- RT @ScottATaylor: The Guys on "Pickers" should just follow the "Hoarders" teams around- perfect mashup #
- PI/PNK test: http://su.pr/2umNRQ #
- RT @punchdebt: When I get married this will be my marital slogan "Unity through Nudity" #
- http://su.pr/79idLn #
- RT @jeffrosecfp: Wow! RT @DanielLiterary:Stats show 80% of Americns want to write a book yet only 57% have read at least 1 bk in the last yr #
- @jeffrosecfp That's because everyone thinks their lives are unique and interesting. in reply to jeffrosecfp #
- @CarrieCheap Congrats! #CPA in reply to CarrieCheap #
- @prosperousfool I subscribe to my own feed in google reader. Auto backup for in between routine backups. Saved me when I got hacked. in reply to prosperousfool #
- @SuzeOrmanShow No more benefits? I bet the real unemployment rate goes down shortly thereafter. in reply to SuzeOrmanShow #
- Losing power really make me appreciate living in the future. #
Saturday Roundup
- Image via Wikipedia
I wrote this yesterday. According the forecast, when this post goes live, I’ll be moving 5-8 inches of snow off of my driveway.
That, or watching TV and thinking about moving snow.
Maybe I’ll just sleep in and wait for spring to melt the snow.
Don’t forget to enter my drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card! Go here for details. It ends on the 15th, so don’t wait too long.
Best Posts
Crazy-easy ice cream bread. How could this possibly be bad?
Tron comes out in 2 weeks. I’d love to show up on a custom street-legal Troncycle.
Arsenic-based lifeforms are shaking up the way we understand life to work. I’m of the opinion that life will probably exist almost everywhere that isn’t a completely dead dry rock. I say that as an expert in…well, nothing related to astrobiology.
Following Erica’s advice is currently making me a few hundred dollars per month, with every sign of growing as time goes on. I hate to sound like a fanboy, but if she pimps a product, I’m at least going to give it some serious consideration.
Carnivals I’ve Rocked
10 Dumb Money Moves was featured in the Carnival of Debt Reduction.
Book Review: The Art of Non-Conformity was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.
Things You Should Buy Online to Save Money was included in the Festival of Frugality.
Thank you! If I missed anyone, please let me know.
LRN Timewarp
This is a new feature to share the gift that is me with anyone new to LRN. This week, I’m going to share some posts from my first week blogging here.
The $10 College Fund. In the last year, not only have I not changed my mind about the $10 college fund, but I haven’t raised the amount. The point is to just get started. I’ve done that. I’ll raise the amount when my debt is paid off. We are now up to $166.09. The numbers are off because I stuck a little bit extra in one month.
In the last year, our dreams haven’t changed. We haven’t made any direct progress, but indirectly we are doing well. First things first. We need to pay the debt off before we look at a hobby farm.
My second day blogging, I wrote about why we handled money so poorly.
Walking Dead: Would You Be Ready for the Apocalypse?
Would you be ready for the apocalypse? The Walking Dead asks that question every week. There is a great deal of human intrigue in the show, but the show is always asking you, the viewer, if you would be ready to deal with an apocalypse on that order. The idea goes much farther than dealing with zombies. Truly, zombies are the easy part of the apocalypse.
Lost People
We live in a world where we are very connected. You know people from all over the world, and it the entire world has been overrun by an apocalypse at once, all the people you are connected to around the world are effectively gone. There is no chance you will ever see them again. The people on the show deal with those ideas every day. There are so many people they miss that they never go to to say goodbye to.
Insecurity
The one thing that the apocalypse creates is insecurity. You will have no idea what is going to happen the next morning. You never know when someone in your crew is going to be bitten or killed. You have no idea when you will run into other humans you cannot trust. There is not a safe place on Earth. Even if you lock down a house, there is no way to know for sure that zombies would not get in.
Violence
The Walking Dead graphically depicts the violence that is necessary to kill zombies. You would have to “kill” thousands of people who have become zombies. You can see their wedding rings. You can see them in their uniforms, and you know that they used to be somebody. However, you have to end them in order to save yourself. Many of us believe we could do that, but we need to think twice before we assume we could be that violent.
Order
The lack of order in the world is the thing that would break most of us. We can reconcile loss, but that loss is hard to reconcile when there is no order in the world. There is not one authority on the planet that is still operating. How would you be able to resolve problems without such a structure?
On the show, all these problems are handled violently. Murdering violent people is all part of the job if you want to stay alive. It is one thing to kill a zombie that is no longer a person, but it is something else to kill a real person who is simply a thieving criminal.
You might think that you would do just fine when you are watching The Walking Dead, but you would not know unless it happened in real life. The zombie apocalypse is not all fun and games. At its heart is a tense human emotion called loss that we would all have to confront head on.
Ending A Streak
The first year I decorated our yard for Halloween was 1999. The first year we through a Halloween party was 1998.
Our parties tend to fall on the legendary side. Between setup, cleanup, and out-of-town guests, the party is a 3-4 day affair. People reserve our spare beds a year in advance. The day of the party itself, we’re going from 10AM until 5AM, cooking, drinking, and talking. Over the 10 hours the party is actively going, we have 50-60 guests in and out.
Our yard is a neighborhood attraction. We’ve been on the news and in the newspaper. By the end of Halloween night, the path through the yard is nearly worn down to bare dirt. The spot the large coffin sits takes 6 weeks to rejuvenate in the spring. I’ve literally scared kids right out of their masks. Little old ladies have jumped out in the air, shrieking, only to ask me to hide again, so they can bring their husbands over to enjoy the startle.
This year, we end the 13-year unbroken streak of fear and debauchery. We’ve been doing this since before any my oldest kid was weaned.
It’s hard to take a break, but…
Dealing with my mother-in-law’s house has been far too much work for us. We spent all summer cleaning out the hoarding mess.
And fixing up the yard.
And replacing the boiler.
And fixing the plumbing.
And updating the electrical system.
And fixing up the basement.
And patching the walls.
And selling the cars.
And sorting through 30 years of every scrap of paper that has ever come through the house.
And dealing with all of the memories, and the pictures, and the past.
It’s been too much, and it’s not done.
Now, it’s the middle of October, and the idea of stealing the extra time to add the extra stress of setting up the yard and throwing a big party makes me want to break down.
Two days to set up the yard, only to have some kid steal my favorite, irreplaceable pieces, then two days to pack it all up.
A day of decorating inside, followed by a party and a hungover day of cleaning it all up.
All of that, while losing time from the side business and pushing through to the end of the property preparation from hell.
I can’t do it, so, as sad as it makes me, we’re taking the year off. No Halloween events at my house this year.
WWE: Money in the Bank, or all Hype?
Most people will never realize what it’s like to lose $350 million in a single day, but if you’re Vince McMahon you know the feeling all too well. However, before you start collecting money to give to the WWE CEO, let’s remember that despite that setback he’s still worth a cool $750 million. So while he got knocked out of the billionaire’s club, he’s still a full-fledged member of the multi-millionaire’s club.
World Wrestling Entertainment, thinking anything it does is money in the bank, has been busy lately securing television deals for its various programs such as Raw and Smackdown. While Mr. McMahon got the deals finalized with networks owned by NBCUniversal, the price he got was considered by analysts to be far lower than what he was looking for. As a result, WWE stock prices plunged nearly 43 percent in a single day, costing Vince his billionaire club card.
However, despite the rough financial spot in the road, don’t think the WWE is ready to tap out anytime soon. The WWE Network, an on-demand streaming service launched by the company earlier this year, is already approaching one million subscribers. Despite what will probably be an initial loss of $50 million for the fledgling network, McMahon and other WWE executives believe the network will eventually become a money-maker for the company.
So while Triple H, the Rock and John Cena have helped make the WWE what it is today, there are many other superstars who are helping take the company to even greater heights. In recent years, perhaps none are more well-known and liked than the company’s Divas. Whoever said sex sells sure knew what they were talking about, because it seems the wrestling fans simply can’t get enough of the beauties who fight it out every week for glory and gold. With the show Total Divas on the E! Network for the next several years, fans will continue to get their weekly dose of the ring beauties there as well as on the other shows in the WWE camp.
So while it’s not money in the bank that all of the company’s ventures will pan out as hoped, it’s a good bet Mr. McMahon and those associated with the WWE will continue to figure out what fans are wanting and deliver it to them on a regular basis. And whether or not you are a wrestling fan, you’ve got to admit the WWE is a captivating experience in sports entertainment that keeps fans coming back for more each and every week.
Related articles
Building 5 Bad Habits
Good habits are boring. I mean, yes, they will help you succeed and provide some security, but so what? Bad habits are fun. Except meth. Meth is a bad habit that is decidedly not fun. Don’t do meth. Seriously.
There are so many entertaining bad habits that I couldn’t possibly cover them all. I’m going to stick to the bad financial habits that will make your life more exciting.
- Break your budget. A budget constrains you, keeps you from buying the things you want and traveling to distant, exotic places when you know you can’t afford the trip. The best way to build this habit is to not only avoid tracking your expenses, but also avoid tracking what you actually spend. If you don’t know what you owe or what you’ve spent, the end of every month is an adventure!
- Impulse shopping. For the next week, I want you to go to your favorite store every day. Buy the first thing you see that makes you want to hum. Every day. Don’t worry about being able to afford it. That’s what credit is for, right? Bonus points for buying it on the “no interest for a year, then we screw you” plan. I’m sure you’ll be making more money by the time the bill is due. You could get lucky and have a rich relative die and leave you a fortune. That’s like winning the lottery twice, because you won’t have to buy him Christmas cards anymore.
- Meals on the go. Cooking is a drag. Besides, who wants to slap a slice of meat and cheese on a couple slices of bread, when you can get a drive-through case of the Aztec two-step for $5. Did you know that the big yellow ‘M’ stands for “Montezuma?” On your way to practice impulse shopping, pick up some lunch. For your money, you’ll get less convenience, more additives, and the opportunity to gamble on the lunch employees caring as much about cleanliness as you do. It’s a win for everyone!
- Ego shopping. Actual accomplishments and improvement are hard. It’s much better to wrap up your sense of self-worth in the smartest phone, the shiniest car, or the Gucciest purse. Allowing Mastercard to finance your self-esteem guarantees that your next smile is just a shopping trip away. Who needs the hassle of dealing with things that matter? After your impulse purchase, buy something fancy! Show your friends that you are not only a more discerning consumer, but also that you are better than they are. Watch them turn green with envy. When they shrug and tell your that their phone has the one feature they need–the ability to ring when called–know that it is envy speaking.
- Expensive Vacations. You need to relax. I know how hard it is lugging that iBlackPhoneP(a/o)doid in and out of the designer sportscar with all-leather cow interior and big, brown baby seal-eyes for headlights. It’s work. Back and forth buying crap you don’t need to fuel your ego, dodging vicious calls from creditors and having to Dine-N-Dash every time a friend invites you out for dinner makes a dude tired. Take a week in Europe to calm your thoughts. You deserve it, even if you don’t actually have the money for it. Isn’t Great-Uncle Horace sick?
What are your favorite bad habits?
Update: This post has been included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.
