Search Results for “slow-carb-diet-how-to-avoid-going-bat-crazy/debt-burnout/money-problems-day-3-whats-coming-in/three-alternatives-to-a-budget/contact-me/4-ways-we-keep-wasting-money” — Page 103

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-03

Misc

I miss electricity. #
@prosperousfool Do you still need a dropbox referral? in reply to prosperousfool #
@prosperousfool Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTE1Mjk2OTU5 in reply to prosperousfool #
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise: Electricity is the bee's knees, the wasp's nipples and lots of other insect erogenous zones. #
@prosperousfool Throw in a Truecrypt partition and the PortableApps launcher and it gets really neat. in reply to prosperousfool #
@prosperousfool Universal accessibility. I put an encrypted partition on it so any receipts or credit card info or login info would be safe in reply to prosperousfool #
RT @untemplater: RT @jenny_blake: Deep thought of the day: "How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." -Wayne Dyer #quote #
@FARNOOSH So what's happening to the one good show on SOAPNet? in reply to FARNOOSH #
RT @flexo: RT @mainstr: 1 million Americans have been swindled in an elaborate credit card scam and they may not know http://bit.ly/cr8DNK #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-10

Misc

Happy Independence Day! Be thankful for what you've been given by those who have gone before! #
Waiting for fireworks with the brats. Excitement is high. #
@PhilVillarreal Amazing. I'm really Cringer. That makes me feel creepy. in reply to PhilVillarreal #
Built a public life-maintenance calendar in GCal. https://liverealnow.net/y7ph #
@ericabiz makes webinars fun! Even if her house didn't collapse in the middle of it. #
BOFH + idiot = bad combination #

AAA – Save Some Cash

Finance

: Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever driven off the road at 100 miles per hour into a grove of trees at midnight, only to have 2 cops and your father spend 2 hours looking for your car with high-powered spotlights? Let me tell you–from experience–that a free two will, in fact, make that night a little bit better.

Enter AAA.

At its most basic level, AAA is just a roadside assistance service. If your car breaks down, you lock your keys in, or run out of gas, you call AAA from the side of the road and they send a hero at any time of day or night. I’ve used the service to get a car pulled out of an impound lot and out of a ditch. They’ve helped move broken-down cars from my driveway to the mechanic.

We pay $85 per year for the basic service, which includes 5 miles of towing, up to 4 timers a year; lockout service; gas delivery; “stuck in a ditch” service; free maps, trip planning and trip interruption protection. Higher membership levels boost those services and include things like free passport photos, complimentary car rental when you use the tow service, concierge service and more.

I’ve been a member since I got my driver’s license at 16, and over the years, just the roadside assistance has paid for my lifetime of membership several times over.

But–as the man said–wait, there’s more!

They certify mechanics. Not for skill, but reputation. It’s harder to get screwed by a AAA mechanic.

Then there are the discounts.

Most chain hotels, some oil-change shops, and a lot of car-rental services have AAA discounts. Combined with the trip planning, the discounts can easily pay for themselves, if you travel even once a year.

There are also discounts at a ton of restaurants and attractions, sometimes adding up to savings of $50 or more. I don’t think I’ve ever had a year where AAA didn’t pay for itself, and I don’t even use the services efficiently.

For example:

10% off Target.com
Discounts on Magellen GPS units
Theater(stage and screen) discounts
Discounts on minor league baseball and college football tickets
Prescription savings plan
$3 of at our local for-profit aquarium
10-30% discounts from Dell
5% off at UPS
20% off at Sirius Satellite Radio
10% off PODS(hoarders take notice!)
10% at Amtrak
Up to $200 off at DirecTV
A crapload more

I know I sound like a salespitch, but they didn’t pay for this post. I’m just a happy customer.

Do you use a roadside assistance or a discount-from-a-million-places membership?

Saturday Roundup – Side Hustles Rock

Finance, Life

: Image via Wikipedia

We’re busy cleaning for our party next weekend, followed by spending an evening lying in a coffin in my yard, scaring the crap out of kids and giving them candy.

The best posts of the week:

Right now, I am actively pursuing 4 separate side hustles, 3 of which are generating actual cash. It’s about $500 a month at the moment, but each of them are growing. My goal is to hit $1500 a month by spring and have full replacement income within 2 years. Everybody should have some kind of side income, just as a safety net.

One of my side hustles involves training in a niche with 200 companies competing for about 10,000 one-day students each year. I could try to compete on price, but that’s an arms race to bargain-basement pricing. Instead, we compete on value, and as such, we’re on track to bring in several multiples of our share of students this year, with growth projected to go well beyond that next year.

Knowing how much more I enjoy my side projects over my straight job, I want to encourage my kids to develop their own lines of income that will allow them to live the lives they want to live, without being a leech on society.

If they can start to get some of their own income, they can learn the value of the things they own, instead of assuming that everything is free. I will not spoil my kids.