This entry is dedicated to my hard working Hmong sisters and mothers. I have sat with you and heard the simple things you ask for in a partner and family. You are all amazing and you truly do a lot for your families.

1. Not looking forward to slaving my time away for you or your family, especially at events when I am expected to cook and clean and you're just chilling out. I'd love to come to events more if I'm just sitting my ass around and getting fed. 
2. Expecting you to do the dishes, laundry, and cleaning before and after your income job; sometimes in front of the 'public' eye. It simply needs to get done.
3. Not having dinner ready for you because I also get off work at the same time (or I was couponing for us/family)
4. Not having breakfast ready because I also want to sleep in or cake my face
5. Not picking up after your shit because you are an adult
6. Expecting you to split a bill because I'm not the only one living, eating, driving, and existing
7. Not sharing your vision of having children and your only responsibility is a paycheck
8. Asking you to put your family first
9. Not being a Hmong woman that fantasizes a life of cooking and cleaning :D
10. Being called rebellious because I simply ask for respect, accountability, and responsibility
11. Sorry, I'm not sorry for having my shit together, not giving a shit, and sometimes putting my shit first :D 
12. Sorry, I'm not sorry for being strong, motivated, and ambitious just because my life isn't about being in the kitchen.

I've been watching so many van life videos, but this one is the most "REAL" one that spoke to me. I love watching Youtubers that start off with like 200 subscribers and seeing them rise.

After watching this video, I realized God had put everything in place for me to get started on van life. I have watched tiny house and van life for the past 2 months and it just seems to be the right fit for me. I don't have kids that I have to provide for and keep safe, but even that can be done. So how has God set me up for this?

1. Ultimately, accidentally renewing my lease was the beginning of the wrong, but right path. This leads my current landlord to keep me on a 4-month lease only and she doesn't plan to renew it either because I have caused her that whole leasing issue. I respect that and she has the upper hand; beggars can't be choosers. At that point, I knew I had to figure out my next move in 4 months if she doesn't 'renew' my lease. But EFFF THAT! I never put myself in a situation where I have no control and have to "need" someone else's resource, so I'm coming for you VAN LIFE.

2. I quit my pretty good paying job. I just quit. I didn't give a 2 week notice because my employer didn't deserve it. The owner I worked for was...I'll keep it to myself and remain professional.

3. I bummed for about 2 weeks before I found a leasing position. It's not hardcore money I get, but it's what I want to do eventually. This also meant I knew the good spots in the neighborhoods too.

4. I lost one of my fun side and completely remote job because I didn't give 100%. That was completely my fault though. The person I worked with was an amazing person. She has a beautiful and funny soul. She's really doing what she does to help the people she has.

5. Lastly, I landed a job that I actually enjoy doing and working on things I want to use professionally.

After watching that video up there ^, I took a shower and realized that God listens as usual and knew this about me. I currently have 2 jobs that are full-time combined. I'm always on the road, so that's free parking.


1. MOM: Give my mom my Camry since I'm not sure when I can get her a "new" car, but my car is pretty decent.

2. PUNCTUAL: Be on time for work, because I'll be waiting to work lol. I feel like I've been late to work was because I lounge too long before actually heading out. I could blame traffic too, but I'll take it all.

3. MINIMALISM: Have less. I have a lot of unnecessary things. After my 2nd move, I realized I needed to get rid of a lot of things. Once I got rid of my dining table, it felt easy to let go. Then I got rid of my huge dresser. Now I just need to sell all of my things before November comes.

4. TRAVEL: I'll always have to find a park or an event to park.

5. WORK OUT: Since I won't have a 'home', I'll constantly need to park somewhere and a place to shower. Anytime fitness has a gym membership for $20/month, which is enough to park for a few hours legally and use the bathroom.

6. MONEY: I'm so surprised this wasn't at the top of my list. I'll be saving $500+ on rent. The gas I have to pay for are things I'm already doing every day. I plan to pay off my credit card with interest, then my student loans over 4%, and by that time my 0% interest balances will have to get paid off. While that's all happening, save for a house/property down payment. I think if you've read this far, then I'll tell you that I plan to buy while I'm doing van life, so I can legally park somewhere anyway while having the option to use it as income after the principal portion is paid.

I've been looking at cars, so I just want to spend about $2-$3k on a car. My brother is also going to join van life too. Josh has insulation experience. I have money to get this done.

The show is about people suicide on live tv for money that will be given to people they care about because they're so stressed out. Josh Duhamel is a tv host and witnessed a death on a show called Marry A Millionaire. The girl that "didn't win" found a gun and shot the millionaire. At first, Josh was traumatized someone was killed in front of him, but he used his response to see there is a need for truth in reality tv. As a result, he creates a show for people to suicide on tv to get donations. Then the show gets super popular and they have to keep up with the ratings, which means 'crazier' things. Then his sister got super concerned and she knew there was only one way for him to see how dangerous the show was getting.

TWIST/SPOILER ALERT: His sister goes on the show at the turning point of the movie! AHHHA! The suicide is super secure and one has to go around the building to get there. When he realized it was his sister, he wanted her to stop. He yelled and cried. When he finally got to her, he yelled everyone to call 9-1-1, but no one did and it hit him that the people who had suicide didn't have the moment his sister had of someone reaching out to them. That was the unfair part for everyone else on the show. While the whole plot was about him creating the show, the side plot was a hard-working father who got fired from his job and had to pay a house mortgage. He constantly ignored the show and despised the show, but was convinced when the grand 'prize' was 1 million dollars.

He went after the sister and his family flashed before his eyes, so he stopped. He said he didn't want the money anymore and rather be with his family. The end.

I would highly recommend this movie for everyone to watch. I want people to know they're really and literally worth more than a million dollars. Life gets better. People care about you even if you think they don't. It made me realize that I don't need to go on game shows, although I do love that Chain spelling game. Ultimately, money doesn't solve anything. Your time is precious. Don't work all the time. Life is short, have a morning to yourself; have a moment to yourself. Talk to God and see the moments God is trying to communicate with you too.

This movie had moments that reminded me of my family, especially my mom. My mom works hard and is super selfless. The family in there had some of their necessities cut, which reminded me of when it happened to my own family.

It's just really sad that someone or our self sometimes think ending a life is the solution, but it's not. I don't want to be stuck with a mortgage and feel like I have to work night and days to pay for it; mortgage slavery? Recently, I've been watching van life and tiny house and I'm obsessed. I dislike the idea of a landlord. I even dislike more of the idea that someone has an upper hand and the ability to tell me I can't live somewhere. I've never experienced that in my life because of my mom's hard work to provide a home for us.

Renting for the past 2.5 years made me realize how important a home is and how that is the greatest love someone can give you. Maybe you don't have Nike shoes or brand name clothes, but a home can never be replaced. Family can never be replaced. There is no amount of money in the world that can replace people you love. "No silver or no gold could dress me up so good," Boom Clap-Charli XCX.

The other point I want to talk about is reality show in general. I don't watch The Bachelor or Bachelorette at all. I just don't get it. Here we are in 'real life' shaming cheating or 'talking' to other people. Yet, so many of us, mainly females, watch this show. Like, why would I watch a show about a guy who kisses 20+ women to find out he wants to marry them. On top of that, literally spends a day with a different girl, but then we have a problem with players in real life? And ultimately, HE has the power to dismiss whoever. What's worse is that this is all justified because he's a 'bachelor' on a reality show, so it's ok? Only in America where you can do dumb things and get away with it because of a camera rolling. smh.

Taxi: Sometimes the taxi will run a meter and with you not knowing your way, it might take a longer route.

Tuk-Tuk: You should be able to set a price wtuk-tukstuks regardless of the distance.

Uber: This was mainly used in Chiangmai because our hotel wasn’t where there was a lot of traffic. Thank goodness the receptionist told us about it or we would’ve walked half a block out everyday to catch a taxi and get overcharged. If you’ve used an UBER before, it works the same. The only difference is that you’ll be charged the currency of the country, which means foreign fees to your payment method if it has any. If you’ve never used it, it’s really simple. The app will ask where you want to go, show you the cost, and then accept it or wait later or walk to a busier area for the price to decrease. Not just that, the price you pay on uber is the price for the 1-4 people together.

I would recommend getting a prepaid international card ahead of time if you’re thinking about doing this. Not only is it good for traveling, but also reservations that require a credit card.

Personal Driver: We paid 1000 THB/person for a personal car + driver to the Elephant Sanctuary 2.5 hours from Chiagmai. You can go with a group for less, but we wanted the royal treatment :D. JK, we just didn’t want to be on a long car ride with other smells.

Car Rental: We didn’t do this because Thailand drives on the left side. But if you’re up for an adventure, you can totally rent your own car. But I feel like it’ll end up being the same, just labor on your end.

Lodging: Chong made all of the reservations ahead of time. She booked 2 AirBnb for 3 days each and 4 days at the Krabi resort (how does that add up to 14 nights? idk). We were dropped off at this wrong location, but it was next to a fancy-ish hotel, so we stayed there for one night. It was reserved through hotels.com for $48 USD, and valued at $100+ if booked directly with them. Here's a summary of where we stayed: (1) Supailai City Home, Bangkok (2) TF Hotel, Chiangmai (2250 THB or $65 total for 3 nights) (2a) Duangtawan Hotel, Chiangmai ($48 USD/night) - booked through hotels.com, so the charge is in USD and not THB, which means no foreign fee for you. We booked it literally 2 hours before checking in and ditched the creepy TF Hotel, lol. (3) Aonang Cliff Beach Resort ($48 USD/night) - where the Infinity pool is. We had the 'Romantic View' which included an outdoor tub we didn't use :(. But it was a good location to scout the street vendors and walk to the beach. Here's top 10 Hotels in Krabi: Ao Nang Phu Pi Maan Resort & Spa looks really pretty https://www.tripadvisor.com/SmartDeals-g297927-Krabi_Town_Krabi_Province-Hotel-Deals.html
Other Airlines: We flew out to other cities from Bangkok by plane too. They were pretty cheap, about $30 one way way. One thing to be prepared is the luggage fees. Some of them have a general guideline of 1 carry on + personal item. The max weigh for a carry on is 7kg ~ 15 lbs. Vietjet charged 500 THB and AirAsia charged 900 THB. I think Thai smile didn't charge at all; at least for us. I personally didn't get hit with any fees because my carry on was under 7kg
Wifi: Chong and Bao purchased a wifi pocket at the airport for a 2000 baht deposit and was 3200 baht ~ $95 USD/$32 per person for 2 weeks worth. That's more than my phone bill, but it was crucial for all of us to have wi-fi at all times. Bao and I needed that to Face time our boo-thangs. And we literally Googled everything, so we needed good internet at all times. The wifi pocket was always charged whenever we were 'home' and it lasted all day until 8-9pm, which we were already back home by that time.

Packing essentials: I packed a pair of tennis shoe because we planned to climb a mountain, but it was 1500 THB at the end of the entire trip that we just didn’t want to spend. Other than that, I wore my Nike sandals the whole entire trip.

• Lots of shorts. I packed 3 pairs of shorts, which I should’ve packed more.
• light weight tops
• Underwear for each day if you don’t plan to do laundry (some hotels have a washer + dryer that you can pay to use)
• headphones - sometimes the planes do provide them, but you’re better off having a set at all times
• One good hat for shade
• One good pair of sunglasses
• 1 or 2 swimsuits
• Garbage bag for dirty clothes
• Extra duffel bag for souvenirs!

**USE A CARRY ON: It depends on how long you're going of course and what you plan to buy. I know that on the way back, United Airlines allows 2 FREE CHECKED BAG. What does that mean? You can stuff a duffel or buy a suitcase with souvenirs on the way back and it'll fly directly to your final airport. If you plan to fly other airlines, be conscious that you may have to pay for those bag fees too.

I waited until the final days to start buying souvenirs because I didn't want to haul it during the trip. In addition to that, think about the hotels or places without and elevator. You will have to carry that!

On the way back, I checked in my 2 bags. Although I was hands free at my one stop in Hong Kong, it wasn't so convenient when I landed in Chicago. If you don't mind waiting for bag when you arrive, do the check in bags. If you just wanna be gone right away when you land, just keep your carry on with you.

Questions throughout my social media:

How much should I bring? I brought $650 and that was enough for me. I got some little gifts for family at home. Feel free to bring more; the more you have, the more you’ll spend. Keep in mind, the street vendor food are $1-$2 per plate, which is enough for a meal. If you want to go to fancier restaurants or buy expensive items, you will need the dough ($$)

Where's a good mall? The only mall I went to was Siam Center in Bangkok. It was just a mall with modern clothes. If you're looking for elephant pants or traditional Thai clothes, you'll need to go to the markets.

Where are the street markets? We went to 3: Khao San Road in Bangkok, Chiang Mai Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai, and Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok. Chatuchak Weekend Market is the best one with a variety of vendors and the lowest prices of them all too. It's only open on weekends.

What were the main things we did?  Elephant Sanctuary for about 1700 THB ~ $50 USD/person, Grand Palace 500 THB ~ $15/person.

Where did my money go? Lots of it on food. The 1 hour long massages ranged 200 THB to 800 THB. Don’t pay more than 300 THB, please. If you have the money for it, do them daily. You will regret you didn’t pamper your massage enough.

I will update this post as I go and people ask questions. I’m in the process of making a video with all these comments, but maybe I’ll do it once I get more questions. Thanks for reading.

Hi Guys,

It's been a long time since I posted anything relevant. Today's post is dedicated to how to pay minimal toward a maxi-meal-deal.

Starbucks has always had deals or challenges like visit 3 times, get XX points. The easiest and cheapest way to do this is to order in separate transactions. In this case, bananas is the cheapest for $1; hence the name 'banana trick.' I've done this to all my challenges and that's how I'm able to reach stars to earn a Gold level status. For example, if your challenge is to have 2 transactions, order 1 banana in 2 separate transactions.

To maximize your savings at Starbucks, the ones located inside Target often has a Cartwheel deal. Usually, it's 25% off a frappe or 25% off Starbucks sandwich.
Recently, I got a similar email from Panera Bread and decided to test it out. I found the cheapest item, dinner roll (.75); hence 'dinner roll' trick name. My challenge was: visit 2 times and earn a free you pick 2. I loove their chipotle chicken avocado panini and those are $6+ for half a sandwich. Unlike Starbucks, I think you have to go separate days to count as your visit. I tested this out by buying 3 dinner rolls in one day, but it was probably only considered 1. Then the next day, I placed another single order and my reward kicked it. I was also able to order or use my reward right away too, so it was 1 trip, a total of 2 trips. I didn't have to make a 3rd trip to redeem my reward, get it?

Breakdown in short: Order cheapest item in separate transactions or days to qualify for the reward that can be redeem

PS: You can do the DOT trick to earn more rewards. In addition to the discounts, ALL NEW ACCOUNTS/members get a free dessert item

Are you graduating soon and need a job? Usually, at the last semester of your final year, you’re recommended to get an internship. Sometimes these are paid and not-paid.

Fortunately for me, I had a flexible ‘internship’ where I worked counted as my intern. But for some people, it’s not. I just feel like the word internship is just a disguise for ‘do work for free’ than learning the trade/skill. But again, it depends on where it is that you’re interning. For ex, maybe an internship at the White House is cool because it’s such a rare opportunity, you get to network and stuff … but then, why work for free if you are good at what you do? And all you want is to get paid for it.

There are pros to doing free internships too. There’s no commitment and maybe more flexibility. Maybe you get to work with the person on top instead of an actual job where you start from the ground.

I am a refugee. I have only lived in the US for 24 years. Growing up, I never felt like different; I never felt like a 'refugee' or an outsider. That was because of the way I was treated by my lighter skin neighbors during my early years in the US. The way they treated my family with kindness made me think everyone was kind and I still think the same. Then my family moved to a different part of town and we had the nastiest and racist neighbors. I was too young to understand they hated and cursed at us. When we played ball games and if the ball rolled to their yard, the old lady said some really mean stuff. I was so confused why she was so mean and angry, but because my first neighbors were so nice, I shrugged it off.

You can't change people through policies like building walls and banning them. You have to get to know them. And because of my neighbors, I've always seen the good in people and it never crossed my mind to bomb anyone. I went to school and was pretty much brainwashed that Americans were the good guys during the Vietnam War. Um...not completely true. WHO TF bombs a country that has families sharing 1 chicken leg? I'm not even exaggerating. WHO TF bombs a country with people who doesn't even have a basement to run for cover and safety. They don't even have clean water. Their life is so hard already. We're after the wrong people. It is such a false statement to ban people coming from the middle east for protection.

My mom literally swam the Mekong River for her life. Look at me, living in America with swimming classes, and I don't even know how to swim. Refugees are not the bad people here. They are coming from a place that none of us can't even live for a day or a couple hours. There are still Hmong people in the jungles of Laos to this very day, hiding from communists because they sided with the US during the Vietnam War. But I won't use this time to take away the spotlight of the Syrian refugees

Imagined if this happened when Einstein was still alive. The Nazis seized power in Germany on January 30, 1933. Just three months later, March, he quit his job, and by October, he came to the US. Then helped develop the atomic bomb, which was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Because America let him in, this unfortunate achievement was claimed by America, "Our guy was the brain behind it! Yea, we're awesome. We're smarter than you."

Hello world! I just realized that I made over $2000 last year from what I already do. $2k sounds like a small number, but when you actually look at it, it's a pretty big number.

Alright, lets get to business. I have 6 easy ways to earn money and I'll share them from easiest to most complicated.

1. This new one: Milesup app
-get points for driving.
-I already made $25

2. Use Ebates
-Shop online through the ebates link.
-You can shop in your cart
-But I always like to do a final click
-There are some stores that offer in store cashback too

It is so crazy how alike couponers are to Anonymous. Who is Anonymous? "Anonymous is a loosely associated international network of activist and hacktivist entities. A website nominally associated with the group describes it as "an Internet gathering" with "a very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives" (wikipedia).

Instead of hacking the internet, we shop the crap out of it! We don't mean to shut down any governments, but we've been shutting down some websites/stores all due to extreme couponing. Here are some examples:

Call it God, call it Allah, call it Jesus. This quote is so true, so that means I am an Einsteiner. I truly believe there's a higher power out there. I do believe in science ... and supernatural at the same time, even though it's complete opposites. Today, I'm going to share my experiences of "seeing (is believing)" this. I'm not a Christian, but I'll still make some references from there; at the end of the day, it's just words ... that the Christians were given credit/reference to.

1. Today, 1/13/17, I've been so stressed out about new duties at work; accounting! I don't have any background in it at all. Well, I was a bank teller, but that's just basic cashier duties - at the bank. I was so stressed out to the point that I wanted to quit because I was doing (and will be held accountable for) something I didn't know. (It's fricken accounting! Even real accountants have issues with accounting, that means I am at level -1 million). Anyway, I had to gather some reports for the training. I messed up on saving the files, and in accounting, shit needs to match up, especially numbers. Anyway, I was just like, "#### IT! This is what I've got to give them." So on 'training day' (LOL! - starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke), we opened these files. I had lost hope and felt like a POS when the first 2 files' names didn't match. This meant I had to look at all the files again and rename them, so it can be matched nicely. Then the following files, it magically worked out. For example, CHECK FILE - 12 and LIABILITY - 2 went together.

Scientifically, I happened to mistakenly name some files. But it was just too much of a coicidence. I had been stressed out about this, and the Almighty showed me that it will help me.

My last post was about my mom, so I think it's only fair that I also bring in my dad too. Thank you for reading.

1. Savings is a big deal

I was 23 when I got my first car. I had saved up maybe $3k by then. I was so excited to basically give the whole $3k for my down payment because I read that it's better to pay more toward that or as much as you can so you'll pay it off sooner. However, my dad said that I didn't need to and it didn't make much difference. If anything, it was a loss. My dad told me that it is so hard to save or to get the ball rolling and when you are on it, keep what you have.