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30 Day Project Update – January

Misc

For those who don’t remember–or are just tuning in–I am doing a 30 Day Project every month this year, sometimes two.  For the month of January, I am doing two projects.  I am waking up at 5AM every day, and I had planned to read to my kids every night before bed.

Waking up hasn’t been that difficult. I’m tempted to snooze the alarm, but I haven’t done that yet.  My routine has been to wake up at 5, watch or read the news until I am fully awake, have breakfast, get ready for work, read all of the websites I follow in Google Reader, then get the kids ready.   Until this month, my routine was to get up at 6:30, rush to get ready, rush more to get the kids ready, head out the door.  This has been more relaxing and it let’s me start my workday fully awake, which wasn’t happening before.   I’m hoping to get some writing time in there and next month, exercise time.   The interesting thing is that I haven’t adjusted what time I go to bed by much, so this has actually added 90 minutes to my day.

It’s been interesting.   I’m dead tired at 9PM, but I’m surprisingly wide awake by 5:30.  It hasn’t been nearly as hard as I had feared.   I’m looking forward to spring, when I can greet the sunrise. 

Reading hasn’t gone as well.  At the beginning of the month, I told the girls I would read to them every night.   We started out wonderfully.   Then, the real world came in uninvited. I had a meeting at school that ran late.  My son’s wrestling season started.  Things just kept getting in the way of a bedtime story.  The solution?  We modified the deal.  It’s not a bedtime story any more.  I am reading to the girls whenever there is time.  I may not be home at bedtime every day, but I am certainly home at other times.  We’re making it happen, even if it’s not exactly as planned.

It’s just a demonstration of the old rule:  Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. A small amount of flexibility has turned a potentially failed goal into happy family time.  It’s still a win.
How are your resolutions progressing?

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-17

Misc

  • @Elle_CM Natalie's raid looked like it was filmed with a strobe light. Lame CGI in reply to Elle_CM #
  • I want to get a toto portable bidet and a roomba. Combine them and I'll have outsourced some of the least tasteful parts of my day. #
  • RT @freefrombroke: RT @moneybeagle: New Blog Post: Money Hacks Carnival #115 http://goo.gl/fb/AqhWf #
  • TED.com: The neurons that shaped civilization. http://su.pr/2Qv4Ay #
  • Last night, fell in the driveway: twisted ankle and skinned knee. Today, fell down the stairs: bruise makes sitting hurt. Bad morning. #
  • RT @FrugalDad: And to moms, please be more selective about the creeps you let around your child. Takes a special guy to be a dad to another' #
  • First Rule of Blogging: Don't let real life get in the way. Epic fail 2 Fridays in a row. But the garage sale is going well. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-17

Misc

  • RT @mymoneyshrugged: The government breaks your leg, and hands you a crutch saying "see without me, you couldn't walk." #
  • @bargainr What weeks do you need a FoF host for? in reply to bargainr #
  • Awesome tagline: The coolest you'll look pooping your pants. Yay, @Huggies! #
  • A textbook is not the real world. Not all business management professors understand marketing. #
  • RT @thegoodhuman: Walden on work "spending best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy (cont) http://tl.gd/2gugo6 #

Actions Have Consequences

Finance, Parenting

Image by reidmix via Flickr

Six months ago, my laptop quit charging.  This particular model has a history of having the power jack come loose inside the laptop, so I ordered the part and waited.  When it came, I disassembled the computer, carefully tracking where each screw went.   I installed the part, the put it back together, with only a few extra pieces.

It didn’t work.

After spending the money and doing the work, I tested the external power cord.   I could have saved myself a few hours of work if I would have done that first.  It was trash, so I ordered a new one.   That’s time and money down the drain due to my poor research.

As an adult, I know that I am responsible for my actions, even if the consequences aren’t readily apparent.   If I tap another car in a parking lot, I am going to have to pay for the damages, even if I didn’t see the car.   This has manifested itself in credit card statements I didn’t read, speed limits signs I didn’t notice(or ignored!), and–on occasion–my wife and I not communicating about how much money we’ve spent.

Kids have a much harder time grasping that concept.

My son enjoys playing games online.  Some of the games are multiplayer games  he plays online with his friends, others are flash games he plays at home while his friends watch.   They like to take the laptop into the dining room where they can play without being in the way.   A small herd of 10 and 11 year old kids hopping around expensive electronics can’t be a good idea.

Yesterday, we saw that the power cord was fraying at the computer end from being dragged all over the house and jerked by kids tripping on the cord.   We got six months of life out of the cord because of kids who should have known better not acting appropriately around the cord and the computer.    Not happy.

My son got grounded for a week and honored with the privilege of replacing the cord.   Now he isn’t happy, but he understands that he needs to pay for the damage he causes, even if he didn’t know that what he was doing could cause the damage.    If it was something he would have had no way of knowing, there would have been no punishment, but he should have known not to jerk on the cord of leave it where it can be tripped over.

What do you think?

Top 7 Reasons To Trade Forex Over Other Financial Instruments

Finance

This is a guest post provided by ForexTraders.com

The foreign exchange market has literally exploded over the last 10 years.  Before the 1990’s, the only players allowed to speculate in the forex market were banks, large hedge funds, and very wealthy individuals.  The reason was simple.  The minimum contract size was usually $100,000 and it ranged up to $1,000,000; therefore, most traders simply could not afford to trade in the market.  The advance of technology and internet changed that.  Today, traders can open an account with as little as $100 and begin trading in the spot fx market.  This change has caused traders around the world to rush into the market and the Bank of International Settlements now estimates that average daily turnover in the fx market is around $4 trillion!  Let’s examine a few of the top reasons why the fx market is drawing so many traders.

Leverage

In the United States, traders that engage in fx trading can leverage 50:1.  Leverage was much higher in recent years, but government regulations have now capped leverage at 50:1 effective late October.  This means that a forex trader can control a position of $50,000 with only $1,000 on deposit with his broker.  Leverage is definitely a two-edged sword that can help a trader garner very quick and substantial profits, but it can also lead to debilitating losses and should therefore be used with caution.

Liquidity

The huge amount of volume that is present in the forex market each day makes it basically impossible for any single financial institution or even group of market participants to manipulate price movements.  It also makes it much easier for large traders to enter and exit the market without trading against themselves, which is a common problem in the stock and commodity markets.

24 Hour Market

The forex market is a loosely connected network of international banks; therefore, the market never closes from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon.  Liquidity simply flows from financial center to financial center as time zones open and close business operations for the day.  This is a huge advantage for small, retail traders because those who still have full-time jobs can trade at night.

Small Initial Account Size

Traders can open accounts with as little as $1 at some brokers, and then trade positions where each 1 point movement is equivalent to $0.01 (in the U.S. this would be lower since the leverages are capped at 1:50).  This will obviously never get a trader rich, but it does allow traders a very low risk entrance into the market.  Traders generally need $20,000 in order to day trade the stock market.  This very low account size at an online forex broker is a big draw for many traders.

Long Trends

The currency market tends to develop very clear, long trends.  It is not uncommon for specific currencies to head in the same direction for 5+ years.  Of course, there are many dramatic price swings that make real-time trading difficult and challenging, but a quick look at longer-term currency price charts makes it clear that currencies develop strong trends.

Macro Economics

The currency market is very big picture-based.  This means there are not a million and one little things that a trader has to track as is common in other financial markets.  Currencies react to major macroeconomic developments around the world.  Seasoned fx professionals argue that this makes the job of economic analysis much different in the currency market.

Continued Growth and Volatility

The foreign exchange market is expected to continue to grow in coming years, and volatility is expected to remain quite strong as the world continues to move toward a more globalized economy.  As globalization continues to change the world economy, investor interest in currencies will most likely continue to grow steadily.

Jason’s commentary:  I’ve never looked into forex trading, mostly because I’m not in the “invest & grow rich” stage of my financial life.  Have you invested in the forex market?