Trying to keep Tabs on my finances

Haven't posted simply because there's not much to report.

Job is still stressful.

Home is still kind of messy.

Still not being all that frugal.

Having said that, I've moved things around in my room, and am trying to make another effort at being frugal and productive. Hopefully, things will get better.

Ok, so this being a frugality site, I should probably at least elaborate more on this "not being frugal" thing. I guess I've been feeling kinda down in general lately. And when I feel down, I know there's a danger of me buying stuff to try to feel better. While I do try to keep it in check, I am not always successful. For example, lately, I decided that I really wanted some audio gear, so I can do more music stuff or whatever.

For example,

here's something I did recently with my not-so-frugal self.

I do try my best to make what I believe are smart, meaningful purchases, even when I do spend money, but in the end, I also realize that excuses are still excuses.

Edit: On another front, my best friend got his entire checking account cleaned out. Again. He said this is the second time he's been a victim of identity theft. Lost $4000. Wow. Uh, buddy, you didn't learn from the FIRST time not to let your debit card out of your sight? Anyways, I wired him $1k in emergency cash. I wonder if I'll see that money back?

I've always been interested in tiny houses. They sacrifice very little in terms comfort or needs; They are just smaller. Oh, and very cheap as far as homes go. I also like how they are also generally very ecological. However, it is a niche interest, which is why I am all the more surprised that there is a small, local meetup group here for it.

Last night, I decided to actually attend one, and I met a new friend there. We ended up talking all night. Come to find out, this person currently lives in a 1800 sq. ft. townhouse with a $1400 per month rent... for just one person. Herself. And on top of that, she just bought a new car that costs somewhere between $32k to $35k.

To me, this is rather pricey for just one person, but it's nothing to write home about.

But what really shocked me was that, in order to pay for all that, she is taking money out of her IRA. Not even a loan against it, just straight money out. And yes, she is aware that she is taking the 10% early withdraw penalty hit!

I instinctively gasped in shock, and I think my reaction made her defensive as she tried to explain that she just moved to a new area, it's a really nice area (it really is), and she also needed a nice car to drive people around as she is a real estate agent, etc etc.

That's fine. Whatever the reasons are, it is not my concern anyway, but I just couldn't contain my initial shock when I first heard it. Take out money from an IRA? With early withdraw penalty? And really, just to feed some expensive wants? The very thought of it... is utter insanity to me.

Also, how long can that IRA money last? Based on the way she described it, she didn't have that much to begin with. But here is the real bomb shell: She told me she's deliberately not working right now because she can "afford not to".

Yes, you heard it right. She actually said that she isn't working right now because she can "afford not to".

Soooo yeah. It's always nice to meet new people though, and besides our wildly different views on money, she's a nice enough person. She mused how she has always dated poor musicians, and should try rich guys instead. I joked that I should too.

I saw this elsewhere in internetland, and I thought you guys might enjoy it.

So, anybody else watch their TV sort of through online streaming, like Netflix?

Anyways, it turns out that Amazon has been competing in that space as well, and what's interesting about their offer (Amazon Prime) is that it not only offers a bunch of live streaming shows (with a bunch of kid shows if you have small kids), but it also offers unlimited free shipping for anything you order from Amazon, and you also get to rent one free e-book per month if you have Kindle.

Cost is $79 per year, or comes out to roughly $6.67 per month, which is cheaper than Netflix as well.

So yeah, I'm going to give the 30 day trial a spin, and if I don't like it, I'll just cancel it before the 30 days are up.

Sooo, it's not always easy to eat healthy and keep food costs down at the same time. This is especially true for us guys who want to maintain a certain minimum protein intake level.

After having my food budget free-wheeling out of control for a while, I finally sat down to reign it in, update my diet, and right now, it still comes out to be around $10 a day. Yes, I know it's still high, but I'll keep trying.

Actually, the hardest part will probably be staying on the diet. Hopefully that will work out as well. In the meantime, I will keep looking for cheaper, but quality diet alternatives.

Among other things, I finally bought a small pack of Stevia to try out. In case you didn't know, it's an all-natural sweetener that, because it's so sweet, does not require a whole lot to achieve a similar level of sweet taste as normal sugar. Thus, it contains next to no calories, and is cheaper than, say, buying soda all the time.

Unfortunately, I also learned the hard way that the main ingredient in most commercial Stevia products are either dextrose, or this more sinister thing called Erythritol. The latter is suppose to be some kind of "sugar alcohol" substitute that has been said to be partially indigestible, and in large doses, could cause like diarrhea or something.

Great, huh?

And yet that's usually the main ingredients in Stevia products, whereas the Stevia extract itself is typically second or third.

Nonetheless, it wasn't terribly expensive, and I'd be lying if I said that I can stop eating sweets for the rest of my life. As such, if this Stevia thing works, then this would help both my budget as well as my diet.

I decided to mix a packet with a glass of milk (which is realistically what I may use it for), and unfortunately, I really can't taste it all that well. I mean, I can taste it, but it's rather faint. Oh well, I still have 49 of those packets left to experiment with, so we'll see.

Life is a strange thing, isn't it? Time moves on, people move on, the world keeps on turning. And yet, life itself is a currency that is so finite and so precious. I hope you are all doing well in your life's travels.

So I got a new crockpot recently. Did not realize that new ones now operate much hotter than older ones. According to the internet, that is deliberate is apparently there were food safety concerns of older crockpots not cooking the foods hot enough.

On the upside, I can now add "burning food in a crockpot" to my magnificent list of other ways I have burnt food in the past. And yes, that's on the "warm" setting. I can't even imagine what "hot" would do to it.

A chart on how many hours of minimum wage it takes to afford....

I guess it gives us a rough idea of the cost of living, sorted by state.

omg I wouldn't be caught dead with colors like that.

Some people may think I am crazy, but I've always had a thing for tiny living space.

This particular one inspires me, especially when considering its low building cost.

Of course, there are concerns regarding some of its details, and I wonder if I can actually do that some day myself. Either way, the narrator has a flair for poetry.

I don't know who this is, as

I just found it over the internet. However, this is very cool, and on top of it all, is not expensive to set up.

With the end of the year approaching, how are you guys doing?

I am still here, though I must admit this has been the worst financial year I've had... in years.

Nothing catastrophic. Just stupidity on my part. Made a major mistake playing the Netflix stock and lost a bunch of money there. The rest had to do with me trying to improve my diet and fitness, which sadly does cost money, so I don't entirely regret that part.

On the upside, I once again saved up enough to contribute to my Roth IRA by January. However, I am not sure if I can pull that off again for 2014. I guess we will have to see.

Also, I am still gainfully employed and am working on improving income. Still recovering from the recession, this hasn't been an easy task, but it's going.

To end on a more positive note, I have learned things about diet and fitness that I've never known previously in my life. Whey protein, omega-3, quinoa, tempeh, HIIT, pre-hab, leangains, even P90X. These are terms that I didn't understand or even knew existed at the beginning of the year. It gives me a strange kind of hope for next year I guess.

Financially, not a whole lot happened besides seriously denting my net worth. I did finally consolidate and streamline my finances, so that's another upside.

http://justwebware.com/powerball/powerball.html

Something that has taken me quite aback are fitness people, especially body builders, and their attitude towards money. People like that tend to be seriously goal-orientated and even narrowly focused, to the degree that money means nothing to them if it means bigger biceps for example.

The battlecry, "Go big or go home!" summarizes the prevailing attitude rather well.

To be fair, their attitude isn't entirely without merit. For example, they tend to be much healthier due to their advanced regiment of diet and exercise. It should go without saying that our body is one of the few places where it is worth investing into.

Still, the extreme "devil may care" attitude seems to be why the fitness field can be so lucrative. Mental note: Must look into owning GNC franchises.

In fact, some guys even poo-poo on the idea of doing cardio, quipping sarcastically that such activities are for bunnies. Cardio! Come on now.

Luckily, I do think it's possible to get decent diet and supplements without breaking the piggy bank. Mind you, decent whole foods and vitamins will always cost more than hot digs and ramen noodles, but I don't think it is unreasonable to invest in one's own health.

For example, though I stick with a reputable company, I basically buy bulk and slightly off-brand. For example, I love Now's multivitamin gelcaps and whey protein isolate. (I don't get a single penny for saying that by the way.) They make quality products, and don't charge an arm and a leg for it.

I almost never go into GNC anymore. Their prices range anywhere from reasonably competitive to prettt outrageous. You know they have to charge a premium somewhere just to pay for the store's lease.

I also try to eat whole foods, and while there is always a price to pay for it due to the on-going health food craze, it seems that you can still get good deals for component foods, such as buying beans or oatmeal in bulk to make your own meals. Poultry, luckily, is still a fairly cheap source for protein.

In the end, I am trying to balance both my physical health with my financial health, just as I try to balance strength training with cardio. Hopefully, more people will adopt that attitude as well.

So it appears that I've gotten to a point where I think I'm dieting and counting calories now. Interesting since I wasn't planning on doing so, but it's always amusing to see where life takes you when you follow certain paths.

However, I've never dieted before, so all this stuff is just new-- and yet fascinating-- to me. All these numbers and categories, it's like learning defense from the dark arts or something.

For example, one online calculator is telling me that I should have a daily intake of roughly 1700 calories, with 230g of carbs, 55g of fat, and 65g of protein. Being new, I have no sense of how accurate this is, but it seems good enough.

Based on these numbers, and noting the supplements that I am taking from a prior entry, it would appear that I have absolutely no problem taking in enough protein (and often times, take in more than I need), fat can be ignored completely, but it still leaves me about 1000 calories and about 230g of carbs to work with and fill in (ideally over breakfast).

I am still not sure what to make of all this yet, but so far, I think I can adjust to replacing two of my three meals with protein supplements. And best of all, they're not expensive. Just $1.00 to $1.50 per bar or shake.

and as anyone who has tried or is trying knows, it's not easy and it's not cheap!

Or maybe it is. You tell me.

I think for guys, it's also slightly different as well, such as more protein intake to promote muscle growth versus trying to slim down.

So, here's my basic diet plan thus far:

I eat regular food, but a big meal first thing during the day. I try to make it breakfast, but life being how it is, sometimes it is pushed back to lunch.

For my late lunch (or more like supper since sometimes it gets that late), I am recently trying out just a meal replacement bar, which I think is enough, but really, only time will tell.

And then for dinner (which is sometimes late night after my workout), I just down a whey protein shake.

How's it working out? Not sure yet. I've only started this diet about a month ago, but I am optimistic that it is doable. From a numbers perspective, it should work out in terms of daily nutritional intake, but the hard part will probably be not giving into the temptation of eating more food than I am suppose to.

Oh yeah, and I also take sport multivitamins. Wow, if there's anything out there that can get truly expensive, it is this right here. To save money, I have to special order mine, in bulk, from online sources because it's hard to track down EXACTLY what I am looking for.

Here it is by the way.

However, all this is a work in progress, and any nutrition and health advice is greatly appreciate it, and of course, that it can be done affordably. What do you think?

So, when was the last time I've posted here? Let's conveniently ignore that, shall we? Haha.

Once in a long while, I'll end up having an introspection, and get a status update if you will on where I stand in my life right now.

So, what is happiness? I don't really know, but if there's anything I've learned about heady subject matters, it is that sometimes over-thinking it is about as productive as not thinking about it at all.

With that in mind, I think saying, "Having enough love, enough money, and enough self-satisfaction in your life." is good enough for today's purposes.

Then I started breaking it down further, though anybody can do that for themselves, so I'm not going to bother you guys with it here.

Sadly, the overall status looks bad. Well, I'm not saying my life is going badly. Certainly, it's quite rosy compared to anyone else who is struggling with anything out there right now. I'm not struggling with my life at least, just that things could be much better.

Now the real question to me is, "How do we fix it?" Luckily, the "enough money" and "enough self-satisfaction" part is doable. I just need to continue to apply effort and patience. The "enough love" part is much trickier.

If you guys have any suggestions-- no matter how crazy-- I'm willing to hear it.

This being a financial site, however, perhaps it's best to end this rambling entry on that aspect. I plan to take a multi-prong approach by looking for a second job, as well as start a home business.

Certainly, I don't expect instant overnight success or anything, but it certainly doesn't hurt to try. And that's on the earnings side.

On the savings side... well, actually I'm not entirely sure what I can do here. As a fellow saver, I've always done what I can here, like anybody else. I suppose I could consolidate my finances into a simpler structure. My portfolio is also overdue for a re-balance as well....

So, yeah, if you've read this much, thanks for letting me ramble. Hope you have a nice and happy day.

Being a guy, I generally pay no mind to matters related to showering. Just hand me a bar of soap or something. However, I am feeling rather itchy lately. At first, I thought it could be my clothes, but now, I think it's the cold air being dry.

The itchy feeling is pretty bad though, and I think it's also irritating my throat to the point of consistent coughing.

Sooo, anybody know if that's the cause and how do I go about fixing it?

I wish I had thought of asking you guys first, but I bought one of these mitts:



I thought maybe that would help with the itching or something, and well, it does feel good. I've tried regular loofahs in the past, but they tend to fall apart after a while. Hoping something like this will hold up better.

Back to the dry throat thing, I've been hanging a wet towel in my bed room, hoping that it will help. I think it does, though I can't be sure. Also, it doesn't rid of the coughing completely. I've also been taking cough drops, which is nice until I accidentally swallow the drop and then try to cough it back up.

Yeah, so, I am a bit of a mess lately. Any advice would be appreciate. Oh, and while I'm here, any advice on cheap soap and shampoo? I don't need anything more than that, right? Like conditioners or whatever else? I'm a guy.

I keep slipping, but I'm back, giving it another go.

My bank just issued me a new card, and figured it was a good time to check on all my bills, set all my relevant bills to that new card number, etc etc.

Squashed all my personal bills basically down to 5: Gas, electric, water/sewer, internet, and cellphone. Average cost of bills, based on the past 12 months, is about $210 per month. It's not bad, but that's before car expenses and rent.

Next is to do the long overdue spring cleaning on my retirement accounts. Yikes. Hoping to get that done before I get all my statements to do taxes.

I thought maybe you guys might enjoy

this link.

The relevant one is the first one, so if you get bored, feel free to skip the rest. Otherwise, they are all really interesting though.

I love steak, but eating out is expensive. "I know! Why not learn to cook it at home?" So begins another chapter of comedy/tragedy in my autobiography.

But why not, right? There is a dearth of quality YouTube videos showing just how easy and fun it is to cook your very own restaurant quality steak at home. For that matter, my very own first attempt was a delightful cornucopia of learning experiences. For example:

* There is apparently a difference between "hot enough" and "too hot", and as a constructive feedback, perhaps YouTube celebrity chefs should take some time to explain the difference.

* I believe I have figured out what "too hot" looks like. It is when dark smoke that resembles a miniature forest fire rises from your pan and quickly engulfs the entire kitchen.

* I have also-- to my long term benefit I'm sure-- figured out exactly where my smoke alarm is, and that the back-up battery does not need replacing at this time.

* Flies apparently also love steak, and when you open your windows to vent your kitchen forest fire, they will quickly swarm in to judge your culinary efforts. At least they seem to approve, though not without some reluctance and trepidation.

* Celebrity chefs on YouTube will not mention this, but I think it is also handy to note that setting off grease fires should not be attempted while wearing your Sunday's best. I also see now the merit of "Kiss the Chef" aprons.

* Last but not least, it seems that no amount of salt can cover the taste of charred meat, and perhaps it is best cut it off with a steak knife that I do not have and will have to get some time in the near future because butter knives don't work very well.

Oh yes! There will be a re-match in the not-too-distant future. I may stumble and I may fall, but I will not surrender so easily. As the Spartan women would say to their men, "Come back with the steak on your plate, or come back with your plate and on the ambulance stretcher." This isn't over yet.

In the meantime, enjoy a shot of the carnage.

I don't know exactly when summer starts on the calendar, but for me, it's when I break out the room air conditioner.

I have a relatively expensive in-room unit because the subdivision does not allow window units. However, if it can hold up for a couple more years, I think I will be able to break even with its cost through energy savings.

The unit isn't as powerful as I had hoped either, but when combined with my cheapie box fan, it does the job well enough.

Another thing about the unit is that it also produces a substantial amount of grey water. I do use that to water the plants and flush the toilet, but I tend to get more than I can use still. And when I'm not sure what to do with it, well, I dump it into the bath tub. I wish I can think of other uses though? Can you think of any?

But yeah, happy Summer everybody.

There is a mild thunderstorm that is causing a surprising amount of power outages here. Hopefully I can finish this entry before anything else happens.

Between these outages though, it quickly dawned on me what I have on hand that works and what doesn't in the event of power outages.

For one thing, my relatively cheap cellphone still works, because it runs on batteries, and with it, I can still access 3G for weather information and sense quick texts or emails to friends and family to see if they are OK and if they need anything.

The other is my

2-LED Tikkina headlamp by Petzl. I think every self-styled handyman should have one of these.

Granted, my low-end model still cost $20, so it's not exactly cheap, but in return, you're getting a lightweight LED flashlight that you can wear on your head, so your hands are free to work on other things. Also, on low-light setting, which is enough light for me, it will last for as long as 190 hours out of 3 AAA batteries! Unless you run it constantly, that translates to months and months of usage.

While having the ability to run on standard ni-cad batteries are nice because of their accessibility, the greener and ultimately more frugal option is to also buy the company's core pack. It is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for the light.

Now, I admit the core pack isn't cheap at an additional $40, but the manufacturer guarantees at least 300 charges, and advertises as many as 900 charges during the course of its lifetime. Assuming an equivalent per-charge of 3 AAA ni-cads, and assuming an average recharge life of 600 charges, that's an equivalent of 1800 AAA batteries! That's also more than $1000 worth of AAA batteries that you won't be spending and then throwing into landfills! All for $40!

The other advantage about the core pack is the fact that it's charged through an USB interface. In other words, it can be readily charged through small, portable solar panels. I haven't gotten this part yet, but when I do, I will have a portable light source that is completely grid-free.

It may be strange for me to spend so much time talking about a little flashlight, but if you are looking for a simple, light, and effective flashlight, and if long lasting life is more important than lumens, then I highly recommend the Petzl Tikkina.

I really like the idea of solar power. I really do. Who wouldn't like free, passive electricity?

It's just so unfortunate that they are so darn expensive. A modest 80 watt kit can cost as much as $1000 to $2000. This does not include accessories such as voltmeters, mounts, and sometimes, not even charge regulators and inverters. Oh yeah, and don't forget the batteries.

Solar is also a finicky beast, where cloudy days can reduce efficiency as much as 40 to 50%. Heat exposure can knock that down even further. Solar panels also have a shelf life, and could lose around 15% more efficiency naturally in the first two years. Batteries will need to be replaced eventually as well.

In all, and depending on who you ask, solar panel owners don't break even until about 10 to 20 years later. That's a long time.

Still though, solar seems irresistible to me. It can be an affordable enough option if you can reduce your energy needs low enough. This is doubly so for small, specific energy needs. For example, I am thinking about getting an emergency flash light and radio that can be charged by solar or by hand crank, and I am going to try to use it every night for ambient back lighting instead.

However, my dream some day is having a powerful enough system to be able to charge a laptop and cellphone every day. I don't think that's being entirely unreasonable, especially if I am going to try to pare down to a less costly and more mobile lifestyle.

Anybody know of any good systems or resource on solar power I should look at?

Ok, so some people, out of frugality, may have a wood burning type stove or fireplace. If so,

I thought this was interesting. Even if not, you still might find it interesting.

I used to have a pre-pay phone, but I think "shocked" would be a good word for it when I finally realized just how many minutes I am actually using.

Well, you see, everything on those phones cost minutes, and although they tend to be cheap, if there is enough traffic on it at all, I learned the hard way that it will add up!

What's worse, it seems like the previous owner of my phone used it for everything under the sun. I've gotten everything from debt collectors looking for someone I've never heard of, to image and texts of "Happy Mother's Day" and "Spread your joy to your friends, girl!" I'm a guy.

Well, that and it seems that I use more phone than I thought. So, after looking around, I decided to go with Virgin Mobile. The $25 starting deal can't be beat, because although I have only 300 minutes per month, texts, emails, and even 3G is unlimited. Well, I chose the Blackberry, and that costs another $10 premium, but $35 a month is still a very reasonable phone bill to me.

Ok, so my spring cleaning is a bit over-due. At least I managed to get around to it eventually, right?

As I was cleaning up, I started to wonder just how much space do I actually need and use, and not just want or have? Once cleaning was done, I broke out the tape measure to find out. Here are the results:

Bed: 36 sq. ft.

Kitchen: 5.25 sq. ft.

Desk: 15.75 sq. ft.

Closet: 15 sq. ft.

Bathroom: 24 sq. ft

Total sq. ft.: 96 sq. ft

The figures are rounded, but they are close enough. Also, please keep in mind that this is actual working space, and does not include space to move around (except perhaps the bed, which is wide because of my nightstands).

Only thing I disagree with is the dumpster comment. I don't think that qualifies as theft, but that's just me.

or the practice of living inside a van. From a financial standpoint, this has intrigued me as an option.

I know some have lived in one for years, but I wonder if it's possible to live in one... for decades? Possibly the rest of my life?

Certainly, it would be a cheap way to live. However, cheap isn't always frugal, and I wonder if this crosses that fine line?

I know it's pretty extreme, but right now, it's purely a theoretical consideration. I wonder if there's a way I can somehow make it work?

I just read elsewhere one of the most insane comments I have ever seen. Basically, some guy makes $250k a year, but thinks that is only middle class, and that he is only somewhat getting by. This despite acknowledging the fact that only 3% of the population makes that much. You can't be MIDDLE class if you are in the top 3%!

And what is causing them to struggle with their "middle class" money? 4200 sq. ft. house in an affluent neighborhood, 2 kids in private school, only 2-3 week-long vacations a year, and investing heavily in college and retirement funds (which I have no problems with).

What really kills me is that he thinks he is very frugal. And that may very well be true for someone who makes $250k a year. However, the vast majority of the population do not make that much, and have had to eek out a life with much less. So PLEASE do not tell us how to be frugal like you. For you, frugality is buying the 42" TV instead of the 50". For the rest of us, we have real choices and real sacrifices to make in our version of frugality.