McDonald's Minions are Back!

The super popular Minions are back at McDonald's.  @ $2 per toy or $3.99 per Happy Meal (They raised their prices to $4.19!)... it's a great deal and treat to you or your kids.  

Each Minion talks when you shake them.  By talking, I mean gibberish! Nevertheless, super cute!

Last Friday, my coworker went and got me the Tall Minion and Short Minion during lunch.  On Sunday, I went to my neighborhood MCD to pick up Mr. Guitar Minion.  

This week, it was my turn to return the favour to pick up lunch for my coworker.  Unfortunately, the MCD near work ran out of Minions!  I walked away with Barbie toys instead... but apparently, I can exchange them for Minions if they are unopened!  

Very disappointing that I couldn't get any Minions today!!  

Two summers ago, I collected them all and for my cousin in Asia.  This summer, I'm helping my cousin to collect.  Nine more to go...I hope others don't beat me to them!

Lately, I've been a little tired of blogging about my options trades.  No one really cares, except for me.  So I'll be blogging more about general stuff for fun and to keep my creative juices flowing!

Goal Completed, What's Next?

Liquid from Freedom35Blog reminded me on Twitter recently that my goal for 2015 is to "Create more income through option trading:  $5000!"

Well, I'm done with my goal for 2015!  This past Friday's expiration pushed me over $5,000 mark!  You can check it out in my Progress tab up above.  Does this mean I can relax and enjoy the rest of the year?  Hells no, I will reset my goal to $10,000!  

Now, I better not lose all my $5,000 in option premiums that I worked so hard for the past few months of the year!  I can never be too cocky, right?!  The market is ever changing and I can not predict the future.  So I tread carefully and make small little wins whenever I can.

In life, we all strive to make money to sustain a certain lifestyle we want.  Everyone is different in their own ways and find their passion as time goes on.  Each passion can lead to opportunities.   What is your passion?

My passion is to grow money out of money!  Unfortunately, money does not grow on trees.  I have been working straight for a dozen years saving up as much as I can after all the expenses that goes out each month.  Even though, I get tired of the mundane routine, I do look forward to going to work and seeing that steady pay check at the end of the month.  But there is an inkling in me to break free of the constraint in the working for the bigger boss life.  

I see people of all walks of life.  The rich wants to work, while the middle class are counting down the days and the poor doing whatever to get by.  One has to change to make a leap from one class to another.  When it comes down to it, it's all about your desire in life!  What makes you go round? 

Most people under estimate me.  Often, I go unnoticed.  I shy away from the attention.  Yet, sometimes I want to be recognized.  It's a double edge sword.  I am a thinker, not a talker.  This is my only outlet to speak my mind freely without any hesitation.  

How it all began...

From an early age, I knew my potential was limited due to the fact I didn't really give a crap about school.  In this day and age, practically everyone has a degree of some sort to add to their resumes to land their high paying dream job.

I went to a technical school for accounting and flunked out of the program by 2%.  For the next few years, I was in/out of school and worked on the side.  

While I was working at a retail store, a former classmate came into the store and we exchanged a few pleasantries.  She graduated and was now working for a reputable company nearby in her field of study.  A pang of guilt stabbed at my heart.  If only, I studied for my finals that day.  I wouldn't be in this situation.

Determined, I started looking for a full time office position.  I sent out a ton of resumes, but I hardly got any call backs due to my lack of experience.  Eventually, I landed an accounting clerk position that paid $10 per hour at a small company.  My commute was an hour each way and my days were long.  But I was happy to be making money on a consistent basis.  I worked hard for the next three years, yet I did not get a raise at all.  They took advantage of me and I was ready to move on.

For the next 8 years, I have slowly climbed my way out of minimum wage.  In 2008, I took on a part time job to supplement my income working an extra 16 hours per week on the side.  Yes, I still have my part time job to this day but on a very scaled basis.

As you can see, I never made a lot of money from my day job.  I struggled to save money in every way I can.  I knew from the beginning, I was never going to get far with just the salary I make from my day job.

In order to grow my wealth, I need to make money work for itself and that's what I have done for the past decade in the stock market.  It is not an easy ride up, there have been many hiccups and bumps along the road.  But I have learned over the years to adapt and deploy new strategies to improve my overall performance in the stock market. 

All it takes is making that one step!  

Mini Getaway Trip

For Family Day this year, my Fiance and I decided to do a mini getaway trip to Las Vegas!  We did not vacation in 2014, so we've been itching to escape our monotonous daily grind of life for some excitement!  We've been to there a number of times, but it is nice to fly out of dark and gloomy Vancouver weather to nice and sunny Vegas!  

We found a decent package deal through Allegiant Airlines and stayed three nights in Paris Hotel for $660 USD.  We brought $475 USD spending cash for meals and shows.  

First thing, we did was to check out half priced ticket booth for discounted shows on the Strip.  We decided to check out David Cooperfiled @ MGM Grand.  His show was amazing and he was quite entertaining.  You never know when he'll call it quits as he has been performing there for quite some time.  

Next up, we waited a while to have lunch at Gordan Ramsey's BurgR joint.  The line was was long and kept on building.  For two burgers, onion rings, and a pop, it ended up costing us $50.  Gourmet burgers @ $15 each with no sides, it's a tad on the expensive side.  But you go to Vegas expecting to spend money.  

There's no free lunch sort to speak unless you end up at a gruelling 2-3 hour presentation at Wyndam Resorts that was a 15 minute drive off the strip.  We got suckered in by their promise of free breakfast on them, two Cirque Du Soliel KA tickets, and a $25 free play at one of their selected casinos on the strip.  Their main objective is to get us to buy ownership into their condo/resorts where you can save money down the road by staying at their place or affiliated hotels.  Seems like a good deal for those who have deep pockets to go on vacations every year.  For us, we don't want to feel obligated to go on vacation every year for a certain time to use up our credits.  So we politely declined and got our freebies!  WOOT WOOT!

We got pretty good seats at KA which was also playing at the MGM Grand.  The show was quite grand and lots of action.  The stage was beautiful.  It was boring at times as I found the acts to be drawn out a bit long for my taste.  

Time to gamble my $25 freeplay chip!  I won $25 at the new Linq hotel by betting black on Roulette.  Too bad, I didn't win the next round of Roulette or I could have kept on going.  But roulette is a game of 50/50 chance when betting on red or black.  I decided to cash out and walk away.  Knowing my luck, I'll most likely squander my winnings.

Of course, we walked around a lot checking out the sights and all.  It's amazing how many tourists pass through this city each year.  We caught Bellagio nightly water show and Mirage fire show.  We also took a ride in the new Linq main attraction the High Roller which gives a great view of the strip at night or daytime if you choose be.  I finally got to try White Castle burger.  I paid a little extra for cheese.  It was soft and small, but salty.  Two bites and I was done.  Left a little unsatisfied.  (I still like my MCD value burgers over them anytime).

Overall, we enjoyed our mini getaway trip.  We stayed on budget and even had enough money to pay for parking at Bellingham Airprot, filled up gas and $30 bucks worth of groceries at Costco. 

Vacations can be a lot of fun, but it comes with a price tag.  You pay for flight & hotel which is the bulk of your costs.  When you get to your destination, you'll have to find food and entertainment to spend your free time.  But you'll make memories to last you a lifetime and experience new things like you would never have done at home.