At last!
I've been telling my brother that he needs to share his writing with the world. He's just told me that he's started up his very own blog: Ephram delMoniq: a creative blog with a dark imagination.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to reading and rereading his stuff. So, feel free to check him out. I'm sure that he'd appreciate the readers.
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
An excellent post...
...of course, it's not mine. Dr. Faith sent me a like to This Post by Trent over at The Simple Dollar. I think that most people, or most people in my situation anyway, have had a moment like this. Maybe they don't even realize it, yet. Or maybe they're like me and living in the harsh, poor reality that they created years ago.
Ever since I read this tonight, in the back of my mind, I was searching for that moment in my history. There are lots of moments like those. I've posted before about my college spending habits, and I have to say that that is where a lot of my shit started. But was there a defining moment? I don't think in college. Well, I did buy a computer on a credit card that was top-of-the-line (for 1997). I remember years later still thinking how I was still paying for that computer. I still have it. It's in the kitchen, not hooked up, and collecting dust. I still have that credit card. I don't (can't) use it. But for a long time, the bulk of that balance was that computer.
There were plenty of things in graduate school (I swear I plan to write that post...trust me) that were horrible spending choices. I'm telling you Best Buy was the bane of my existence. Kinda still is. The most memorable was the day that a friend and I left lab early, went to Best Buy, and dropped a total of over $2000. ON A WHIM. All on credit cards. I get nauseous just thinking about it now.
Anyway, really I just wanted to share Trent's post and get you (and me) thinking about these things. One must learn from the mistakes of the past in order to grow and move forward. Oh but if I had a time machine, I'd slap myself silly. (Unless, of course, touching my past self caused a crazy paradox reaction as in Timecop.)
Ever since I read this tonight, in the back of my mind, I was searching for that moment in my history. There are lots of moments like those. I've posted before about my college spending habits, and I have to say that that is where a lot of my shit started. But was there a defining moment? I don't think in college. Well, I did buy a computer on a credit card that was top-of-the-line (for 1997). I remember years later still thinking how I was still paying for that computer. I still have it. It's in the kitchen, not hooked up, and collecting dust. I still have that credit card. I don't (can't) use it. But for a long time, the bulk of that balance was that computer.
There were plenty of things in graduate school (I swear I plan to write that post...trust me) that were horrible spending choices. I'm telling you Best Buy was the bane of my existence. Kinda still is. The most memorable was the day that a friend and I left lab early, went to Best Buy, and dropped a total of over $2000. ON A WHIM. All on credit cards. I get nauseous just thinking about it now.
Anyway, really I just wanted to share Trent's post and get you (and me) thinking about these things. One must learn from the mistakes of the past in order to grow and move forward. Oh but if I had a time machine, I'd slap myself silly. (Unless, of course, touching my past self caused a crazy paradox reaction as in Timecop.)
Friday, July 24, 2009
Woah. Too much data in a short amount of time.
So, I'm sitting here tonight, awaiting the impending thunderstorm and watching The Bold and the Beautiful, and I get to thinking about my money. Well, I was thinking about all kinds of things, really, and chatting with Dr. Faith. She's got me excited about something that I never thought that I'd be excited about (but that's for another post). Anyway, the conversation turned to finances. She pointed out to me that Debt Ninja posted about getting your free credit report today.
Of course, I check it out. Holy crap! There is a ton of information out there about me, and there was a lot of stuff that I hadn't thought of in years on there. So, I've got 29 pages of my own personal financial data to go through this weekend. Most people would yawn or scoff, but I'm excited. At first glance I've noticed a few things:
(1) I'm not as horrible as I thought I was.
(b) No one has stolen my identity.
(iii) My total revolving credit is down to 47% (meaning that 53% of my credit card debt is paid off).
(4) My student loan is kicking my ass.
(e) I (again) owe my parents a HUGE truckload of gratitude.
It's getting late, and I still want to watch these two episodes of Samantha Who?. So, I plan to tackle all this head on this weekend. I don't have to work this weekend (thank GOD), and I've got 30 episodes of Days of Our Lives to watch. So, I'm going to multi-task some major PF blogging with some hot soap watching tomorrow.
I intend to discuss my student loan in more detail, which will probably come in the form of the long awaited History of My World - Part III post. I'm going to use the summary table from the credit report to rekajigger my status bars (and possibly adjust my 2009 goals). I'm going to figure out how I'm doing on my $100/week plan for July, and figure out where my money is going this month in a more systematic way (instead of a haphazard list). And we'll see what interesting information we can gather from my credit report. I'm totally stoked.
But for now, I'm going to enjoy (for probably, and hopefully, the last weekend of my life) my one remaining bad-vice, and then settle in for some more TV.
Of course, I check it out. Holy crap! There is a ton of information out there about me, and there was a lot of stuff that I hadn't thought of in years on there. So, I've got 29 pages of my own personal financial data to go through this weekend. Most people would yawn or scoff, but I'm excited. At first glance I've noticed a few things:
(1) I'm not as horrible as I thought I was.
(b) No one has stolen my identity.
(iii) My total revolving credit is down to 47% (meaning that 53% of my credit card debt is paid off).
(4) My student loan is kicking my ass.
(e) I (again) owe my parents a HUGE truckload of gratitude.
It's getting late, and I still want to watch these two episodes of Samantha Who?. So, I plan to tackle all this head on this weekend. I don't have to work this weekend (thank GOD), and I've got 30 episodes of Days of Our Lives to watch. So, I'm going to multi-task some major PF blogging with some hot soap watching tomorrow.
I intend to discuss my student loan in more detail, which will probably come in the form of the long awaited History of My World - Part III post. I'm going to use the summary table from the credit report to rekajigger my status bars (and possibly adjust my 2009 goals). I'm going to figure out how I'm doing on my $100/week plan for July, and figure out where my money is going this month in a more systematic way (instead of a haphazard list). And we'll see what interesting information we can gather from my credit report. I'm totally stoked.
But for now, I'm going to enjoy (for probably, and hopefully, the last weekend of my life) my one remaining bad-vice, and then settle in for some more TV.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Trying a new way to save money away.
The other night, I was reading The Simple Dollar, and he posted about a two-account system for savings. And I've been thinking about this ever since in the back of my head. I think that I an adapt this for my own routine. So, here's my plan...
What I would ordinarily do is on Bill Day I'd transfer the difference of my checking account balance and my paycheck to my ING savings account. This works, but it leaves me to my own devices for the whole month with my whole paycheck. This is not always the best thing, especially when I get in one of my "shopping therapy" moods.
So, my plan is this. Once all the bills are paid, I'll transfer nearly all of my money out of my checking account into my savings leaving only $100 behind. On one day, each week, I'll set up an automatic transfer of $100 from my savings to my checking.
Hopefully, this will (a) force me to subsist on $100/week, (b) have more money in savings at the end of the month, and (c) gain a small amount of interest for having more money hang out in savings longer. Of course, the ultimate goal of this money is to pay off my 2008 taxes by the end of the year (an not go to prison). I'm planning on writing a post about the whole taxes thing later tonight, so hold on for more details.
Anyway, I'm going to enact this plan for July and cross my fingers that it works (and that I don't overdraft my checking account.
What I would ordinarily do is on Bill Day I'd transfer the difference of my checking account balance and my paycheck to my ING savings account. This works, but it leaves me to my own devices for the whole month with my whole paycheck. This is not always the best thing, especially when I get in one of my "shopping therapy" moods.
So, my plan is this. Once all the bills are paid, I'll transfer nearly all of my money out of my checking account into my savings leaving only $100 behind. On one day, each week, I'll set up an automatic transfer of $100 from my savings to my checking.
Hopefully, this will (a) force me to subsist on $100/week, (b) have more money in savings at the end of the month, and (c) gain a small amount of interest for having more money hang out in savings longer. Of course, the ultimate goal of this money is to pay off my 2008 taxes by the end of the year (an not go to prison). I'm planning on writing a post about the whole taxes thing later tonight, so hold on for more details.
Anyway, I'm going to enact this plan for July and cross my fingers that it works (and that I don't overdraft my checking account.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Welcome to Addicted to Toaster Strudel
Woo! My first blog post on my new blog. I'm on the cusp of falling asleep (after working the past few hours on customizing and setting up and tweaking the blog), so this is just a quick welcome message and promise to do my best to start the "real" blogging tomorrow.
On of my dearest friends friends writes her own personal finance blog, and a while back, she suggested that I join in and write about myself and my trials and tribulations with my personal finances. She suggested a couple of blogs to check out: Give Me Back My Five Bucks and The Simple Dollar. I spent some time considering this idea, talked it out with the cats, felt intimidated by other bloggers, and then ulitmately decided that I had something to contribute. Thus, tonight, "Addicted to Toaster Strudel" was born.
As with finances, it's good to have goals, and I'm going to start this off with what my goals are for this new venture of mine. This is going to be a way to hold myself accountable for my finances and to set and to monitor my financial goals. Also, I'll be posting my own personal history struggling with money and working on being able to live more comfortably and responsibly with my money. I'll do my best not to get sidetracked with non-finance related things and save those posts for my personal journal.
I hope that by narrating and sharing my own financial life that I'll be able to think more objectively and critically and my highs and lows and to keep track of myself and my money more effectively.
Also, please note, that I'm a scientist by trade, a writer by desire, and that I got a C in my college Econ class by shear force of will and a butt-ton of luck.
(Side Note: The Strudel Tracker bars to the right are by no means accurate right now, because I'm too tired to go to the other computer and look up some actual numbers. This should get fixed with a new post tomorrow evening.)
On of my dearest friends friends writes her own personal finance blog, and a while back, she suggested that I join in and write about myself and my trials and tribulations with my personal finances. She suggested a couple of blogs to check out: Give Me Back My Five Bucks and The Simple Dollar. I spent some time considering this idea, talked it out with the cats, felt intimidated by other bloggers, and then ulitmately decided that I had something to contribute. Thus, tonight, "Addicted to Toaster Strudel" was born.
As with finances, it's good to have goals, and I'm going to start this off with what my goals are for this new venture of mine. This is going to be a way to hold myself accountable for my finances and to set and to monitor my financial goals. Also, I'll be posting my own personal history struggling with money and working on being able to live more comfortably and responsibly with my money. I'll do my best not to get sidetracked with non-finance related things and save those posts for my personal journal.
I hope that by narrating and sharing my own financial life that I'll be able to think more objectively and critically and my highs and lows and to keep track of myself and my money more effectively.
Also, please note, that I'm a scientist by trade, a writer by desire, and that I got a C in my college Econ class by shear force of will and a butt-ton of luck.
(Side Note: The Strudel Tracker bars to the right are by no means accurate right now, because I'm too tired to go to the other computer and look up some actual numbers. This should get fixed with a new post tomorrow evening.)
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