It’s hard out here for a…..writer When I launched this blog over a year ago now, I must admit, I thought it would be a little bit easier. At least to get random traffic. Boy was I wrong. I was NOT expecting, “que the crickets”, that’s for sure. Man, the internet has changed a lot […]
Sometimes you have to spend $100 on lunch
Everyone Dies Not to be a negative Nelly or even a negative Fiddy, but it’s the truth. My Dad died of a heart attack at 64. Father-in-law died of a heart attack at 64. My half brother died of a heart attack at 64. My Brother-in-law died of a heart attack at 53. Do you […]
The day I knew I’d forever manage my own finances
Cold calls and whales Investing advice doesn’t come cheaply. Thinking back now, it was almost exactly the scene out of the movie “Boiler Room”. That scene had shown the brokerage guys of a “chop shop”, cold calling doctors and trying to find what they called a “whale”. They were trying to sell their pump and […]
Career changes are hard…especially past 50
Career changes are hard. I remember when I worked at a major culinary school in New York City where we had an entire category of students that we sought. They were the career changers. Ultimately a large portion of them would become disillusioned with the long hours and low pay of the culinary world and […]
Frugal money saving tip of the week #4
TIP: Put off major purchases as long as possible A lot of the personal finance blogs that I follow really focus on figuring out the difference between a “want” and a “necessity”. That’s no small feat. Especially when it comes to shiny big purchases. Somehow, buying major appliances can make you feel like an adult […]
Amazon gets rid of “negative” votes on reviews
Well…kinda. Amazon reviews and Reviewer rankings I’ve written over 1,000 reviews on Amazon’s website, and am ranked at 1,197 out of all reviewers on the site. Not too bad, but if that was translated onto a Google style listing, I’d still only show up beyond page 100 of a typical search. I actually even reviewed […]
Blogging is not for faint of heart
This stuff is hard. I’m thinking about shifting the focus of this blog from “Finance” to “Finding a job”. The blog has always had several goals for documenting this journey, but at the end of the day, I was hoping to generate some supplemental income to support my family. I’m slowly realizing that’s going to […]
4 things to avoid when investing in stocks
In 2016 I churned over $1M dollars in trades on one of our retirement accounts. (a more detailed post on that is in the works) My return at the end of the year? About $2K. Wah Wah. We’re you expecting a bigger number? So was I. I don’t use that strategy for all our accounts, […]
Frugal money saving tip of the week #3
Find good old media at thrift stores Anyone who knows me, knows that I eschew subscription services that require payment. I’ll do whatever it takes to avoid paying for all you can eat services like Amazon’s Prime music or even Netflix. You can read more about some of specific efforts to hold onto old media […]
Frugal money saving tip of the week #2
TIP: Create a credit card calendar Revolving credit Ah, the beauty of revolving credit. It’s a double edge sword that can cut both ways. It’s convenient to use credit, and can really extend your purchasing power, but you can easily end up paying more for it. I’ve been managing credit wisely (most of the time), […]