October 30th, 2009
I read an interesting article onhow to make more money today. I had been thinking about the ways to increase my own marketability and this brought up a few ideas on what I need to do.
My biggest challenge is a lack of marketable skills. I don’t have the technical skills, experience, or education to be employed in a field I prefer. I am taking college courses to finish my degree while also learning programming, but my progress is slow going. Once I have sufficient resume fodder, I’m confident that I’ll be able to network and interview well to increase my primary income source.
Once that’s done, I’d like to move onto increasing passive income. Blogging and developing income from it would be one route. Having the hard skills should make it easier to develop the blog from the back end and enable me to speak with authority on a broader range of issues.
Just like anything in life, a series of incremental steps with a few setbacks are likely to be the path I must travel. Let’s see how it goes.
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October 5th, 2009
I managed to stay up entirely too late doing accounting homework last night. I did finish it and was satisfied with the results, but that should teach me to put it off until the last minute. Now the question will be whether I can retain the information I’ve learned for tomorrow’s quiz.
I’m certainly taking a shine to the subject and can already see potential applications for future business endeavors. I’m also starting to see the mistakes made in some businesses I’ve been in. I could even see it as part of a career path for me. Granted, this is with 5 days of beginning accounting class knowledge so remember your grains of salt.
Getting used to how certain transactions are classified will take some getting used to, but I see how the accounting powers that be prevent transactions from being entered twice, for example. I’ll be sure to go into more detail once I can speak on the subject with any degree of authority
As I’m starting to feel the effects of the sleep dep, I must grab more caffeine. Until next time.
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October 1st, 2009
I’ve planned and paid for a vacation in Las Vegas later this month. It’s something my friends and I have been planning for years but never gotten around to. I’ve managed to save enough cash to pay for the trip, while still having enough for tuition and my (very expensive) textbook. Cash flow should be tight this month, but I’m happy I was able to pull it off. Now to see about balancing muay thai training, college, and working enough to have money for the holidays.
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September 30th, 2009
I’ve started the new quarter with the Accounting series for business degrees in my area. My likelihood of staying is contingent upon if I can pay for everything and have the time/focus to keep up my grades. The instructor seems very nice, knowledgeable, and accessible which puts points towards me staying. Spending $150 on a used textbook less so. He did make an interesting statement about how one of his colleagues some years back had put together a budget so he could retire at 45. Apparently his friend is still retired in his 50’s using what he had learned in accounting, so I hope I can make something work out for me.
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September 25th, 2009
I’ve been delaying taking the car in for maintenance as cash has been tight. I know I need to because it will save a lot of money in the long run. I did learn how to fix my brakes and change the tires over the summer, but I still don’t know how to change the oil or the various filters. I’d like to do the 60k service and rotate the tires as well as a few other things, but I don’t know what to prioritize. Lack of car knowledge strikes again!
Most of my fear is I don’t know how much things will cost, which is spurring me to inaction, as it were. I should bite the bullet and get an estimate at the very least, and then ask around to see what I need to prioritize. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all.
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September 23rd, 2009
So it looks like Bank of America is responding to the national mood andbacking off on their fees. Having been walloped on more than one occasion, I would appreciate a change for the better. The fees seem excessive for what amounts to a very short-term loan, and I’m not a fan of the “punishment” strategy for those who spend more than they have. It would be nice if cards would automatically decline purchases when you don’t have enough to spend, and it seems that they are making concessions in that direction as well.
One thing about Bank of America’s overdraft strategy was to send the bigger items through first. This benefited the customer in that large payments like rent and car payments would be the first to clear. However, customers would then get hit with a bunch of fees for any smaller transactions that cleared as well. For example, with a $1000 balance and a $1000 rent check, $25 purchase, $10 purchase, and $3 miscellaneous purchase, the check would clear first, followed by the other three items in descending order resulting in $105 in fees. If the transactions were processed in the other order, the smaller ones would clear before the balance was negative with only $35 in fees.
This doesn’t affect debit cards so much as checks, and it sounds like they’ll allow a certain amount of overdrafts per account per year before warning the customer and restricting overdrafts for the rest of the year. I hope this doesn’t mean they’ll end up with bounced rent checks, but I don’t think Bank of America is known for their generosity and will likely look to make up the lost revenue elsewhere.
Posted in Banking | 1 Comment »
September 22nd, 2009
Staying healthy and slim can save you a lot in health care costs in the long run. Luckily, you don’t need to spring for a gym membership. Here are a few cheap ideas to get started on the fitness train.
Jump rope: You can usually get these for under $10. There is a learning curve, so take it slowly to start. After a few weeks of practice for perhaps 20 minutes a day, you should be able to get a fantastic workout. I find jumping rope to be a very efficient workout as there is full-body intensity. I might only recommend against it if you feel the shock is too much for your knees due to weight or other issues.
Swimming: If you can access a local pool or body of water, this may be a viable option for you. Swimmer’s tend to have very lithe, fit bodies as the exercise burns a lot of calories and develops a lot of upper-body strength.
Shadow Boxing: You can pull up some videos on the on the internet and find a few combos to work with intensity, as well as pointers on technique. You could even spring for pads and gloves for a one-time investment without having to pay for a gym membership. Bodyweight calisthenics with shadow boxing as your rest period makes for a fantastic and cheap workout.
I’ll probably start mapping out more specific workouts that you can try.
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September 22nd, 2009
I managed to earn $100 by going to a focus group on a new technological product. Due to the NDA I can’t say anymore, but it was easy cash. The group that does the market research also pays for feedback on movies and various other products from their wonderful office in downtown Seattle. I think they only call a few times a year, but it’s easy money for a couple of hours of feedback. They fed me and validated my parking as well, so I don’t know that I would’ve had better plans that evening regardless.
I hope to find more productive ways to spend my days in general. I do manage to work out, but I’d like to spend more time learning, blogging, and earning extra cash. My number one impediment seems to be my tendency to procrastinate, but I suppose that’s always the problem.
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September 22nd, 2009
I have returned!
I can’t believe it’s been as long as it has. I have managed to increase my savings account and IRA size, so the time I’ve been gone hasn’t been a waste from the financial side. Additionally, I took a macroeconomics course and got a deeper understanding of the financial world. Deeper being a dip of the toes in the shallow end of a very large pool, but at least I know the pool exists now.
I’ve put in a lot of time training for a fight, so between that, school, and time with the wife I’ve had little time to blog. I hope to better manage my time to succeed in balancing these items, but that’s how it is for everyone.
Until next time.
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November 12th, 2008
One of my favorite blogs,The Simple Dollar, has an article discussing ways to make dramatic changes in your life by taking it one day at a time. I like these type of posts as they are quite helpful for someone just starting to make those financial changes (e.g. yours truly). He also relates it to diet/weight loss goals, which I’ve mentioned before is similar because both require behavioral changes.
The key points I gleaned from the post were to set realistic goals, track your progress, and focus on a series of small changes rather than a series of sweeping ones. One point I would add is to not dwell on mistakes or falling off the wagon. It’s not possible to go back and change a mistake, so all you can do is focus on how to avoid that mistake in the future, dust yourself off, and get back on the horse. This is one area where weight loss and financial matters diverge behaviorally, as if you overeat the solution isn’t to undereat by that same amount for the next few days (unless you want to gain weight). However, you may need to cut back on spending if you overspend unless you don’t like paying your bills on time. Just saying.
Tags: Personal finance
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