the indent of where the cushion folded was not comfortable at all.  I know what you all are thinking: “why don’t you just buy a new cushion?” Well, I did and not only did it help my back problems, but it drained my “i’m trying to live” fund and it was so thick that I couldn’t use my futon as a couch for my friends to sit on! I ended up with an ugly bed frame and an empty wallet.

I think that if the Comfy Lounger was around a couple years ago, it would have been the perfect choice.  Not only is it fun to sit/lay on, but its affordable! Also, the changeable covers were great because every time I got a new roommate who already had furniture, I could change the color to match without having to buy a completely new comfy lounger.  I also love that because its 6′ long, multiple people can sit on it without having to sit on the floor or my bed.  When I was in college and I held study sessions in my room, people sat on the floor, or on my bed, or on my only desk chair.  The comfy lounger would’ve saved me so much embarrassment…

So kids! If you’re planning on going to college and you’re so easily swayed by the catalogue, you’ll get a harsh reality check when you open your door for the first time and realize that you bought way more than your room can handle.  Get yourself ONE piece of furniture and save lots of cash and stress.

Its been one week since I’ve started my journey with CTS 360 and I can honestly say that I’m in love with the product.  Not only is it a product that is packed with vitamins and mineral that are so good for you, but it helps with water weight and energy levels.

I have a 9-5 job and I don’t move around that much when I’m sitting in a chair for 8 hours.  By the time I’m off the clock, all I want to do is go home and watch some TV while enjoying some snacks.  Because of this lifestyle, I gained 8 pounds in the 2 months.  I knew that I needed to do something so I searched all over the internet for something that not only yielded results, but was somewhat enjoyable at the same time.

As all of you know, I became a Bar Method addict and started attending classes about 4 times in a week.  I lost the 8 pounds I had gained and more! Now, I am only 10 pounds away from my high school weight… but I’ve been at the same weight for about 2 months!  Being so frustrated that nothing in my power would move the needle on the scale, I decided to find something that would give my regimen an extra push.

I was driving and I heard a radio ad for Complete Nutrition’s CTS360.  I’m usually very skeptical about weight loss anythings, because they’re usually loaded up with so much caffeine that it makes my heart race uncontrollably and I get anxious, but the thing that was different about CTS 360 was that after the radio ad, they said that if you lose 10 pounds in 10 days, see a doctor.  Now THAT, my friends, is different.  No one can lose that amount of weight and you never hear diet products saying that you might lose too much weight.

I went to the Complete Nutrition in Goleta, CA and they explained how CTS 360 was not an assortment of diet pills, They were supplements and when I looked at the ingredients, I was shocked to see all of the ingredients in the multivitamins that my mother takes every morning. I was sold.

Now its been a week and my energy levels are up, I wake up every morning so refreshed and ready to start my day, and my appetite is under control.  I’m still at that 10 pound mark, but to be quite honest… I’m surprised I’m there because I just came back from a weekend vacation with my best friends and we ATE everything that we laid our eyes on.  And we didn’t just munch; we ate ourselves into a food coma Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday and I was still able to maintain my weight.

I’m a new believer.

Has anyone heard about CTS360?

If you haven’t, CTS360 is pretty much another weight loss pill, but the thing that sets them apart is that it can only be sold in stores and at Complete Nutrition. They also have several pills for different things, so its not your average one-pill-fits-all type of deal.

I’ve hit a plateau in my weight loss. I’ve lost 8 pounds since January and I can’t seem to lose anymore even though I’m working out 4 times a week and eating very healthily.  I figured since I needed a boost, I would try CTS360 and write a review, but since I started today… I’ll let you know exactly what it is and break it down for you all.

CTS360 is comprised of 3 bottles: Clinical Strength, Tone, and Night.  Do you know how amazing it is that my body’s metabolism is going to be working throughout the night? Back to the pills.

In the morning, with breakfast, you are to take 1 clinical strength and 2 tone pills. There is clinical strength, advanced strength, and maximum strength, but because I don’t drink coffee and I react to caffeine, I was advised to start off with the clinical strength pills. I looked at the ingredients and of course, I had no idea what the hell were in these… but the Tone pills had a lot of natural oils in them.  They had flaxseed oils, fish oil, safflower oil.. things that people take on a daily basis so I was happy with that.

You take 1 clinical and 2 tone pills with your lunch and at nighttime, you are to take 1 night pill, preferably 1-1.5 hours before going to sleep.  I’ve heard some good things about this set, but I haven’t heard much about it in general because it is exclusively a Complete Nutrition product and isn’t something that you can buy online.  We’ll see how this all turns out and I will update you all with my progress in a week.

sounds enticing, no?