“The only reason filing taxes is hard…is because of the things you don’t understand,” a coworker said in response to my mad scrambling today.

Because it’s true. The only reason I have a headache is because of a certain situation, I have to mail in my return by that…thing called postal mail. I wasn’t sure what forms I was supposed to attach. Where I was supposed to sign. Or the address. Or the vouchers.

I used to think I would like being an accountant, but perhaps for CPAs…it’s the pleasure of knowing the ins and outs of the tax returns that us laymen can only hope to understand.

Is the tax return purposefully difficult so that people create mistakes so that the government can collect penalty and interest?

I ate the most turnovers and Chris ate the most meat on a sandwich.

Edit: it was for the 2nd Annual Arby’s Olympics (unofficially Yelp). More photos here, here, here and here

There are four options:

1. Read a book in a moving vehicle

2. View a movie on a laptop in a moving vehicle

3. Read email on mobile device anywhere for more than 2 minutes

4. Play brightly colored, hyerpactive Japanese games on the Nintendo DS (games like Chibi-Robo and Animal Crossing. Mario Kart also can too)

Then feel dizzy and super-uncomfortable along with other symptoms for up to one hour.

Only known remedies are sleep and hot shower.

I was rushing to the 4th and king caltrain station. Along the way as another billboard did, the the brightly colored ad caught my eye.

It was the third or was it fourth time that I saw it advertised. Normally (I believe that) most ads don’t have an effect on me, but for some reason after seeing the ad everywhere—on the walls, on the floor, on the doors, I couldn’t stop thinking of the Jamba Juice Breakfast meal.

Was it the concept?

Yogurt. Granola. Mixed with fruit. A new way of thinking of breakfast.

I couldn’t stop thinking and immediately looked up the jamba juice breakfast meal on my smart phone. Unfortunately the site refused to load appropriately on my phone. And I sat on the train in anticipation to find out what this breakfast meal was.

I immediately imagined myself walking up to a Jamba Juice. Yeah, I would order the one with strawberries. But I really don’t like granola, why am I ordered this? I hate having cereal mixed with my sweet stuff. Oh but the strawberry…will it be fresh or frozen? Will it be frozen yogurt? Oh but how much I would want to be with the Jamba Juice Breakfast Meal.

When I got to a computer with internet access, I looked it up. And then for a moment, I realized that I was tricked. The ads had done its job. It had entered my mind and made its effect.

I truly believed that I wanted a Jamba Juice Breakfast meal even though I could easily make the same at home for less than $1. I believed it would make me happier. I believed that I would be willing to pay $4, because I am accustomed to paying $4 for something I can make at home but with extra special sugar.

Fortunately, I found out that the Jamba Juice Breakfast meal is offered FREE tomorrow from 6 am to 10 am, a promotion for its unveiling in stores globally!

Today, I saw:

Juno
Michael Clayton
Persepolis

And many episodes of Arrested Development!

I also:

Tried to participate in Holi, but couldn’t justify spending $15 for colors if it didn’t include food and spending time with people I knew
Ate a lavish Indian buffet in place of flaking above
Spent over $60 on gas
Played a little of the Simpsons game until getting vertigo
Whined about not getting to see P.S. I Love You because Chris has a distaste of chick flicks
Made tea and hot chocolate
Ate some leftover seafood pancake from a Korean restaurant Friday
Put away laundry

Llama hike. $35 per person. $5 to park. In oakland. 4-6 mile hike. The llamas carry your lunch!

So I have to admit, I was very reluctant. I have to pay to hike? And my lunch is carried? I don’t get to ride the llama? Plus I unfortunately have fallen in my nature appreciation to say “I would rather look at nature on flickr than to go outside to the wilderness.”

But it was a novel idea and I couldn’t turn it down. So I found myself with the llamas!

And it was actually a great experience. There were about 12 of us and a llama for every two of us. Chris and I had the most feisty llama, which made the entire trip very interesting. To up the ante, I brought Toad along for the ride. And of course took many a photo.

We didn’t get spat on of course. Our llama Carlito got spat on by another llama because Carlito was being quite obnoxious to the other llamas. Ouch.

“I love my tax refund,” I hear constantly from friends, bloggers, random people on the street…then I hear a list of ideas people want to do. Buy the latest fashion. Buy buy buy. Large purchase…blah blah.

It’s only my second year of doing taxes and I already know where my tax refund will go. Right into my savings account. I admit that I am a bit elitist and horribly frugal.

Yet it bugs me each time someone says that they got free money. Because that tax refund is really the money that the government held over the year from your salary. Money that the government held…interest-free. Money that you could have spent during the year and worked into the budget.

Am I being old-fashioned? I read today in the news that costs of gas and food was getting higher. To me, it still surprises me how people don’t know how to cook so that they can bring lunch to work. Or that they go to a grocery store and overspend on quality ingredients, declaring weeks later after the food has spoiled that this is the reason that they don’t cook.

Yet, I too wonder if I am spending in the right places. I treat money the same way I treat food. If it doesn’t give me satisfaction for more than three days, then I cannot rationally spend it. Of course, there were times that I faltered, spending over $80 for a handmade local designer skirt that I realized was dry clean only and was really only normal-looking.

Just some thoughts before I go make a chili pasta bake and challah french toast.

I want to buy this game so bad. My birthday is coming soon (*cough* less than 52 days)! And it’s only $34.99!

On craigslist, I have:

Along the way, it has taught me many lessons about business that I never knew as a naturally honest person.

1. In the ad, describe the item, but don’t mention anything about its negative qualities. Suggest that people take a look since there are some things that can’t be seen digitally.

2. Provide prompt responses to any received email. Unlike many craigslist users, I always respond to every email even the people I must reject. This would be the only reason for me to get a smartphone.

3. Phone calls are better than email as it gets the person’s attention faster. I always send an email as a followup to a phone call to make sure the deal is sealed.

4. Always be prepared to be undersold. Whenever selling an item, determine the amount you want to take for it. Then raise that value by some multiple of $25. There will always be someone who asks whether they can have it for your initial value. Humans like quarters.

5. Try to get two buyers to look at the same time to create some competitive price-matching. Scheduling that is an issue, but I often have told other buyers that I got a better offer. Always say OBO!

6. Always get the phone number of the buyer or seller before meeting. That way, you can guarantee the least amount of flakeage. The more people talk to you, the more likely they will show up. Psychologically, it creates a lot more guilt and thus more motivation even if the person is 100% certain of buying.

7. If selling a small item especially a high-value item, meet in a high traffic public area where you have clear sight lines to all exits. I haven’t figured out the best area to meet in the city beyond BART stations yet…

8. Maintain a first come, first served policy. I got yelled at once because I was giving a table away for free. An interested party inquired about it and seemed unsure about whether the table was appropriate. She to hold it and I said maybe, but I have to be move out of the house tomorrow. At the end of the day, I put it out on the curb and put a sign with the word free on it. It was gone before morning and the interested party was furious. Good thing I don’t live at the house anymore.

9. Select a week that you’re free to sell an item so that you can be flexible. I grudgingly got up Saturday morning just to sell something at 8 am and was successful at selling it.

10. If you can’t sell it in the suburbs, sell it in the city.

11. If it’s a large item that you are having trouble selling it in the suburbs, sell it in the city and offer delivery. Also say that if the buyer picks it up, a discount is provided. Maintain that this voids any further discount.

12. If you’re buying something that you can’t afford, be ready to walk out. Or say that all the money have is what you have. About two years ago, I bought exactly the amount of money I wanted to pay for the item and carefully laid out the twenties on a table, announcing the total amount. I undersold that seller by $100.

13. Give something away for free. When selling an item in Pittsburgh, the buyer refused to pay me the amount I offered even though I was offering the item at a huge discount (this was before I figured out the $25 trick). When I mentioned that I was trying to get rid of all the items in the kitchen and offered to give it to her for free, she took my entire spice cabinet and other things. She ended up paying in full for the entire item.