SWB: Alan B. Rowley II - Success Coach - ECoaching - Email Coaching

Wealth Without A Job Review Journal: Prep Day XVI - XIX

Disclaimer: Just like P90X, this is *my* experiment with a 90 day system.  Wealth Without a Job by Andy Fuehl might work for me and it might not.  If it does work, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will work exactly the same for you.  My hope though is that if it does work, what I did and went through might help others.

August 26, 2007: I didn't work directly on Wealth Without a Job.  I spent most of the day working on my idea for organizing my time. 

To accomplish what I want to accomplish in the next 3 months, I needed to be more organized.  I think I have come up with a system that is going to work for me.  It's interesting (that's a nice way of saying "completely nuts") and I'll explain it more when I have it like I want.  It's still pretty rough.

It's funny to have all the technology out there and here I am playing around with 3X5 cards but this makes so much sense to me.

I didn't get anything done at all on the 27th and 28th.  Time is running out on the prep exercises.  I am going to start on September 1st so I better get things rolling. 

Watching the Stock Market is like watching a rubber ball

Housing has tanked so the stock market is down.  Countrywide borrows 11.5 billion dollars so the stock market is up.  Housing is really tanked so the market goes back down.  The Fed lowers interest rates so the market goes back up.  The housing market hasn't even hit bottom yet so stocks go down.  The Fed promises to put more money into the system so the market goes up.  The country is headed for a recession, some say depression, so the market goes back down.

I can't imagine trying to keep up with all of that.  I own a few stocks and I'm just letting them sit there.  They will probably be worth very little (as compared to the astronomical $336.43 that they are worth right now - Ha!) but some day, they'll come back up. 

I just don't have the time or energy to play the market and I still don't believe that we are going to put a stop to the slide toward recession.  I wish it were otherwise but I think we've built quite a mess over the last 5 years and that things have adjust to the games that were played.

I said it would and it is

Super short post today and dang it, I can't find the link that I saw yesterday.

Rent is going up.  It makes sense of course.  People can't afford a house so they have to rent.  Supply and demand. 

Renting in and of itself is not a bad thing as long as you set yourself up in a position to pay the rent for the rest of your life. 

With tightening credit rules, it's going to be harder for people to buy a house too.  Paying higher rent will make it harder to save up a down payment.

Most of the people of this nation are being moved out of ownership roles.  The United States and it's laws were created by and for land owners and it looks like we're moving full circle.

Wealth Without A Job Review Journal: Prep Day XIII - XV

Disclaimer: Just like P90X, this is *my* experiment with a 90 day system.  Wealth Without a Job by Andy Fuehl might work for me and it might not.  If it does work, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will work exactly the same for you.  My hope though is that if it does work, what I did and went through might help others.

August 23, 2007: I finished that 5 year vision exercise.  I have done something similar a couple of times before but I was much more specific and detailed this time. 

I finished listening to the 3rd bonus CD and listened to another exercise just to see what it was.  It wasn't a comfortable chair exercise.  You actually have to walk around for this exercise.  It's still played out in the mind but uses physical space as a trigger.  At least, that's my guess.

August 24, 2007: My day job took up lots of time today and left me with no time for working on my WWAJ experiment.

That's the catch 22, isn't it?

Have you ever felt like you have gotten yourself trapped into doing something for money even though it's not what you're supposed to be doing and definitely not what you *want* to be doing?  The problem of course is that to break free in the most secure manner takes longer than necessary because you're using up time at the joooob.

Sword Point Saturday - Time Management

How fitting today's Sword Point discussion is as I get this out with only a few hours left on Saturday.  It could have easily have become Sword Point early Sunday Morning.

5 Sword Points for letting everyone know what your favorite time management tip or tool is.

5 Sword Points for explaining why you like it so well or what it is about that tip or tool that works so well for you.

My Selfish Look at the Recession

I'm sorry, I mean the possible but improbable recession that is looming before us but that our government is going to deftly guide us around by giving the super-rich more money to bail them out while letting the mere commoners lose their jobs, homes, families, and self-worth.

On a very short side note, the CEO of Countrywide agrees with me that we are headed for a recession.  Who knows, I (woops, we) might be right.

Let me say right up front that I'm not hoping for a recession.  I wish there was a way to avoid it.  I wish we would have never got ourselves into this.  I would much rather see a slow and gradual increase than the artificial skyrocketing followed by the very real plummet.  For a lot of people, they will end up in the same place either way but there are millions that can't handle that roller coaster ride.

Still, this is a selfish look because on Monday, during our weekly meeting, my wife and I discussed what the (possible) recession would mean to us.

Wealth Without A Job Review Journal: Prep Day IX - XII

Disclaimer: Just like P90X, this is *my* experiment with a 90 day system.  Wealth Without a Job by Andy Fuehl might work for me and it might not.  If it does work, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will work exactly the same for you.  My hope though is that if it does work, what I did and went through might help others.

August 19, 2007: I started back into the program as I said I would.  I went back to do the exercise that wasn't in the book.  It's a simple exercise but it plays into the one that follows (the one that I already did and will have to re-do).  It's a simple break from the everyday restrictions that we have put on ourselves.

By the way, as I explain these things, I'm giving my viewpoint and not necessarily saying what Andy Fuehl says about the exercises.  This is going to be a very much "from my viewpoint" kind of review.

You get a blank piece of paper and a timer.  You set the timer for 10 minutes and then you start writing everything that you would do or have if money was not an issue.  If you could do or have anything, what would you do or have?  You have to keep your pen moving for the whole 10 minutes.  If you run out of things to run, you need to dig deeper.

Andy doesn't say it but I think this is a great way to get back to the dreams that you used to have if you've let them be buried with your "reality". 

Life gets in the way of those dreams, doesn't it?

Or does it?

I know a lot of people that had dreams when they were younger but they tell you about kids and house payments and the job they really have and all that.  The dreams were nice but real life isn't like that.

I wonder if that's true or if we take our eyes off our dreams and follow the path of least resistance as we make our way forward in life.

I finished CD 6 too which has a lot to do with marketing.  It sparked some ideas and I'm hoping that there is more information somewhere in the program.  I'll go in more depth on the CDs over the course of this review.  With 90+ days, I'm going to have plenty of time to give you the scoop.

Whew! I feel better.

Kng George has spoken:

"The fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong," Bush said. "The fundamental question, 'Is there enough liquidity in our system?' And the answer is `Yes, there is,'" the president declared.

I feel almost all the way better.  I only have one little, nagging question.  You might even call it a concern.  Not to take away from the positiveness that W and the rest of his buddies are trying to blow up our collective asses.  Really, I think it's more of a problem with the media and maybe W should have a chat with them to get things fixed.  In the same article we learn that:

"Trying to further stabilize wobbly markets, the Federal Reserve on Tuesday pumped another $3.75 billion into the financial system. It was the latest in a series of cash transfusions that have topped more than $100 billion since last week."

If there is liquidity in the system, why does the government have to put billions of dollars into it?  The media should do W a favor and report these kinds of things in separate articles.

They should also ask me how to fix the problem.

I Don't Know About You But I Believe Them

Countrywide has started a huge ad campaign.  They aren't touting cool new loans or telling people how they serve smart people (I think that's ditech).  They are telling everyone that they are still an extremely solid company and that people shouldn't worry about doing business with them.

The fact that they have to have a campaign around this topic suggests something but I'm going to let that slide.

The fact that they just laid off 500 people to start cutting corners so they have enough money to stay operational might be a clue but hey, Capital One just laid off 1,600 people from their mortgage department.  500 isn't as bad as 1,600, is it? 

On a quick sidenote, anyone want to tell these 2,100 people that lending money to people who can't pay back loans won't effect the economy?

The fact that Countrywide had to borrow $11 billion so that they could afford to keep lending out money so they could try to recoup their losses is just common business practice and doesn't mean that they are in financial trouble.  So they say, and I believe them.

Those people that were speculating that Countrywide was headed for bankruptcy until the Fed stepped in and helped them are just doomsayers.  There's nothing wrong with the government stepping in to give a little helping hand to a business that's not in trouble.  Happens all the time.  It's definitely *not* an indicator that Countrywide is in any sort of trouble.

Who cares that Countrywide is being sued for allegedly telling little white lies about their business and financial results in order to keep selling off garbage to people.  It's a damn lie!  These people are just mad that there Countrywide stocks plummeted by over 50%.  Whiners!

This is all I need to here for my decision:

"The company, which is being closely monitored by U.S. regulators, had full-page advertisements in Monday editions of The New York Times and other newspapers assuring readers that mortgage market problems do not affect the safety of federally insured deposits at its Countrywide Bank unit, which it said was 'well capitalized.'"

I'm cool with that and don't know why US regulators need to be hawkin' my boys at Countrywide.  Leave 'em be.  They say they have everything under control.

Lots of articles for this one but the quote came from here.

I Understand, I Really Do But . . .

I understand why the different governments and huge foreign banks are pouring billions of money into trying to fend off the impending train wreck.  It's going to be ugly and no one wants to see it.

Unfortunatley, even billions is a bandaid and on an amputated leg.  A bandaid that is being lent out.  Banks and governments are just giving that money out for free to try to save the economy.  It's being lent out at a discount interest rate.

The bad news of course is that it's not going to work.

The good news is that it buys the rest of us some extra time.  If someone wants to lend Countrywide $11 billion so they can keep on lending money to people so they can buy houses on a loan that they might not be able to afford to repay.  It all sounds very fragile to me but if it keeps things going for a while and keeps gas prices down for me, I can get that much closer to being debt free before the whole thing comes off the rails.

Supposedly lending is tigtening up a bit and mortgage companies aren't being as risky anymore.  The problem that I see is that if the whole gamble of saving the economy fails (if, ha!), then it's very likely that a whole lot of people are going to lose their jobs.  People who don't seem like much of risk today still might not be able to make a house payment in 6 months.

I read an article that said that there will be a huge onslaught of ARMs resets this December.  I didn't see anything to back that up but it very well could be true.  That premise could go along with this quote that I read today:

"Nolte stated that investors have begun to realize that the current storm is merely category one or two, with a much worse on brewing on the horizon."

People are in a complete panic right now with what's happening and this is just the beginning according to Nolte (and me and many of you).

If we aren't going to try to fix the problem and instead are just going to try and deal with the symptoms, then I vote that idiots keep dumping billions of dollars in loans into failing companies and stocks so that we can stall this thing off for as long as possible.

Full Article

Wealth Without A Job Review Journal: Prep Day VI - VIII

Disclaimer: Just like P90X, this is *my* experiment with a 90 day system.  Wealth Without a Job by Andy Fuehl might work for me and it might not.  If it does work, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will work exactly the same for you.  My hope though is that if it does work, what I did and went through might help others.

August 16 - August 18, 2007: I didn't keep daily notes so I'm going to have to lump all the days together for this post.  My schedule, which is already tight, was thrown off kilter because I was watching an extra kid for 3 days.  The daycare center here hadn't opened yet and some teachers that my wife works with needed someone to watch their son.  Daycare opens up on Monday so the Success Warrior Daycare Center is closed after only 3 days.  Trey enjoyed having the friend over and we may have Trey go to the daycare center a couple of times a week so that he can interact with kids.

On with the review.

You will want to listen to the first 4 CDs before you get into the workbook.  I have listened to 5 1/2 CDs so far and they are getting a little more interesting and have sparked some ideas for me.  I need to be working in the workbook at the same time but these past few days haven't allowed that.

Listen to the first 4 CDs and start into the workbook is my advice.

Sword Point Saturday - Inspiration & Motivation

My wife and I have got quite a lot going on right now.  We both work a lot.  I'm doing the P90X and Wealth Without a Job reviews.  College has started back up for her.  We are trying to give Trey attention so he isn't lost in all of the busyness.  Sometimes it really feels like a lot.

We have talked about backing off a bit but we are so close to being debt free except for the house that we just can't slow down at this point.  Plus a lot of the work that we are doing is being done to create a life after we move.  We don't want to slow down on that either. 

I don't want to sound like a doomsayer because I have high hopes in the human race to adapt but it does seem like there could be some rough times ahead.  I want to be in the best possible position possible if events occur that radically change life.

Two things concern me for the short term:

1.  Perhaps the most bearish fund manager is Ken Murray of Blue Planet. His funds have been some of the best performers over the past years, but now he says we are facing "the worst banking crisis in decades" and that the stock market will fall by another 20%. "The credit cycle has turned, bad debts are soaring, banks will go bust and stock markets will fall much further. People need to be told the truth as opposed to being spoon-fed palliative words," he warns.  Full Article

2.  "If concerns about the U.S. housing markets turn out to be short-lived, then the dips in crude oil futures markets could represent buying opportunities. But it's too early to see how serious the credit squeeze problems really are."  Full Article

I'm not going to go into what I think about the second quote.  You should already know.  I just want to talk about the two quotes together.  Oil (and subsequently gas) prices are down because the United States is headed for a recession.  If a recession does hit, it's going to make the whole credit crunch that much worse.  If all the manipulation works and the country (and the rest of the world) is kept out of recession, gas prices are going to soar.  The second article points out that for people who own oil stock, this is going to be great.  Obviously for people that buy gas, this will be bad.

From these two articles, it looks like our choice in the near future is recession or high gas prices.  I don't own stock in oil so neither of these things looks good to me.

My question then is, beside the sheer "have to" factor of what's looming ahead, what do you do to keep yourself motivated when it seems that you are working most of your waking hours?

5 Sword Points to everyone that tells me their tips and tricks for Inspiration and Motivation.

Bonus: 5 Sword Points to everyone that adds further analysis (whether you agree or disagree) to the situation the US now finds itself in.

Mind Boggling Foreclosures

Can you imagine a place where 1 out of every 27 houses is in foreclosure?  If you can imagine Stockton California, then you can imagine just such a case. 

Las Vegas has a foreclosure every 31 households.  A couple years ago, Vegas was one of the hottest markets in America.  Anyone could flip a house and make money in Vegas.  Not anymore.

It may come as no surprise that there are more foreclosures in places like Vegas and Stockton where it seemed that there was no ceiling on the price of houses and no restrictions on the amount of money people could borrow.

I checked out where Salt Lake City ranked in foreclosures per household.  #63 and they actually have fewer foreclosures in the first half of this year than they did last year.  Interesting.  The new realtor we talked to the other day said that Utah hasn't been hit as hard as a lot of other areas and it appears that he was telling the truth.  I know that I shouldn't be shocked when a realtor tells me the truth but it's a hard habit to get over.  Let me add this caveat.  Utah hasn't been hit as hard as a lot of other areas - for now.

Wealth Without A Job Review Journal: Prep Day II - V

Disclaimer: Just like P90X, this is *my* experiment with a 90 day system.  Wealth Without a Job by Andy Fuehl might work for me and it might not.  If it does work, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will work exactly the same for you.  My hope though is that if it does work, what I did and went through might help others.

August 12, 2007:  I listened to the first CD.  It was a refresher on a lot of information that I already knew but one was phrased in a way that it stuck with me and I shared it with my wife.

One of the rules for this program is that you have to stop complaining.  It's a great rule but it's easy to fall back into the habit.  If you believe in the Law of Attraction, you're just going to get more of what you're complaining about anyway so it's best to avoid it.

That being said, many people who look into this program are probably not happy with their current job and become prime candidates for complaining.

I shared this rule with my wife and we talked about it.  She agreed with me that it's a good rule and she agreed with me that it would be hard to stop complaining if you worked in a job that you didn't like.

Andy Fuehl said that you should try to go for a whole week without complaining.  If you complain, the timer starts over.  He said that most people take over a month before they can go a whole week straight.  I decided to give it a try starting on the 14th.  I may end up complaining that this rule is too hard.  =)   

Meeting a New Realtor

So we met another realtor last week.  My brother recommended him so we thought we sit and visit with him to see what kind of guy he is.  He lives right across the street from my brother so he just walked over.  We sat in the driveway and chatted while we watched the kids play and my brother fire up the grill.

The nice thing about talking to an actual realtor instead of someone selling lots for a contractor was that this guy would be working for us.  We told him what we were looking for and he took notes.  We told him our ideal price range and the features we were looking for. 

We talked about the market.  He said that Utah hasn't been hit as hard as some states but that it's definitely a buyer's market.  I told him that we weren't in much of a hurry because there was probably another 18 months of ARMs resets and foreclosures ahead.  He agreed.

He said that since we weren't in a hurry to move, we would be able to watch the market and watch specific houses.  The longer a house was up for sale, the better the chance of getting a better price on it would be.  I knew that but it was nice to hear that he was on the same page with us and would be watching for that sort of thing.

He's going to send listings to us that fit our criteria and we'll let him know if we want to take a walk through any of them.  It's going to be nice to be able to take our time on this.

Weekly Meeting: Sliding Backward

We had our weekly meeting last night.  We didn't have it last week because we were out of town but there wasn't any extra to catch up on.  We've been doing this long enough that the mechanics really flow smoothly.

Tia has added an extra part to what we do now.  She's been doing it for the last month and I don't know if I have mentioned it here before.

When we get together, we look over how we spent our money for the last week to see if there is anything that we want to improve on.  We've gotten to the point now where that is very rare.  We have built up the discipline that we spend money where we intend to spend money.

We review our goals and the dates that we have set.  Every couple weeks, there's a bit of tweaking that needs to be done.  Some goals are moved closer, some are moved back.

I go over our current balances and how they compare to each other.  That's the sliding back part in the subject line.  Our money versus debt went backwards a bit this time.  Our debt went down but our money went down more.

The fact that our debt went down is what's important but I like to track the difference.

We spent money on our trip so that was money that went out but not against our debt.  My 401k is tied to the stock market and I own a few stocks.  Both of those went down (even though they promised me the housing fiasco wouldn't affect the economy - damn them!).

After that, my wife shows me her plan for how we are going to spend our money for the rest of the month.  I give my input but at this point, we are on the same wavelength so it's more a matter of just keeping me in the loop. 

We are going to start setting money aside each week for items on our wish list.  We have set a minimum that we will continue to pay toward our debt so that we can reach our goals.  Anything left over goes to the next item on the list.  The first item on the list is a computer.  It's time.  As much as I'm going to hate to part with my TRS 80, it's time. 

Actually, I won't be parting with it.  I'm going to disconnect it from the internet and let Trey use it for his Hooked on Phonics and anything else that we get for him.

Any extra money that I can bring in will accelerate the purchase of Wish List items.  Tomorrow, I start my babysitting gig so that is going to help on that front. 

It's a system that really works well for us and I highly recommend that you use some kind of system for yourself.  You can develop your own, you can use mine, or there are probably hundreds of other variations out there.  The bottom line is that you have to know where you are and what you want to achieve if you want to be in control of your money.

How Quickly The Lies Are Undone

If you can remember all the way back to 2 weeks ago, you will remember that most of the articles on the subprime mess stated that this would be isolated to the housing sector and that our economy would not be affected.

What's the word today?

The housing fiasco (I've been calling it that for months and this articles calls it the same thing . . . finally) is going to ruin the economy of every country that depends on the citizens of the United States to buy their crap.

Now, didn't I say that not too long ago?  I believe I did.

If Americans don't spend money on crap from China, businesses in China will start laying people off, and this will depress their own economy.

Wealth Without A Job Review & Journal: Prep Day I

Disclaimer: Just like P90X, this is *my* experiment with a 90 day system.  Wealth Without a Job by Andy Fuehl might work for me and it might not.  If it does work, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will work exactly the same for you.  My hope though is that if it does work, what I did and went through might help others.

August 4, 2007: I didn't have much time but I had enough time to find out that the 90 days won't start for a little while.  There is quite a few prepatory exercises that you have to do before the timer starts.

The program came with a large notebook with worksheets and instructions and 11 CDs.  There are 8 CDs that describe the program, 2 Bonus CDs with extra exercises, and 1 CD that is some kind of live performance.

If I have one criticism after one day of working on the program, it's that there doesn't seem to be any instructions on where to start with all this.  It would have been nice to have a quick start guide or CD.  Maybe I'll find something as I work my way through the program but so far, no luck.

The first exercise in the notebook was to find out what your purpose in life is.  You do this by listing your natural strengths, how you currently exhibit those strengths, and then what you would ultimately like to accomplish (not necessarily in terms of making money).  You hook all these things together to get your purpose, at least as far as this program goes. 

I have more to say but I'm out of time.  This is late going out as it is.  The tentative schedule will be updates on Sunday and Thursday.

Here's a link to the book:

Wealth Without a Job: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Freedom and Security Beyond the 9 to 5 Lifestyle

Sword Point Saturday - Advertising and a New 90 Day Challenge

This week, I received an advertising offer for this blog and I'm going to let you vote on whether or not I should accept the offer (without mentioning the company specifically because that would be free advertising).

This company would either like to do a guest post or rent some space in the sidebar for a text ad or have me write a review of their company.  I haven't given them an answer yet because I thought this was a great topic for Sword Point Saturday.

The company does payday loans on the internet.  I'm not going to give any more details than that for now.

As far as doing a review, their marketing person said that I could even do a negative post as long as I wasn't villifying the business.

We haven't discussed price yet because I haven't decided whether or not to go ahead with this.

What do you think? 

Should I agree to advertise for them? 

If yes, in which manner should I do it?  How much should I charge?

5 Sword Points will be awarded to anyone that leaves some feedback in the comments section.

I'm 27 days into my P90X challenge and have decided to take on another 90 day transformation challenge.

Shock and Dismay!

You are not going to believe this newest development.  Well, you might believe it since we've been spending our time out here in reality as opposed to all the people who live in a different dimension and just visit long enough to do sound bites for a media that is all too happy to print the crap that they are spouting.

Don't get me started on the media since most of them I have noticed lately are complete idiots.

For example, (I told you not to get me started) a mine collapsed in Utah trapping several miners.  At the end of each report and each opening paragraph, there is something like this: "There are no signs of life but rescuers have vowed to keep digging."

Ya think!

"Dude, I don't hear anything, let's call it a day," Bill said.

"We can't give up now.  We need to keep digging.  They could be alive," Gary said.

"Dude, Idol's gonna be on soon and I wanted to get a shower before it started," Bill said.

"Come on guys!  Huddle up.  They could still be alive down there.  Let's make a vow that we'll keep on digging until we find them.  Who's with me?"

Of course they are going to keep digging.  You don't have to tell me.  That's not news.  And please, please, don't ask me how I feel when they go to the families of the trapped miners and ask them how they feel.

"Well, Sue, I feel like punching the next idiot reporter that asks me what it's like to have my husband buried alive and getting closer to death with each stupid question."

Anyway, back to the shocking news.  It appears that the subprime lending fiasco is actually affecting the economy.

"The ECB's injection of money into the system is an unprecedented move, said Joseph V. Battipaglia, chief investment officer at Ryan Beck & Co., adding that it shows that problems in subprime lending are, in fact, spreading into the general economy." [emphasis added]

Like this is, in fact, some kind of surprise. 

Duh.

Duh.

Duh.

I'm gonna borrow PTE Rick's sign off today.

- sw, tired of idiots and liars and the media which tries to stretch things into news and create drama where no creation is needed and is all too happy to blow smoke up my ass if someone pays them enough money

Full Article

I was wondering as I was driving

There is a huge overpass being built in Farmington Utah.  It has been under construction for 3 or 4 years.  This seems like a long time to me.  I'm not really sure what it's being built for unless it's part of the new highway (Legacy) they are building.

As we drove through the mess (not the picture but something that has quite a few more overpasses than this), I was wondering about peak oil.

On one side of the coin, I hear that we are running out of oil and that prices are going to be going up and up shortly.  Eventually this will reduce the number of cars on the road.

Oil prices have dropped from their all time high for now but our refineries have dropped how much they are putting out and OPEC has dropped how much they are shipping out (but are adamant that it has nothing to do with running out of oil).  Gas prices have been artificially reduced to try to head off the recession that the subprime lending fiasco has put us on a collision course with.

On the other side of the coin are things like this new spaghetti bowl being built and a new highway that will run from north northern utah to Salt Lake City (which is considered Norther Utah).  The highway is being built because there is only one road that leads from the north to Salt Lake City.  More and more people are moving out of Salt Lake City and commute to work.  The Legacy Highway will help alleviate the traffic mess that has occurred because of the mass commute.

My questions as we drove under all the unfinished overpasses were these:  Will this thing be done before gas prices go up to the point where traffic is reduced?  Should we be using the money on mass transit instead of a new road? 

With the truth being hidden, I suppose that I will have to wait and see what happens in the next couple of years to get my answers.

Hey, we met with a new real estate agent yesterday.  I'll have to tell you about that tomorrow.

You Have Reached The Blog Of Success Warrior

I am sorry that I am unable to come to my blog at this time.  If you would like to email me or leave a post in this blog, it will do absolutely no good but you are certainly welcome to try.  Knock yourself out.

I never realized just how many little things I do each day to stay up to date with so many things.  Being gone for two days has opened my eyes to it.  I am way behind and today I was too busy to get to much. 

We had a wonderful weekend though and did some shopping and had a couple of great meals and we did it all with cash.  Of course.

Tomorrow, let's talk more about oil just because I want to.

It's My Wife's Birthday

We talked about doing something today but decided to just finish out the work week.  I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and here's the plan.

We are going to get out of Wendover for a couple of days.  That topped the list.  We are going to head for Park City.  For those of you not familiar with Utah, it's a little resort town.  It's where many of the Olympic games were held, where the Sundance Film Festival takes place, and where a lot of famous people go to get away from whatever they are trying to get away from.

The destination isn't important.  Getting away from here is what was important.  We did want something that would provide a relaxed atmosphere and wasn't too far away.

Sword Point Saturday - How Many Friends Do You Have?

I slept in a bit today (is it really sleeping in when you wake up at 9am if you didn't go to bed until 3am?) and my karate students will be here soon so I'm going to have to punch this out quick (I'm almost sorry about that play on words but not really).

Today's game is going to be easy for me because I don't have to do anything or explain any background.  I like that but I'll try not to let it become a habit.

Anyway, here it is.  5 Sword Points will be awarded to you for every person that leaves a comment on this post with your name it.  It can be as simple as, "Rhiia sent me," or if they would like to leave a longer post such as, "Hey SW, I read back through some of your posts and like what you have to say about money but I'm wondering why you haven't banned PTE Rick's IP yet."  That would still earn Rick 5 Sword Points.  Positive or negative, if they mention your name in a comment on this post, you get 5 Sword Points.

Remember the first player (or players because I'll add up points for a week) to get to 200 Sword Points get their share of $80 of Success Warrior Gear.

Make More, Spend More

Have you found yourself in this trap?  You get a bit of a raise and you immediately look around to see what you can afford on payments with that amount of money.

I have.  Several times.

People make more money but they don't have more money, they have more debt.  The become more trapped and more vulnerable.  Each raise could bring them more freedom and more security but we aren't programmed to think that way.

The reason that I bring this up is because so many people could be inching themselves toward freedom.  With no change in lifestyle, things could be different.  If they put the money toward debt instead, they would find themselves with more money and able to buy more things.

I have said it before, I'm going to say it again, and I'm going to keep on saying it again and again until everyone understands it.  You can buy more if you don't pay interest.  You can have instant gratification without paying for it for the next 10 years.

You don't have to do it quickly.  You can use "windfall money" like we talked about earlier or you can use raises or any other source of extra money.  At the very least, if you don't ever charge anything on a credit card, you will eventually get out of debt.  The longer you pay though, the more money you are wasting.  It's up to you.