I did some spring cleaning the other day and found two credit cards in my drawer which I totally forgot I had! One was a Home Depot credit card I got three years ago at the check out counter because I could save 15% off my $3,000 purchase immediately. The other card was a Banana Republic card that I applied for also three years ago to save 10% off my $1,300 purchase of a couple new suits, shirts, and shoes. Both cards have zero balances, and neither have been used since the initial purchases!
My first reaction was to close both cards since I didn’t want someone risking get a hold of them and going crazy buying Brazilian rosewood floors at Home Depot or alligator shoes at Banana Republic or something. In essence, I wanted peace of mind and so, I closed both cards. To my surprise, I didn’t get a hard sell to leave them open. I pressed several buttons on my cell phone and both cards are now shutdown. Ahhh, so nice to not have to worry and have less potential holes to leak wealth.
SHOULD I HAVE CLOSED THEM THOUGH? Read more…
My name is Florentine and I am what the world describes as a “minimalist.” I can pack all my belongings into two suitcases and go travel the world if I want. I aim to make $30,000 a year from various online projects and consulting gigs, which makes me feel slightly guilty since there’s a hint of hypocrisy. With an efficiency studio and a bicycle, I don’t need much money to lead a happy life. I want to tell you a secret, which is a secret that many minimalists have, but don’t want anybody to know.
The reason why I deem myself a minimalist is because I have difficulty achieving more. For three years after college, I tried my hardest to work myself up an advertisement company. I was passed up for promotion, and then the recession came. Instead of telling people I lost my job, I told people “I quit” so I could lead the life of freedom I’ve always wanted. “Screw the world and conformity!”, I told everyone. I was too ashamed to tell my parents and friends that after 4 years in college, all I could do was stay a gopher, photocopying papers and answering phones all day. I didn’t even succeed at that. Read more…
“How much do I need to retire?” is a question that comes up over and over again. So once and for all, let me suggest a simple, very logical and conservative way to figure out how much you will need.
THE BASIC FORMULAS:
Average Annual Gross Income of Your Lifetime / Risk Free Rate of Return = Retirement Goal
In other words, let’s say you make $100,000 a year on average in your 40 year career. All you need to do is find out the risk free rate of return (look up the latest 5 or 7 yr CD and 10-year yield and average the two), and divide $100,000 by that figure. Since the 10-year yield and 5-7yr CD is roughly around 2.5% divide $100,000 by 0.025 to get $4,000,000, which is the amount you need to retire on. Read more…
When the state of California raised the sales tax by another 1% on April 1, 2009 I was pretty pissed. What kind of government expects their residents to pay a whopping 10% tax on everything they buy? Pedro doesn’t want to pay $200 in taxes on his $2,000 60-inch LCD TV. Nancy shouldn’t have to pay $300 more on her $3,000 diamond encrusted bracelet. And I certainly don’t want to spend $5,200 in taxes on a handsome $52,000 BMW! That’s just ridiculous!
We the people of California deserve our luxury items just like every other parrot-brained consumer in America. Who’s to dictate what we can and can’t waste our hard earned money on? Certainly not some bureaucrat in Sacramento counting all his money under the table, no way!
GOVERNMENT WANTS YOU TO SAVE WHILE THEY SPEND Read more…
It’s safe to say that before you began reading this post, you had no idea you were blinking. Blink, blink, blink. Whatcha going to do about it now that you are aware of your fluttering eyelids? My guess is that your memory will last as long as a gnat, and you’ll forget as soon as you finish reading this post.
It’s amazing how we can blink roughly 36,000 times a day and not even be aware. Yet, if we were to be consciously aware of our need to blink, we’d probably drive ourselves mad. How great it is that our bodies protect ourselves from insanity by doing the things for us we have no desire of doing ourselves.
SUDDENLY YOU’LL WAKE UP Read more…
After getting my driver’s license at 17, I talked to my parents about finally getting a car. I don’t remember why I didn’t get my license at 16, but perhaps it was because I had such a spiffy bicycle the ladies loved. *Ring a ding a ling * was the sound of my bell every time I rode by a hot girl.
It always felt odd that I had to walk or ride my bike to school when other kids got to drive their new Ford Explorer SUVs, and VW Jettas. Even my parents drove an 8 year old car at the time. Oh well, I thought to myself. Perhaps one day.
THE HIDDEN GEM THAT WAS NOT A GEM Read more…
