Roth IRA, Year Two!

Hooray! I sent my final $200 to my Roth IRA so it's now fully funded for 2009! So glad that I surpassed my 2009 goal of contributing $3K. :)

This is the second year in a row that I've maxed out my Roth IRA and it makes me really excited... gotta love being a PF nerd! My retirement accounts are growing, slowly but steadily.

Tax Return

I filed my taxes on Sunday night while doing laundry and watching the Grammys. I used TaxACT and did a free Federal E-file and paid $14.95 to file my CA state taxes...because I'm lazy. My taxes are so easy: it's just my wages, some interest income from my savings accounts and a little bit of miscellaneous income from surveys I do throughout the year.

Like most PF bloggers, I try to break-even on my taxes but at the end of the day I would rather get a small refund as opposed to owing the government some money. I'm receiving a total of $525 back on my taxes this year, most of which will go towards savings.

Side note: I was able to sign-up for free e-mail/text message notifications from TaxAct about my tax return, so the morning after I did my taxes I was told that they had been received by the federal and state agencies. How neat!

What are you going do to with your tax return money this year, if you get a refund?

What a Weekend!

It's Sunday night and I'm winding down from the weekend! I was really busy, I had a blast but I also spent some money.

On Friday, after receiving my bonus, I went to happy hour with some friends, $13. After that, we went to a nearby bar and played pool for a few hours where I bought the first round of drinks, $25.

On Saturday, I had more volunteer training in the morning and then ran some errands... bought a new golf glove for $3 after using a gift card and ordered new contacts which came to $6 after insurance.

On Sunday a friend and I went to the televised golf tournament and had an awesome time! It was really neat to walk around the famous course, follow our favorite players and try to get on TV! I paid for the day passes ($34) and my friend paid for our parking and lunch.

All that spending definitely made me go over on my $75 monthly Entertainment budget... but hey, I don't mind doing that every once in a while! ;)

Bonus!

I have been mentioning that my company decided to give out annual bonuses for 2009. Well, I found this week how much mine is, and it turns out it's more than I expected. I work for a fantastic company and even though the recession hurt us in terms of clients, we are still doing good for where we're at. All in all, the company is being incredibly generous. The most surprising thing was that my bonus actually increased from last year's. Wow, I feel very privileged, as I still have a job and on top of that I'm getting a bonus! (It's also a nice addition to my mediocre salary, since 2010 will be the second year I will not be receiving a cost-of-living adjustment/raise.)

How much was my bonus? After taxes and 401k were taken out, I netted $3,150.
The following is my allocation:

E-Fund: $1,000
Roth IRA (2010): $1,000
CFA June Exam Fees: $500*
Travel Fund: $225
Gift Fund: $125
Clothes: $100
Other/Misc: $200

*still debating if I want to take the exam again in June

Did you get a bonus this year? Is your job giving you a raise in 2010?

Cooking Class

So I finally used my Groupon and went to a cooking class last night!

It was a lot of fun! The group was really small, about 15 people came to the class. The theme was soups and sandwiches aka comfort food. I got a seat right up front and it was a blast. The chef was really enthusiastic, very friendly and funny. It was pretty casual and you could ask questions while he was cooking. 2 of the soups were pre-made since they take a bit longer. We got to try all 4 soups (including a dessert one!) and 3 sandwiches. I came home with a food coma because the portions were HUGE due to the fact that the class size was small! :) There was also a delicious appetizer and the waitstaff gave everyone two glasses of wine and constantly filled up water... better service than at some restaurants! Everything was absolutely fantastic! Here's what we ate:

• Creamy Tomato Bisque with Grilled Cheddar & Bleu Cheese Bacon/Green Apple Sandwich
• Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque with Warm Turkey Wrap
• Spicy Black Bean Soup with Warm Cuban Sandwich
• Raspberry & White Chocolate Soup with Dark Brownie Bites
  

Everyone received a stapled packet of all the recipes and most of us took some notes while the chef was cooking. One of the things I liked best about the class was that none of the soups or sandwiches were difficult to make and all the ingredients are readily available in most pantries and grocery stores! (Actually, a lot of the chef's ingredients came from Costco!) All in all, the just-over-2-hour class was really neat. I learned some new tricks (like how to make parmesan crisps! that creme fraiche & basil oil are amazingly simple!) and that I should invest in an immersion blender if I want to make delicious soups. ;)

It was completely worth the $25 I spent via Groupon! :) Maybe I'll find a deal for one of their hands-on cooking classes in the future!

Have you ever taken a cooking class? Did you like it?

CFA Results

I received my Level 1 results this morning online. Unfortunately, I did not pass. The pass rate was 34%.

However, I feel confident that I can pass on my second try in June! I got a print out of how I did based on the topic areas so I know where I need to focus my efforts. Time to register and get back into study mode!

Thanks for all of support via the blog and Twitter! :)

Patiently Waiting...

My CFA Level 1 results are available tomorrow morning at 6am PST!

I should say I've been anticipating them for the past almost 2 months since the exam - but, to be honest, I haven't! The time flew by since I got back into a normal routine, had a bunch of vacations and a lot of much-needed time to myself. I put all that studying and anxiety behind me, and it basically hasn't crossed my mind since.

But now I'm ready to know my result (pass or fail) and go forward from there!