- Guide to finding cheap airfare: http://su.pr/2pyOIq #
- As part of my effort to improve every part of my life, I have decided to get back in shape. Twelve years ago, I wor… http://su.pr/6HO81g #
- While jogging with my wife a few days ago, we had a conversation that we haven’t had in years. We discussed ou… http://su.pr/2n9hjj #
- In April, my wife and I decided that debt was done. We have hopefully closed that chapter in our lives. I borrowed… http://su.pr/19j98f #
- Arrrgh! Double-posts irritate me. Especially separated by 6 hours. #
- My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income. ~Errol Flynn #
- RT: @ScottATaylor: 11 Ways to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft | Business Pundit http://j.mp/5F7UNq #
- They who are of the opinion that Money will do everything, may very well be suspected to do everything for Money. ~George Savile #
- It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach. ~Franklin Delano Roosevelt #
- The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money. ~Author Unknown #
- The only reason [many] American families don't own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for [a dollar down]~Mad Mag. #
- I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money. ~Pablo Picasso #
- Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life. ~Michael Leboeuf #
- We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs. ~Gloria Steinem #
- There are people who have money and people who are rich. ~Coco Chanel #
- It's good to have [things that money can buy], but…[make] sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. ~George Lorimer #
- The only thing that can console one for being poor is extravagance. ~Oscar Wilde #
- Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail. ~Henry Wheeler Shaw #
- I wish I'd said it first, and I don't even know who did: The only problems that money can solve are money problems. ~Mignon McLaughlin #
- Mnemonic tricks. #
- The Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers http://su.pr/4GAc52 #
- Champagne primer: http://su.pr/1elMS9 #
- Bank of Mom and Dad starts in 15 minutes. The only thing worth watching on SoapNet. http://su.pr/29OX7y #
- @prosperousfool That's normal this time of year, all around the country. Tis the season for violence. Sad. in reply to prosperousfool #
- In the old days a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he's a wonder. ~Author Unknown #
- Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that. ~Norman Vincent Peale #
- RT @MattJabs: RT @fcn: What do the FTC disclosure rules mean for bloggers? And what constitutes an endorsement? – http://bit.ly/70DLkE #
- Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you. ~Oscar Wilde #
- Today's quotes courtesy of the Quote Garden http://su.pr/7LK8aW #
- RT: @ChristianPF: 5 Ways to Show Love to Your Kids Without Spending a Dollar http://bit.ly/6sNaPF #
- FTC tips for buying, giving, and using gift cards. http://su.pr/1Yqu0S #
- .gov insulation primer. Insulation is one of the easiest ways to save money in a house. http://su.pr/9ow4yX #
- @krystalatwork It's primarily just chat and collaborative writing. I'm waiting for someone more innovative than I to make some stellar. in reply to krystalatwork #
- What a worthless tweet that was. How to tie the perfect tie: http://su.pr/1GcTcB #
- @WellHeeledBlog is giving away 5 copies of Get Financially Naked here http://bit.ly/5kRu44 #
- RT: @BSimple: RT @arohan The 3 Most Neglected Aspects of Preparing for Retirement http://su.pr/2qj4dK #
- RT: @bargainr: Unemployment FELL… 10.2% -> 10% http://bit.ly/5iGUdf #
- RT: @moolanomy: How to Break Bad Money Habits http://bit.ly/7sNYvo (via @InvestorGuide) #
- @ChristianPF is giving away a Lifetime Membership to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University! RT to enter to win… http://su.pr/2lEXIT #
- @The_Weakonomist At $1173, it's only lost 2 weeks. I'd call it popped when it drops back under $1k. in reply to The_Weakonomist #
- @mymoneyshrugged It's worse than it looks. Less than 10% of Obama's Cabinet has ever been in the private sector. http://su.pr/93hspJ in reply to mymoneyshrugged #
- RT: @ScottATaylor: 43 Things Actually Said in Job Interviews http://ff.im/-crKxp #
- @ScottATaylor I'm following you and not being followed back. 🙁 in reply to ScottATaylor #
5 Things to Do in the New Year
- Image via Wikipedia
CNN Money has an article up on 5 things to do this year. After posting a similar article a couple of weeks ago, I thought it’d be interesting to post about someone else’s perspective.
1. Shop for a no-fee checking account.
If you are paying fees for a checking account, go somewhere else. There are so many alternatives available that you shouldn’t be throwing money away. Ally Bank has a great no-fee checking account, as does INGDirect, though ING won’t let you write paper checks against the account. The same principle applies to credit cards. If you have a card with an annual fee and you aren’t getting some monster services or rewards to go with it, run away.
2. Save your raise.
I don’t necessarily agree with this one. If you are in debt, it’s better to use the raise to pay off that garbage, first. When I got my last raise, I immediately boosted the automatic payment for my car to use every new penny. I’ve never had the money available, so I haven’t missed it. Whatever you do, fight lifestyle inflation. Just because you have some more money doesn’t mean you need to spend it. At my last job, I got a substantial raise, so I bought a new car, only to get laid off a few months later.
3. Go for a checkup
Wealth doesn’t matter if you squander your health. Go get a physical. Every disease is easier to treat if you catch it earlier as opposed to later. Don’t make the mistake of running your body into the ground. You will regret it later. Effective this year, most health plans will cover a physical with no copay, co-insurance, or deductible allowed.
4. Score a better rewards card.
B***-****. If you’ve still got debt, don’t concentrate on using more of it. Get that crap paid off. If you’re out of debt, look into getting a rewards card that aligns with your goals. If you like to travel, get a card that gives you frequent flier miles. Otherwise, I’d go with a cash-back rewards card.
5. Use your vacation days.
37% of Americans don’t take all of the vacation to which they are entitled. That’s insane! We work harder and better when we have time to recuperate and relax. Unfortunately, I usually fall into that unfortunate 37%. My vacation resets on February 1st, and this will be the first year in a lot of years that I haven’t had to roll it over or even lose some.
What is your financial plan for the new year?
Sunday Roundup
I just realized that I screwed up on Friday’s post and accidentally scheduled it for July 31 instead of July 1. Sorry about that.
I am pretty excited about tomorrow’s post. I’m going to…well, that should wait for tomorrow. It’ll be fun, though.
Best Posts
It’s a basic economic principle: If you want to sell less of something, charge more for it. That works for labor costs, too. Raising the minimum wage, especially when there is a recession, will only cause less employment.
This is a neat business idea. Sometimes, a small business wants a mailing address that isn’t the owner’s home address.
Foreign CDs seem tempting. You can make a decent return in India. Just make sure it’s a legit bank, instead of the “Cayman Island” banks that exist just to collect wire transfers from the US.
In a high-tax, high-regulation environment, the underground economy will thrive, every time. Working for cash and no paperwork can be tempting.
Here’s a sample email to help you buy a car.
Carnivals I’ve Rocked and Guest Posts I’ve Rolled
Shattering Taboos was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.
Thank you! If I missed anyone, please let me know. I’ve been slacking off on carnival submissions lately.
Get More Out of Live Real, Now
There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.
You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader. I prefer Google Reader.
You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.
You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook. Facebook gets more use than Google. It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.
You can follow LRN on Twitter. This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.
You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of. I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.
Have a great week!
Sunday Roundup: Ice Fishing
Update: Something wonky’s happening with this post. If you’re seeing it in your reader again, just ignore it.
Twenty years ago, my grandparents were living in Arizona. They went to see Grumpy Old Men in the theater and, during an ice-fishing scene, they overheard the people next to them talking about how impossible it was. You can’t walk on the ice, let alone drive there! Naturally, my grandparents corrected them.
For the uninitiated, in the land of 10,000 frozen lakes, ice fishing is an actual pastime. The ice on a lake can reach 36 inches, which is more than enough to drive on by 24 inches. Ice-fishing aficionados will drill a hole through that frozen mess, drop a line through the hole and find dinner. Last night, I went ice fishing for the first time in at least 10 years, probably 15. On the lake we were on, they actually plow roads across the ice. It sounds cold, but we were in a 20-foot fish house with a generator, a couch, and a TV. The neatest thing was the underwater radar thingy that turns ice-fishing into a video game.
30 Day Project Update
This month, I am trying to establish the Slow Carb Diet as a habit. At the end of the month, I’ll see what the results were and decide if it’s worth continuing. For those who don’t know, the Slow Carb Diet involves cutting out potatoes, rice, flour, sugar, and dairy in all their forms. My meals consist of 40% proteins, 30% vegetables, and 30% legumes(beans or lentils). There is no calorie counting, just some specific rules, accompanied by a timed supplement regimen and some timed exercises to manipulate my metabolism. The supplements are NOT effedrin-based diet pills, or, in fact, uppers of any kind. There is also a weekly cheat day, to cut the impulse to cheat and to avoid letting my body go into famine mode.
I’m measuring two metrics, my weight and the total inches of my waist , hips, biceps, and thighs. Between the two, I should have an accurate assessment of my progress.
Weight: I have lost 29 pounds since January 2nd! That’s 4 pounds since last week. 13 more to meet my goal for February.
Total Inches: I have lost 15 inches in the same time frame, down 1 since last week.
Best Posts
Thinkgeek has a new high-protein, low-carb snack. Did you know that toasted ants taste like bacon? I’m far more tempted than I should be.
On the off chance that somebody has missed the memo over the years, tax protesting–the art of ignoring your taxes because you don’t like them–will not end well for you.
I’ve been fighting an urge to get a Kindle. Over the last few weeks, the itch has been getting harder to ignore. Money Crashers has a list of resources for free ebooks, making the itch that much worse.
That’s two posts on spending money. Here’s one to balance that with making money. Do you know the best time to post an eBay auction?
LRN Timewarp
This is where I review the posts I wrote a year ago. Did you miss them then?
Have you ever participated in a financial binge & purge? Budgeting and planning can help you avoid the purge, but you’ll have to forgo most of the binges.
Everybody gets caught by life’s ups and downs occasionally. When that happens, how can you fix the damage to your budget and finances?
Finally, I explained my plan for shopping quickly.
Carnivals I’ve Rocked and Guest Posts I’ve Rolled
Brown Bagging Your Way to Savings was included in the Festival of Frugality.
Debt Burnout was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.
Thank you! If I missed anyone, please let me know.
Get More Out of Live Real, Now
There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.
You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader. I prefer Google Reader.
You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.
You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook. Facebook gets more use than Google. It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.
You can follow LRN on Twitter. This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.
You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of. I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.
Have a great week!
Sunday Roundup: Reddit Rocks
Friday was my biggest traffic day, ever. Mike‘s guest post, Brown Bagging Your Way to Savings, went slightly nuts on reddit. For a few hours, it was in the top 10 on the front page, generating more traffic every half hour than I normally see in a day. That was fun.
In other news, my kid is in the #2 slot for wrestling the heavyweight slot on his wrestling team.
30 Day Project Update
This month, I am trying to establish the Slow Carb Diet as a habit. At the end of the month, I’ll see what the results were and decide if it’s worth continuing. For those who don’t know, the Slow Carb Diet involves cutting out potatoes, rice, flour, sugar, and dairy in all their forms. My meals consist of 40% proteins, 30% vegetables, and 30% legumes(beans or lentils). There is no calorie counting, just some specific rules, accompanied by a timed supplement regimen and some timed exercises to manipulate my metabolism. The supplements are NOT effedrin-based diet pills, or, in fact, uppers of any kind. There is also a weekly cheat day, to cut the impulse to cheat and to avoid letting my body go into famine mode.
I’m measuring two metrics, my weight and the total inches of my waist , hips, biceps, and thighs. Between the two, I should have an accurate assessment of my progress.
Weight: I have lost 25 pounds since January 2nd. That’s 3 pounds since last week. 17 more to meet my goal for February.
Total Inches: I have lost 14 inches in the same time frame, down 2.5 since last week.
Best Posts
J. Money has launched an awesome new project called Love Drop. Once a month, they go make a huge difference in someone’s life. Wise Bread interviewed them yesterday.
Tip: Use the word “solved” in a google search to find the answers to tech problems.
If OMG and Awesome got drunk and made a baby with Optimus Prime, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cobra Commander’s nastiest fantasies, the offspring wouldn’t be this good. Holy crap. Major cheese alert.
Q. Why do some business lobby hard for excessive regulation in the name of protecting the environment or forcing people into decisions they disagree with, only to turn around and lobby for waivers to those regulations once they are passed? A. Because it’s not about the environment or health or giving-a-crap. It’s about the money. When an established company pushes for regulations, it’s to keep upstarts from entering the market. Regulations add barriers to entry. Anybody who’s trying to force you to do something for your own good has a product to sell to meet that “need”.
LRN Timewarp
This is where I review the posts I wrote a year ago. Did you miss them then?
Have you ever given any thought to the idea that debt is a social disease? It’s taboo, you usually didn’t do anything nice to get it, and it’s hard to get rid of.
In case I haven’t made it obnoxiously clear, I’m more than a bit of a geek. The post I wrote about D&D and personal finance should make it more obvious.
Carnivals I’ve Rocked and Guest Posts I’ve Rolled
Medical Costs and Choices was included in the Festival of Frugality.
How to Save Money On Anything was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.
Mike from http://savingmoneytoday.net presented Brown Bagging Your Way to Savings, which is the post that went kinda nuts on reddit. He also hosted my post, Resisting Temptation.
Thank you! If I missed anyone, please let me know.
Get More Out of Live Real, Now
There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.
You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader. I prefer Google Reader.
You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.
You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook. Facebook gets more use than Google. It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.
You can follow LRN on Twitter. This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.
You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of. I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.
Have a great weekend!
Carnival Roundup and Life Update
The last few months have been insane for me.
- I’ve been working 50+ hours per week at my day job, but we’ve hired more programmers, so that’s going to calm down.
- I’ve been putting 30+ hours per week into my side businesses.
- Until two weeks ago, we had wrestling practice or meets 3-4 nights a week.
- I’ve got so much going on, my insomnia is going nuts. I wake up at 2AM with my mind racing, and fall back asleep between 4 and 5 every night. I’ve got meds for that, but I have to take them by 9PM or I’m too drowsy in the morning. Taking sleeping pills at 9 cuts into my side-hustle productivity.
If I’ve been out of touch, that’s why and I’m sorry. I’ve been feeling a bit neglectful around here. I am actively working to reduce my day-job hours to a reasonable 40-45 per week, without increasing the time spent on the other things in the list. I need to spend more time with my family and friends and spend some more of the side-hustle time here.
Live Real, Now was included in following carnivals recently:
Yakezie Carnival – Easter Edition hosted by Roshawn Watson
Carnival of Personal Finance #356 hosted by Money Drain
Totally Money Carnival #62 hosted by Stupid Cents
Carnival of Tax #101 hosted by Don’t Mess with Taxes
Festival of Frugality #331 hosted by One Smart Dollar
Yakezie Carnival – Have Fun Edition hosted by Tackling Our Debt
Yakezie Carnival – April Fool’s Edition hosted by Passive Income to Retire
Yakezie Carnival – Severe Weather Edition hosted by Money Qanda
Carnival of Money Pros – Tax Rush Edition hosted by Novel Investor
Thanks for including my posts.
Get More Out of Live Real, Now
There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.
You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader. I prefer Google Reader.
You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.
You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook. Facebook gets more use than Google. It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.
You can follow LRN on Twitter. This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.
You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of. I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.
Have a great weekend!
