AC Problems

So after the drama of our plumbing mess, we thought all of our problems with our home was over with. Not so, now our AC is freezing up and not cooling the house. Our house is really, really old, so we have window units. Well this unit is pretty much new, around 5 yrs old. We have another unit that came with the house and is probably 100 yrs old and runs perfectly. I guess they don't make AC's like they used to. Anyway we need to figure out if this is a problem that can be fixed or if we just need to purchase another unit. Looks like we will be having to dish out some more money.

Getting Back To Basics

Well I think it is time to get back to the basics. We have been spending more than we should be and have been coming in short by the end of the month. We have been spending a lot of money on eating out and buying a lot of little things, that we don't really need. It's time for us to start cutting some of these things out. It's funny how fast small purchases add up. I also need to start working on our emergency fund again. I have been slacking on saving money in our emergency fund and had to bust out a credit card to pay for a unforeseen plumbing problem. So we are now back in credit card debt. Not that the amount is major, but now we have a debt that we didn't have before to pay off. Anyway I will be working on a new budget and hopefully we will be able to stick to it.

Four Ways To Becoming A Better Investor

Marshall Loeb on Market Watch has some advice one four ways to become a better investor.

1) Invest in businesses, not stocks - Invest in companies you know about and think will stand the test of time.

2) Don't go outside your comfort zone - Stick to what you know and companies that you feel comfortable in.

3) Go against the grain - Don't follow what everyone else is doing, do your own thing. By not following the pack, you may do better than the rest.

4) Don't be afraid to do nothing - sit on your stock for a couple of years, don't trade in and out of your stocks, it could lead to losses.

This advice is pretty good, seeing that the market is down. Instead of getting out and losing money, stick with the companies that you have some kind of knowledge of and wait for the turn around.

Walmart Rocks

About a month ago I purchased a blu ray disc at Walmart (Disturbia). Any way it turns out that the disc would not play. So a month later with no receipt I took my DVD to Walmart's customer service department, expecting to get rejected because one- I didn't have a receipt and two-the disc was opened, which violated both of Walmarts policies. No movie returns with out a receipt and no open movies. So expecting to be told to take a hike, I asked if I could exchange the disk and was surprised that they said yes. They didn't even give me a hassle for breaking their rules. So this is why I think that Walmart Rocks. I will continue to give them my business and will continue buying DVDs from them.

Plumbing Drama

We've recently had a plumbing problem. Since I have not been putting money in our emergency fund, I had to bust out a credit card to make the payment. This really sucks because we have all of our credit cards paid off and now we have a credit card balance. So now I have to start putting money into our emergency fund and I have to pay off another credit card. Kind of a bummer but at least we were able to get the plumbing fixed.

Starbucks Closing Stores

Starbucks will be closing 600 of its least earning stores. Displacing about 12,000 employees. It seems like you couldn't turn a corner without seeing a Starbucks. Now many of the Starbucks, built close to each other, may be closing down. Most of the closures will be stores that are considered unprofitable. Starbucks believes that the closures will help other stores profits. What a drag, hopefully none of the stores that I frequent will be shut down. It seems that our economic outlook is going down.

8 Mistakes At Work

Yahoo has a good article on the 8 biggest mistakes that you could be making at work.

1) Talking about politics - you can offend other office workers and their ideals.
2) Quietly absorbing the price of gas - with gas rates rising, it might be a good idea to ask for a raise to help cover the cost of your daily commute.
3) Writing modest self-appraisals - Don't sell yourself short, make sure your boss knows about all of your accomplishments.
4) Spending to little time listening - Listen to the people around you. A good listener can stand out in the office.
5) Down playing your mistakes - By down playing your mistakes you could be sending the message to your boss that you don't think you mistake was a big deal or that you don't care about it.
6) Not using your vacation time - Your vacation time is there for a reason. To keep you from going crazy. Not using your vacation time is not going to impress anyone.
7) Talking yourself out of dreaming - Don't ever give up your dreams or goals. They give you something to look foward to.
8) Blindly accepting a new position - You may be placing yourself in a dead end job.

Definately check out the article. It has a lot of good ideas. Hit the title to go to the original article.

Oil Hits An All Time High

Oil prices have hit an all time high today. Oil is now $143 per barrel, which probably means that gas prices will be on the rise again. The national average is 4.08 per gallon. Stocks are also down, with investors worried that our economy is going down the toilet. My stocks have dropped big time. All I can do now is wait for the market to change and for me to be able to re-coop my money. So great news for a Monday morning.

Pain in the Pump

With gas prices soaring, everyone is feeling the pain of high fuel costs. Because we are spending more on gas than we were before, I need to rework our budget. This is something that brings no joy in my life. Wether I like it or not we are spending more at the pump, so I need to allocate more money for fuel than I had in past months. Another thing we need to look at is our electric bill, which has jacked up over these summer days. This means less spendable cash at hand. So I will start working on a new budget and let you guys know how it came out later.

Back in Black

Well I am finally back. I've been slacking enough and it is time to get back to work. Here is what's been going on. After the drama of our car breaking down all the time, we got a new truck. Besides the car payment, the truck is working out awesomely. My investments are sucking, but I have the time to wait it out. Everything else is pretty much cool. So here is my first post for the new year. Sorry it took so long for me to post something.

Slacking

I know I've been slacking on my post and I am sorry. So to let you know where I am at, we had to trade in the vehicle that we've been having trouble with, we were putting more money into it than it was worth. So we have a new truck. It is nice, but I am not looking forward to having a car payment. Oh well, I don't have to worry about it breaking down. I will start posting more, I've just been lazy.

Carnival of Personal Finance #123

The carnival of personal finance is up on Dough Roller's blog. Just wanted to say thanks to Dough Roller for including my article on life insurance. As always check out the blog there are a lot of great entries. I will post some of my favorites once I get a chance to read them.

More Drama

So since having work done one both cars, one of the cars has decided to continue to have problems. I guess it's because it is an '98 and has never given us problems until now. Oh well I guess that is life. If it's not one thing it's another. Well hopefully we have everything fixed now that needed to be fixed and the car will last us a little longer. The car is paid of and I really don't want to get into another car payment, but it looks like if it is going to cost us more to maintain it may be better to get rid of it and get something new. The bad thing is, is that I am attached to the car and don't want to get rid of it. So I guess we will see how it runs for a while. Hopefully we can keep it, since I am kind of attached to it.

Emergency Fund Works

Turns out we had to have all kinds of work done on both our cars this month. It was unexpected and we were short on cash also. So our emergency fund came to the rescue. It sure beat busting out the credit cards again. So anyway we got most of the work done and only have a couple of minor things to take care of. Start an emergency fund it works.

Life Insurance, How Much is Enough?

Life Insurance may be taboo to talk about because no one wants to talk about their mortality, but Life Insurance is something everyone definitely needs. Well how much do you need? Money Magazine says that you need to multiply your income by five to come up with the amount that you need. Much of the question is how much will your family need to survive if you pass away. Then there is the question of whether to get a term life policy or a whole life policy. A term life policy is good for the amount of years you purchase it for 10yrs, 15yrs, etc.... A whole life policy is more like an investment, you are investing a premium into your policy and if at a certain age you have not passed away, you can start withdrawing on your money. The younger you are the cheaper it is to get a life policy and you can have a lot invested by the time that you are ready to retire. The best thing to do is get with a good agent and have them go over your many options.

College Tuitions

I just read an awesome article on why college tuition's are so high. I know my tuition puts the hurt on my wallet. Even worse than tuition is the cost of books, and the fact that there are new books every semester, so you are stuck with buying new instead of used books. Click the link on the title to read the original blog entry.

Stocks are on the rise

Hopefully this trend continues so I can either break even or make some money on my stock. I always second guess myself when to get out and end up in the position I am in. Either take the loss or wait forever for the stock to break even. I guess I should read up more on stocks. Anyway enough complaining stocks are up, woo-hoo.

Top 10 Money Drains

Bankrate.com has listed 10 of the daily expenses that eat away at your money on daily expenses.

1) Coffee - for all you coffee addicts out there save your money, make your own coffee.
2) Cigarettes- this pretty much talks for itself, quit smoking save money.
3) Alcohol- Many of us spend way too much on this, cut it out and save muh-lah.
4) Bottled Water- This is one of my addictions, why pay a buck for bottled water.
5) Manicures- Women do your own nails, save money.
6) Car Washes- It's easy to blow $20 or more getting a car wash, wash you own car even at a car wash may cost around $5 in change.
7)Eating Out- Eating out kills your wallet, take a lunch to work and cook at home instead of going out.
8) Vending Machines- As a student it is very easy to waste a couple of bucks on junk food between classes or during breaks.
9) Credit Cards- Need I say any more? This should be number one.
10 Unused memberships- Like gym memberships, if you aren't using them cut them out.

Other places I think you can save money on is cutting out cable or satellite channels. Get the basic coverage if you need it. Let me know if you have any other ideas on how to save money or cut things out.

Classes Starting Again

Well classes are starting again this month. I am taking an Internet class, because I want to be able to spend more time with our baby. The good thing about taking classes is that it saves me money because I am studying most of the time. Anything that saves money is a good thing. So I am definitely looking forward to going back to class. I will probably be able to cut down some of the satellite channels and some other stuff, I won't have time to watch or do. This should help save even more.

Stocks Rising

Looks like stocks are rising, which is good because I almost made a major boo-boo by getting out at the bottom and cutting my losses. Hopefully this trend lasts. I guess I will just have to be patient and see what happens. I need to get back to reading more on stocks and the forex market. I've been slacking and that's what got me in trouble to begin with. If anyone has any recommends on either subject, I would greatly appreciate any input.