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Archive for February, 2011

Health Journal Version 1, Keep Moving

February 18th, 2011

I’ve decided to go with the same loose format with my health journal that I did last week. I’ll build it out from this point.

This has been another crazy week! I was able to pack a tuna sandwich for work on Monday and Tuesday, but after those days, things fell apart a bit. I almost called off work on Thursday.

Half of the battle when you are sick is just plodding forward at work, and resting after you get home…

Date	Topic	Cost	Notes
02/14/11	B	2.01	Eggs,Bacon
	L	1.00	Tuna Sandwich
	D	1.00	Lasagna (not sure of cost so I’ll make it $1)
	E
02/15/11	B	0.00	Free Oatmeal – McDonalds coupon
	L	1.00	Tuna Sandwich
	D	1.00	Pizza
	E		Sick – start of cold
02/16/11	B	0.00	Free Oatmeal – McDonalds coupon
	L	3.00	Side Salad,1 McDouble
	D	5.00	Taco Bell 7 layer buritto, chicken Quesadilla
	E		Ouch – very sick
02/17/11	B	5.00	2 Sausage English Muffin/ Latte
	L	3.50	Spicy Chicken (Wendy’s)
	D	1.00	Lasagna (not sure of cost so I’ll make it $1)
	E		Ouch – very sick
02/18/11	B		Free Oatmeal – McDonalds coupon
	L		Free Local Mexican restaurant, Quesadilla
	D	1.00	Pizza – Digornos
	E		still sick

Since I caught a cold this past Tuesday, this has been a rough week. But I’m getting better. Unfortunately, my daughter has a bad case of the flu, and I’m wondering if I’m next…

I’m almost out of Free Fruit and Oatmeal coupons at McDonalds, and I have to admit, I’ll miss the small breakfast meal. I won’t continue to get it if I have to pay though, the prices is too much compared to the less than 20 cents microwavable packets.

Hopefully I start to get some real traction next week!

-MR

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10 comments »

Posted in Health

Tags: diet fitness health journal

Why We Should Not Believe Bernie Madoff!

February 17th, 2011

According to the Yahoo article “Madoff to NY newspaper: Banks ‘complicit’ in fraud”, Bernie claims that the Banks were complicit to what Bernie was doing.

First, why should we believe Bernie? He’s proven himself to be not trustworthy (and that’s being nice)! He ripped off thousand of investors that thought he was legit.

Perhaps he thinks that he can testify against the banks in some way and that somehow the banks really made him create his Ponzi scheme, maybe he thinks he can even get a reduced sentence? Perhaps he believe that he can redirect the blame or cause as much damage to society as possible by stripping away the confidence in the banking system? Who knows…

Here’s a guy that had an incredible history with the financial system. Shoot, he was chairman of the NASDAQ stock market! Why would you think that he had a ponzi scheme going on, if I were a bank employee, I would think that he’s legit too. Perhaps this is why the government didn’t investigate this man either!

I don’t think the bank executives are naive enough to get involved in a Ponzi scheme, and for Madoff to say, that the banks were aware of what was going I’m sure is inaccurate. What bank executive/employee, in their right mind would help fuel a Ponzi scheme if they knew about it.

I think he’s a man that’s beat and will spend the rest of his life in prison. So why not try and mess with business/people. I’m just disappointed in the journalist that picked up this story like it’s real news… come, this guy has no credibility whatsoever!

I know that a lot of boomers move a lot of their money into high yield savings account like the American Express Savings account after Bernie stole the money from so many other boomers.

Please, please don’t believe anything Bernie Madoff says! And shame on the media for picking this story up and acting like it’s legit!

-MR

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19 comments »

Posted in Problems

Tags: banking Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme

Frugal Ways to Save on Shower Costs

February 16th, 2011

I use to live my life unaware of hidden costs such as those that exists when taking a shower or using other bathroom facilities. I would like to say that I was naive and just considered them fixed costs… but that would be a lie. I really just chose never to think about the cost associated with anything in the bathroom.

Since I grew up with these fixtures, I just thought that the cost associated with bathroom activities (like taking a shower) were extremely low and not worth considering. However, being a self-proclaimed “Green Frugal Blogger“, I now have to take in consideration of such costs and patch them up like I would a hole in a bicycle inter-tube.

An Estimate of the Costs

Current Shower Costs

There was no easy way to calculate this number quickly, so I wisely choose to google “average shower cost“, and use a great calculator at the “Pay to Live Green” website.

After entering my numbers into the calculator based on our current consumption, and I came up with a following costs estimate:

Duration:	Costs:
Day	$1.77
Month	$53.21
Year	$647.42

These above figures are based on a total shower time of 50 minutes a day for my family of four.

Past Shower Costs

My wife and I didn’t always take the quick 10 to 15 minute showers. Once I timed her showers and they were averaging 30+ minutes, and mine were at least 20 minutes (shower time was a great time for us to get lost in thought).

So using the same calculator that I used above and a shower time of 90 minutes, the following numbers was our old cost:

Duration:	Costs:
Day	$3.19
Month	$95.78
Year	$1,165.36

A significant increase in costs, obviously…

Frugal Ways to Save on Shower Cost

The following are some of the ways that I now save on shower cost in addition to taking shorter showers:

In the summer months, I take a Navy Shower
Since I telecommute some days, I try to skip a shower on those days.
Stagger my shower time with my wife. The idea being that it won’t take as long to heat the water tank when the take if half full.
Have the kids shower ever other day or even a longer interval.
Keep my hair and the kid’s hair cut short so shampoo time is short too.
Take the TV/radio out of the shower (just kidding)…
Take showers at the gym or work (if one is provided) instead of at home.

Sometimes a long shower is worth it!

Have a hard day at work, or just went thought a grueling physical workout session or something bad happen during your day? Feel free to take a “longer than 10 minute” shower that one time! Sometimes, a long shower is a luxury worth taking! Just try not to make it a habit…

-MR

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24 comments »

Posted in Frugality

Tags: Navy Shower Saving on Shower costs shower Shower cost calculator

401K Account Balance Recovery

February 15th, 2011

Well, it took a long time, but my 401K decline in my portfolio value has finally broken even from my 401K balance highs back in 2008. Today is officially Valentine’s Day as I write this, so it’ll be easy for me to remember! I guess my account is telling me “Happy Valentine’s Day” (lol).

Here is the chart that show the Crossover point that I just crossed:

Cross-over point to the positive

It seemed like it took forever!

During the downturn spiral, I increase my contribution amount so that I could take advantage of the apparent dollar cost average that would happen during the dip. I know this technique would prove to be valuable, but not as much as if I were a beginning investor…

A co-worker had just started investing in 2005, and he too increased his contribution amount to take advantage of the potential of the dollar cost averaging that was bound to happen. Since 2008, the dollar amount of his portfolio has practically doubled! He’s so lucky!

In my head (and the confidence instilled by Warren Buffett’s purchases) even though I went ahead with the increase in my contributions amount, I was still worried! After all, this could have been another Great Depression instead of an intense but in contrast, short decline. Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been (hopefully).

Next Steps

Now since I fully recovered, I’m tempted to rebalance my account in order to take out the presently high level of risk currently in the account. So I’ll move more money out of stocks into bond funds and money market funds.

Today’s a good day for me! Now only if I were doing as well with my online discount stock broker and in particular my Roth IRA college saving account!

How’s your retirement accounts doing, are you back to the positive side yet?

-MR

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13 comments »

Posted in 401k

Tags: 401k gain 401k positive balance breaking even crossover point

Telecommuting Benefits

February 14th, 2011

Telecommuting benefits both the employee and the employer, it’s the perfect win-win situation if both parties do it correctly! I decided to write about my experiences with telecommuting and the benefits there within.

I’m going to start out with employee benefits, because this the area I know the most about. Since I telecommute a few days a week, it’s an area that I know and feel I can speak about with a high degree of accuracy. While I only telecommute a few days a week, other bloggers work sole by telecommuting to work. One of my favorite blogger, Kris @ Everyday Tips is a perfect example of an employee that only telecommutes to work.

Employee Benefits

Time savings from not commute into work.
Car accident avoidance from not commute into work
Sleep time savings from getting up later because of no need to get a shower in the morning.
Gas cost saving from no commute.
Car “wear and tear” reduction from no commute.
Reduction in work cloths wardrobe.
More satisfying degree of focus on work at hand, if done correctly. This is because of the reduced social opportunities and the lack of friendly chit-chat walkbys from friends and peers.
Reduced eating cost, since food can be prepared at home vs a restaurant.
Able to be a mobile worker. You can even be on vacation and work remotely, if you have a fast enough internet and cell phone connection.

Employer Benefits

More productive workers from reduced chit-chat
Reduced space requirements because of shared cubicle space.
Employees willing to extent their workday and work at odd hours
Employees feel more engaged.

Reasons Not To Totally Telecommute

Telecommuting has some great benefits, but I don’t think I would want to do it everyday. I think the old saying “Out of site, out of mind” still applies. It’s also easier to layoff someone if you don’t see them occasionally, not to mention subcontracting your job out, or even offshore the position.

Personally, I like to telecommute a few times a week. To go to a total telecommuting work schedule would be hard for me, especially from a social interaction standpoint.

-MR

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9 comments »

Posted in Frugality

Tags: advantages of telecommuting remote working telecommuting working from home working offsite